Martin Lawrence

His teachers would give him the last few minutes of class so he could make his classmates laugh.

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He was once engaged to Saved by the Bell (1989) cast member Lark Voorhies.

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After hosting Saturday Night Live (1975) on February 19, 1994, he was banned from appearing on NBC. He agreed not to perform his opening monologue as planned in order to appease network censors, but he did his routine as planned anyway, which enraged the channel's top executives. The ban was lifted a few years later, but Lawrence is still not allowed to appear on SNL.

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He claims he began doing comedy by cheering up his mother, who had to support her six children by working as a cashier at various stores.

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On April 20, 2023, he was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television at 6617 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California. Fellow actors Steve Harvey and Lynn Whitfield were guest speakers at the ceremony.

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His mother named him after the assassinated civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., and gave him his middle name after the assassinated President John F. Kennedy (John Fitzgerald Kennedy).

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Agents discovered him on Star Search (1983).

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In his youth he was a Mid-Atlantic Golden Gloves boxing competitor.

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His mother was in her mid-forties when she gave birth to him.

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He fell into a coma after being overcome by the heat while running. He recovered in the hospital.

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He has a daughter with his former wife Pat Smith: Jasmin Lawrence (Jasmine Page Lawrence; born January 15, 1996). He has two daughters with his former wife Shamicka Gibbs: Iyanna Faith Lawrence (born November 9, 2000) and Amara Trinity Lawrence (born August 20, 2002).

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He was arrested at Burbank Airport for carrying a loaded gun in his bag.

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In 1996, Lawrence was arrested at Burbank Airport for trying to board a plane while carrying a loaded 9 mm Beretta. He claimed he did not know guns were not allowed on interstate flights. He was not charged in connection with the pursuit.

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He is from the same Metro Area as Sandra Bullock, Dave Chappelle, Mya, Alan Heitz, Regina Hall, Dwayne Winstead, Lewis Black, Lauren Graham and Ihuoma Ofordire.

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For several years he owned a large mansion in the Beverly Park community of Beverly Hills, California. In 2013 he sold the property for $17.2 million to real estate developer Bruce Makowski and bought a property in Encino, Los Angeles for $6.63 million. He also has a farm near Purcellville, Virginia.

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His former wife Pat Smith is married to retired professional football star Emmitt Smith.

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His sister Rae Proctor is his personal assistant.

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He is the second youngest of John Lawrence and Chlora Lawrence's six children.

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He is the brother of Rae Proctor, Ursula Lawrence and Robert Lawrence.

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In October 1997, Pat Smith, Lawrence's soon-to-be ex-wife, filed a restraining order against him. She told a judge that, among other things, Lawrence had threatened to kill her and her family.

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Before achieving success in Hollywood, Martin Lawrence performed with a theater music group. Lawrence's rarely displayed singing ability can be heard toward the end of the "Woman with a Past" episode of "Martin" (1992).

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Martin Lawrence attended and graduated from Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Maryland.

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Martin Lawrence's ex-wife, Pat Smith, was once Miss Virginia.

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Martin Lawrence was born in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany, to American parents Chlora (Bailey) and John Lawrence, while his father was serving in the United States Army. He grew up in the United States, including Queens, New York City, and Landover, Maryland.

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Martin Lawrence was arrested in front of a Hollywood nightclub after a man who claimed Lawrence punched him called the police.

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After the March incident, Martin Lawrence was ordered to perform community service.

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Martin Lawrence is friends with Della Reese, Robin Harris, Thomas Mikal Ford and Steve Harvey.

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Martin Lawrence was born on exactly the same date as Jon Cryer.

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Arnetia Walker played Martin's mother in the film College Road Trip (2008).

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