Jordan Peele

Critics have since frequently named Get Out and Nope as among the best films of the 21st century.

Jordan Haworth Peele (born February 21, 1979) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker.

He is known for his film and television work in the comedy and horror genres.

Peele started his career in sketch comedy before transitioning his career to a writer and director of psychological horror and satirical films.

Jordan Haworth Peele was born in New York City on February 21, 1979.

His mother, Lucinda Williams, is white, from Maryland.

He attended the Computer School in Manhattan, graduated from The Calhoun School on Manhattan's Upper West Side in 1997 after securing a scholarship to attend the private school, and went on to Sarah Lawrence College, where he majored in puppetry.

After two years, Peele dropped out to form a comedy duo with Sarah Lawrence classmate and future Key & Peele writer Rebecca Drysdale.

Peele had been a cinephile ever since he was a young child and decided at 12 that he wanted to be a film director, citing Glory, Edward Scissorhands, Thelma & Louise, and Aliens as films that had a strong effect on him.

Peele regularly performed at Boom Chicago in Amsterdam and The Second City in Chicago.

He and Nicole Parker were well known for their musical duets at Boom Chicago.

His father, Hayward Peele, Jr. (died 1999), was African American, and originally from North Carolina.

Peele last saw his father when he was seven years old, and was raised by his single mother on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

He portrayed a popular character called "Danish Supermodel Ute" during his time at Boom Chicago and hosted MTV's Comedy Weekend in 2002.

Peele's breakout role came in 2003, when he was hired as a cast member on the Fox sketch comedy series Mad TV, where he spent five seasons, leaving the show in 2008.

In 2003, Peele joined the cast of Mad TV for its ninth season.

Around the time Keegan-Michael Key joined the cast as a featured performer, it was assumed that Key would be chosen over Peele.

The two of them ultimately were cast together after showing great comedic chemistry.

Peele performed celebrity impersonations, which included favorites Caroll Spinney (as the voice of Big Bird from Sesame Street), Ja Rule, James Brown, Flavor Flav, Justin Guarini, Montel Williams, Morgan Freeman, Timbaland, and Forest Whitaker.

Peele was absent from the first four episodes of his second season on Mad TV.

He made a cameo in "Weird Al" Yankovic's video "White & Nerdy" with Mad TV co-star Keegan-Michael Key.

Peele auditioned to be a cast member for Saturday Night Live when SNL producers were looking for someone to play Barack Obama (around the time when SNL and Mad TV — and other scripted shows — were put on hiatus due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike).

After five seasons on Mad TV, Peele left the cast at the end of the 13th season.Peele was nominated for a 2008 Emmy Award for his song "Sad Fitty Cent", a music video parody about 50 Cent lamenting over his rivalry with Kanye West.

The lyrics were, according to the music video, written by Peele, and he was involved in arranging its music.

In 2009, he appeared in Little Fockers.

He appeared in a viral video titled "Hillary vs Obama" (which was shown as a Mad TV sketch) where he and a Hillary Clinton supporter (played by short-term cast member Lisa Donovan) argue over whether Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama would make a better president, only to get upstaged by a Rudy Giuliani supporter (played by Donovan's brother, Ben).

In 2010, Peele co-starred in the Fox comedy pilot The Station, and appeared with a recurring role in the Adult Swim series Childrens Hospital.

In the following years, he and his frequent Mad TV collaborator, Keegan-Michael Key, created and starred in their own Comedy Central sketch comedy series Key & Peele (2012–2015).

The series was critically acclaimed, winning two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award.

He founded the film and television production company Monkeypaw Productions in 2012.

He wrote and produced Candyman (2021), and Wendell and Wild (2022), co-starring in the latter.

He had a supporting role in the David Wain-directed comedy Wanderlust, which was released in 2012.

The two wrote, produced, and starred in the comedy film Keanu (2016) and appeared in various projects since.

Peele has also voice acted in the animated films Storks (2016), Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017) and Toy Story 4 (2019), as well as in the adult animated sitcom Big Mouth (2017–present).

In 2017, Peele was included on the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.

His 2017 directorial debut, the horror film Get Out, was a critical and box office success, for which he received numerous accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, along with nominations for Best Picture and Best Director.

He received another Academy Award nomination for Best Picture for producing Spike Lee's drama BlacKkKlansman (2018).

He co-created the TBS comedy series The Last O.G. (2018–2022) and the YouTube Premium comedy series Weird City (2019).

He directed, wrote, and produced the acclaimed films Us (2019) and Nope (2022).

He also served as the host and producer of the CBS All Access revival of the anthology series The Twilight Zone (2019–2020).