David Alan Grier

David Alan Grier (born June 30, 1956) is an American actor and comedian. Known for his roles on stage and screen, Grier gained popularity playing multiple roles in the American sketch comedy television series In Living Color (1990–1994) and Reverend Leon Lonnie Love on the Fox comedy series Martin (1993–1997). In 2004, Grier was ranked no. 94 on Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups. Grier made his feature film debut in the Robert Altman directed drama Streamers (1983) for which he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival. Grier then took roles in films such as A Soldier's Story (1984), Boomerang (1992), Jumanji (1995), Baadasssss! (2003), Bewitched (2005), They Cloned Tyrone (2023), The Color Purple (2023), and The American Society of Magical Negroes (2024). On stage, Grier won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his role in the Broadway revival of A Soldier's Play (2021). He was Tony-nominated for his roles as Jackie Robinson in The First (1983), Henry Brown in Race (2009) and Sporting Life in Porgy and Bess (2012). Other Broadway roles include in Dreamgirls (1981), and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1996). He has worked extensively in television playing roles such as Bernard on Damon (1998), Jerome Dagget on DAG (2000–2001), David Bellows on Life with Bonnie (2002–2004), Joe Carmichael on The Carmichael Show (2015–2017), the Lion in The Wiz Live! (2015), and Hal on A Series of Unfortunate Events (2018). He also created and executive-produced the American satirical show Chocolate News (2008) for Comedy Central. He currently plays Ron on the NBC sitcom St. Denis Medical (2024–present).