Shawn Wayans

Background and Age

Shawn Wayans was born on June 19, 1971, in New York City, New York. He grew up in the Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea, in Fulton houses. He graduated from Bayard Rustin High School in 1989. Some of his older siblings were already on their road to success as actors, directors, and comedians.

Shawn's mother, Elvira Wayans was a social worker and homemaker. His father, Howell Wayans was a supermarket manager. His parents had ten children including Shawn, he was the second youngest of his brothers and sisters. Shawn and many of his siblings would end up as famous figures in the field of entertainment. The most famous ones among them are his older brothers. Keenen is an actor, writer, and director. Damon is an actor and a producer.

Marriage, Husband, and Kids

Shawn was in a long relationship with his girlfriend Ursula, who was a fitness trainer and small-time actress. The two started dating during the late 1990s, a time when she was competing in fitness events around New York. It was her second relationship after her marriage and subsequent divorce from a professional fitness trainer whom she met at a gym in San Francisco. Her ex-husband was the reason she became conscious of her body decided to become a fitness trainer herself.

Shawn and Ursula had their first child, Laila in 1999. Their relationship continued to blossom and moved smoothly along with Shawn’s blossoming career. Their second child together, a daughter named Ilia was born in 2002. Their third child, a son named Marlon was born in 2004. He was named after Shawn's brother, Marlon.

There were rumors that the couple had a split-up in 2008 but the reason for their break up was not officially revealed.

Career and Net Worth

In 1988, Shawn Wayans started his acting career by making his first appearance in "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka". It was one of the films that were written and directed by his older brother Keenen Wayans.

Later in 1991, Wayans took a role in the cast of "In Living Color" with some of his siblings, the sketch comedy show which was both directed and written by his brother, Keenen. The show was a great help in the establishment of the Wayans Family among mainstream media. It also helped launch the careers of big names like Jamie Foxx and Jim Carey.

In 1994, Shawn joined his two brothers Marlon and Keenen to create "Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood". Shawn and Marlon co-starred in the comedy sitcom, "The Wayans Bros." The show aired on the WB network from 1995 until 1999. The show helped to establish the fame of the two brothers, Shawn and Marlon. The Wayans were guest stars on episodes of "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper" and "MacGyver".

Shawn and Marlon had a huge break with the film "Scary Movie" Shawn did not only act in the movie but he also co-wrote it. The filmmaking cost only $19 million, however it raked in an astounding $157 million at the box office, which made it the highest-grossing film that was ever directed by an African-American, Wayans's older brother Keenen.

After the Wayans' breakthrough with "Scary Movie", the Wayans turned the franchise into a series of subsequent hits with "Scary Movie 2" in 2001, "Scary Movie 3" in 2003, "Scary Movie 4" in 2006, and finally "Scary Movie 5". Shawn and Marlon also had box office hits with "White Chicks 1", "White Chicks 2", and "Dance Flick".

Shawn provided the voice of Toof in "Waynehead", the animated children's series which was based on the childhood experiences of his brother Damon. Shawn was the core creative of "Thugaboo". Thugaboo is a children's television series that started in 2006. The main idea of the show was to deliver important life lessons and deal with the universal issues that kids face in their everyday life in a humorous and musical way. Each episode is wrapped up with a song about the lessons learned in the episode.