Donald Faison Biography

Donald Adeosun Faison (born June 22, 1974) is an American actor, comedian, and voice actor, best known for his leading role as Dr. Chris Turk in the ABC (formerly NBC) comedy-drama Scrubs (2001-2010), and a minor role as Murray in the film Clueless (1995) (subsequently reprised in the television series of the same name). He also starred as Phil Chase in the TV Land sitcom The Exes (2011-2015).

Faison has also co-starred in the films Remember the Titans (2000), Uptown Girls (2003), Something New (2006), Next Day Air (2009) and Kick-Ass 2 (2013).

Early life

Faison was born in Harlem in New York City, the son of Shirley, a talent agent, and Donald Faison, a building manager. He is the elder brother of actor Olamide Faison. His middle name stems from the words "ade," meaning "crown," and "osun," meaning "river of life"? in Yoruba. His parents were active with the National Black Theater in Harlem. He attended the Professional Children's School in Manhattan with best friend, actor Dash Mihok.

Career

Before his debuts on Scrubs and Clueless, Faison appeared in a 1991 commercial for Folgers coffee at the age of 17, in which he played the younger brother of a soldier returning from war. The following year, he appeared with Malik Yoba in the ABC News special Prejudice: Answering Children's Questions, hosted by Peter Jennings. He then became famous for his role as Murray Lawrence Duvall in the 1995 film Clueless and the subsequent television series, which ran from 1996 to 1999. In 1995, he also appeared in Waiting to Exhale as Tarik, the son of Loretta Devine's character, Gloria. He was featured in New Jersey Drive. He also starred in Big Fat Liar alongside Frankie Muniz, Paul Giamatti, and Amanda Bynes. He had a recurring role as Tracy on Felicity, appeared in Remember the Titans as the running-back turned corner-back Petey Jones, and provided voice work for various characters in the MTV animated series Clone High. He had minor roles in the sitcoms Sister, Sister and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and in the film Josie and the Pussycats. In 2005, Faison produced one episode of MTV's Punk'd involving his Scrubs co-star Zach Braff. He also appeared in the music videos for Brandy's "Sittin' Up in My Room," Fall Out Boy's cover of Michael Jackson's "Beat It," and Gavin Degraw's "Chariot."

On February 13, 2009, Faison participated in the NBA All-Star Weekend Celebrity Game. Other celebrities participating included NBA Hall of Famers Clyde Drexler and Dominique Wilkins, NFL wide-receiver Terrell Owens, actor Chris Tucker, and four Harlem Globetrotters.

In 2010, Faison starred alongside Scottie Thompson, Brittany Daniel, Eric Balfour, Laz Alonso, and Crystal Reed in the Brothers Strause science fiction thriller Skyline.

Faison was in the 2010 CBS comedy pilot The Odds.

As of March 2011, Faison appeared in commercials for The Sims Medieval. In 2012, he made a cameo appearance in the movie Pitch Perfect. He is currently the host of the TBS comedy sketch show Who Gets the Last Laugh, and the GSN game show Winsanity.

Personal life

Faison was married to Lisa Askey from 2001 to 2005. After six years of dating, Faison married his second wife, CaCee Cobb, on December 15, 2012. The wedding was held at the home of Faison's former Scrubs co-star and best friend Zach Braff, who also served as a groomsman. Serving as a bridesmaid was singer Jessica Simpson, for whom Cobb formerly worked as a personal assistant.

Faison has six children: son Sean (born 1997), from a previous relationship; son Dade, daughter Kaya (fraternal twins, born 1999), and son Kobe (born 2001), with first wife Askey; and son Rocco (born 2013) and daughter Wilder Frances (born 2015), with second wife, Cobb.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Glory	Soldier
1992	Juice	Student
1994	Sugar Hill	Kymie Damiels
1995	New Jersey Drive	Tiny Dime	Credited as Donald Adeosun Faison
	Clueless	Murray Lawrence Duvall
	Waiting to Exhale	Tarik Matthews
1996	The Quest	Robber	Uncredited
1997	Academy Boyz	Glen Lewis
1998	Butter	Khaleed
	Can't Hardly Wait	Dan
1999	Trippin'	June Nelson
2000	Remember the Titans	Petey Jones
2001	Double Whammy	Cletis
	Josie and the Pussycats	D.J.	Uncredited
2002	Big Fat Liar	Frank Jackson
2003	Ravedactyl: Project Evolution	Gunner	Short film
	Uptown Girls	Huey
	Good Boy!	Wilson	Voice only
2005	King's Ransom	Andre
2006	Something New	Nelson McQueen
	Bachelor Party Vegas	Ash
	Homie Spumoni	Renato/Leroy
2007	Venus & Vegas	Stu
2009	Next Day Air	Leo
2010	Skyline	Terry
2011	Stag	Ken
2012	Pitch Perfect	Older Acapella Man
2013	Kick-Ass 2	Doctor Gravity
2013	A Snow Globe Christmas	Ted
2014	Wish I Was Here	Anthony
2014	Let's Kill Ward's Wife	Ward
2014	Wonderland	Ted
2016	The Perfect Match	Rick
2016	Hot Bot
2017	Little Evil		In post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Sesame Street	Duane	Episode: "23.58"
1996	New York Undercover	James	Episode: "Sympathy for the Devil"
1996-2000	Sabrina, the Teenage Witch	Justin Dashiell Calzone	(Justin) Episode: S1 Ep. 8 "Magic Joel" (Dashiell) 7 episodes
1996-1999	Clueless	Murray Lawrence Duvall	62 episodes
1998	Sister, Sister	Darryl	Episode: "Greek to Me"
1999	Supreme Sanction	Marcus	Television movie
2000-2002	Felicity	Tracy	23 episodes
2002-2003	Clone High	Toots Various characters	Voice only 12 episodes
2001-2010	Scrubs	Christopher Turk	179 episodes Nominated - NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series (2006-2010) Nominated - NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series (2005)
2004-2005	Higglytown Heroes	Firefighter Hero	Voice only 2 episodes
2005-2014	Robot Chicken	Various characters	Voice only 9 episodes
2006	The Playbook	Host	3 episodes
2007	Saturday Night Live	Christopher Turk	Episode: "Zach Braff/Maroon 5"
	Robot Chicken: Star Wars	Dr. Cornelius Evazan/Mace Windu	Voice only Television special
	Kim Possible	Ricky Rotiffle	Voice only Episode: "Homecoming Upset"
2008	The Boondocks	Catcher Freeman/Tobias/Wedgie Rudlin	Voice only 3 episodes
	Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II	Gary/Darth Maul/Imperial Pilot	Voice only Television special
2009	Scrubs: Interns	Christopher Turk	Episode: "Our Meeting with Turk and Todd"
	American Dad!	Christopher Turk	Voice only Episode: "G-String Circus"
	Titan Maximum	Martian Fleet Commander	Episode: "Pilot"
2010	Fact Checkers Unit	Donald	9 episodes
	Cubed	Himself	Episode: "2.12"
	Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III	Gary	Voice only Television special
	The Odds	Tyler	Television movie
2011	Love Bites	Ricky	2 episodes
2011-2015	The Exes	Phil Chase	Nominated - NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series (2013)
2012	Tron: Uprising	Bartik	Voice only 5 episodes
	Adventure Time	Princess Cookie	Voice only Episode: "Princess Cookie"
2013	Wedding Band	Moses	Episode: "99 Problems"
	Who Gets the Last Laugh?	Host	9 Episodes
	A Snow Globe Christmas	Ted	Television movie
2014	Hollywood Game Night	Himself	3 episodes
	Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge	Wizard	Episode: "Head's Up"
2015	Undateable	Donald	2 episodes
	Supermansion	Quiplash	Voice only 3 Episodes
	Drunk History	Joe Louis	Episode: "Las Vegas"
2016	Winsanity	Host
2016	House of Lies	Donald	Episode: "Holacracy"
2017	Bill Nye Saves the World	Himself

Music videos

• "Sittin' Up in My Room" by Brandy (1995)
• "Kissin' You ("Oh, Honey" Remix)" by Total, Puff Daddy & Notorious B.I.G (1996)
• "3 a.m." by Matchbox Twenty (1997)
• "No Doubt" by Imajin (1999)
• "Flava" by Imajin (1999)
• "Da Bomb" by DJ Fury and RX Lord (1999)
• "Chariot" by Gavin DeGraw (2003)
• "Beat It" by Fall Out Boy featuring John Mayer (2008)
• "More Champagne (Feat. A$AP Ferg, Problem, Wiz Khalifa) by DJ Whoo Kid (2013)
• "Time Machine", by Ingrid Michaelson (2015)

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Result	Category	Series
2004	BET Comedy Awards	Won	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series	Scrubs
2002		Won	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series	Scrubs
2004	Teen Choice Awards	Nominated	Choice TV Sidekick	Scrubs
2005		Nominated	Choice TV Sidekick	Scrubs
2006		Nominated	Choice TV Sidekick	Scrubs
2007		Nominated	Choice TV Sidekick	Scrubs
2005	NAACP Image Awards	Nominated	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series	Scrubs
2006		Nominated	Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series	Scrubs
2007		Nominated	Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series	Scrubs
2008		Nominated	Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series	Scrubs