Bill Bellamy

BILL BELLAMY

Date of Birth: April 7, 1965

Born in Newark, New Jersey, Bill Bellamy, the cousin of former basketball star Shaquille O'Neal, decided comedy was his calling and used his experiences growing up in Newark when doing stand-up comedy in clubs such as New York's The Improv and The Comic Strip, as well as The Comedy Store in Los Angeles.

His performance was spotted by a couple of producers who quickly signed him up to guest star on Def Comedy Jam, which led to appearances on Rascal's Comedy Hour, Arsenio Hall Show and eventually his own 1996 comedy special, Bill Bellamy: Booty Call.

Over the next five years, he hosted the popular MTV Jams, while also landing a number of roles in feature films like Who's the Man (1993) and Joey Breaker (1993). Following his own series, The Bill Bellamy Show in 1996, he started to land starring roles on the big screen.

Starting with Love Jones (1997), he went on to star in How to Be a Player (1997), Love Stinks (1999) and The Brothers (2001), although his best-known film project at the time was undoubtedly Any Given Sunday (1999), starring Al Pacino, Jamie Foxx, Randy Quaid and Cameron Diaz.

Later films include Lottery Ticket (2010) and Kindergarten Cop (2016), in addition to headlining the TV sitcom Mr. Box Office (2012-2013).

When not in front of the camera, Bill returns to his first love, that of stand-up comedy in front of sold-out crowds across the United States.

Bill married actress Kristen Baker in 2001, with whom he has two children: daughter Bailey (b. 2003) and son Baron (b. 2006).

Filmography:

Buying the Cow (2001)
The Brothers (2001)
Any Given Sunday (1999)
Love Stinks (1999)
How to Be a Player (1997)
Love Jones (1997)
Fled (1996)
Joey Breaker (1993)
Who's the Man? (1993)