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Doug E. Doug
Lively and charismatic, this young African-American performer segued from standup comedy to films and TV while barely out of his teens. Doug became a fixture on the New York comedy club circuit while attending college and working as an NBC security guard. Writer-director Spike Lee spotted the comic performing at the famed Apollo Theater in Harlem and invited him to do a walk on for his feature "Mo' Better Blues" (1990). This led to a co-starring role in "Hangin' With the Homeboys" (1991) as Willie, an embittered teen from Brooklyn. The performance earned the neophyte actor a best actor nomination for the Independent Spirit Award.