Cedric Antonio Kyles, known more popularly by stage name Cedric the Entertainer, was born on April 24, 1964 in jefferson City, Missouri. He is the son of an AT&T employee and a reading specialist, and has one sibling, a younger sister.

Cedric attended high school in Haverhill Massachusetts and, upon graduating, majored in Mass Communication at Southeast Missouri State University. He made money initially by working full time with State Farm insurance as a claim adjuster, though soon enough he quit in pursuit of his real passion,comedy.

Cedric made his first televised appearance in 1992 when he was on It’s Showtime at the Apollo, a showcasing of amateur and professional comedians and entertainers. He proved funny enough that he landed another televised gig soon after, appearing on Def Comedy Jam and then on ComicView. He would later host ComicView for BET during 1993 and 1994. Cedric proved a good enough comedian to win the Richard Pryor Comic of the Year Award from this same station in 1994.

Cedric took up acting in 1996 when he appeared alongside Steve Harvey in The Steve Harvey Show. He played a character with a similar but not totally duplicated name (Cedric Jackie Robinson). He would remain with the show until its end in 2002.

Soon after these appearances Cedric branched out intomovies, beginning in 1998 withRide. He continued to appear regularly in films from then on, generally in comedies though occasionally in dramas and other works as well.

Cedric was the subject of some controversy in 2002 when his on-screen character for the film Barbershop made several comments on Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks that were largely considered inappropriate. All remarks were made in-character, however, and Cedric has never apologized for making them, given that he was playing a fictional character. He would appear again in the same role two years later in Barbershop 2.

Cedric has also shown some proficiency in voice acting,lending his pipes initially to a young bear in the film Dr. DoLittle 2 with Eddie Murphy. He expanded his resume on this count twice more when voicing two more animals, one in the 2005 animated comedy Madagascar and the other in 2006 with Charlotte’s Web. He also lent his voice to the video game Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004for the Playstation 2.

Cedric was briefly the subject of his own skit comedy show, and though it was initially renewed for a second season FOX Television pulled the plug shortly before production began on the season.

Cedric latest prominent role came in 2007 when he appeared in the comedy movieThe Cleaner. The film was a critical and box office flop, not even earning back half of its initial budget in ticket sales. Since then he has appeared in non-starring roles in Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins and Street Kings.