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W. Kamau Bell

Highest Rated: 100% 1000% Me: Growing Up Mixed (2023)

Lowest Rated: 100% 1000% Me: Growing Up Mixed (2023)

Birthday: Jan 26, 1973

Birthplace: Palo Alto, California, USA

W. Kamau Bell had a nearly charmed rise from struggling stand-up comedian to buzzworthy comic to late night talk show host. His politically minded material crossed the high dudgeon and boundary testing of Mort Sahl or Dick Gregory with an up-to-the-minute 21st-century hipster calm, making his series "Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell" (FX 2012-13 / FXX 2013) a refreshing alternative to the usual late night suspects. Walter Kamau Bell was born in Palo Alto, California; the only child of a single mother who worked in education and self-published books of quotations by prominent African-Americans, Bell moved around the country quite a bit in his childhood and teens, developing a fondness for stand-up comedy as a shy, introverted child. Settling down in Chicago to attend the arts school Columbia College, Bell began taking classes with the renowned Second City improv troupe, but his first love of stand-up prevailed. Resettling in the stand-up hotbed of San Francisco, Bell did the grinding routine of a struggling young comedian. The city's progressive politics also suited his temperament, and he embraced community activism on a variety of causes. This newfound personal emphasis on politics crept into Bell's stand-up act, so much so that in 2007 he rented a San Francisco theater to put on a nightly show entitled "The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism In About An Hour." The show was successful enough that he took it on tour, including a stint at the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Festival. A mixture of topical humor and audience participation, the live show became the template for "Totally Biased" after Chris Rock saw it and invited Bell to turn it into a television series. With Rock as executive producer and their mutual friend Chuck Sklar as showrunner, "Totally Biased" premiered on FX to strong reviews and decent ratings in 2012. Originally a weekly series, it became a five-night-a-week program (running Sunday-Thursday instead of the more common Monday-Friday) in September 2013 when it moved to the comedy-centric start-up station FXX. Unfortunately, poor ratings for the revamped show caused FXX to announce its cancellation on November 13, 2013.

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Highest rated movies

100% 58% 1000% Me: Growing Up Mixed
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100% The One and Only Dick Gregory
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The History of Comedy
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Sesame Street: 50 Years of Sunny Days
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Filmography

Movies

Credit
100% 58% 1000% Me: Growing Up Mixed Director - 2023
100% No Score Yet The One and Only Dick Gregory Self - 2021
No Score Yet No Score Yet Sesame Street: 50 Years of Sunny Days Unknown (Character) - 2021
No Score Yet No Score Yet The History of Comedy Unknown (Character) - 2017

TV

Credit
No Score Yet No Score Yet What Would You Do? Correspondent 2024
No Score Yet 54% After Midnight Guest 2024
No Score Yet No Score Yet United Shades of America Executive Producer,
Host
2016-2022
100% 91% George Carlin's American Dream Self 2022
99% 78% We Need to Talk About Cosby Unknown (Voice),
Executive Producer,
Director,
Self
2022
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Story of Late Night Self 2020-2021
No Score Yet No Score Yet Inside Pixar Narrator 2021
No Score Yet 50% The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Guest 2016 2018 2020
No Score Yet 55% The Kelly Clarkson Show Guest 2020
No Score Yet No Score Yet Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen Guest 2020
No Score Yet No Score Yet Conan Guest 2012 2020
No Score Yet No Score Yet Cultureshock Director 2018
No Score Yet 99% Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown Guest 2018
No Score Yet No Score Yet The History of Comedy Self 2017-2018
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Wendy Williams Show Guest 2018
No Score Yet No Score Yet Close Up With The Hollywood Reporter Guest 2017
No Score Yet 44% The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Guest 2017
41% 61% Chelsea Guest 2016
No Score Yet No Score Yet Tavis Smiley Guest 2016
No Score Yet 12% The View Guest 2016
No Score Yet No Score Yet Last Call With Carson Daly Guest 2016
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Daily Show Guest 2016
No Score Yet No Score Yet Real Time With Bill Maher Guest 2014
No Score Yet No Score Yet Totally Biased With W. Kamau Bell Executive Producer,
Host
2012-2013
No Score Yet No Score Yet John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show Guest 2013