Robert Townsend

Robert Townsend

Robert Townsend (born February 6, 1957) is an American actor, director, comedian, and writer. Townsend is best known for directing the films Hollywood Shuffle (1987), Eddie Murphy Raw (1987), The Meteor Man (1993), The Five Heartbeats (1991) and various other films and stand-up specials. He is especially known for his eponymous self-titled character, Robert Peterson as the starring role as on The WB sitcom The Parent 'Hood (1995–1999), a series which he created and of which directed select episodes. Townsend is also known for his role as Donald "Duck" Matthews in his 1991 film The Five Heartbeats. He later wrote, directed and produced Making The Five Heartbeats (2018), a documentary film about the production process and behind the scenes insight into creating the film. Townsend is also known for his production company Townsend Entertainment which has produced films Playin' for Love, In the Hive and more. During the 1980s and early–1990s, Townsend gained national exposure through his stand-up comedy routines and appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Townsend has worked with talent including Halle Berry, Morgan Freeman, Chris Tucker, Beyoncé, Denzel Washington and many more.

Known For: Acting

Born: Chicago, Illinois, USA, 1957-02-06

Died: null

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1975	Cooley High	Basketball Player in Gym Class	69
2	1976	The Monkey Hustle	Musician	62
3	1979	The Warriors	Baseball Fury (uncredited)	77
4	1979	Women at West Point	Russell Baker	0
5	1980	Willie & Phil	Thin Boy	43
6	1981	Senior Trip	Randy	42
7	1982	In Love with an Older Woman	James	40
8	1984	Streets of Fire	The Sorels - Lester	69
9	1984	A Soldier's Story	Corporal Ellis	68
10	1985	American Flyers	Jerome	62
11	1986	Odd Jobs	Dwight	41
12	1986	Rodney Dangerfield: It's Not Easy Bein' Me	Self	81
13	1986	Ratboy	Manny	34
14	1987	Hollywood Shuffle	Bobby Taylor	64
15	1987	Uptown Comedy Express		0
16	1987	Robert Townsend: Partners in Crime: Vol. 1		0
17	1988	Robert Townsend: Partners in Crime: Vol. 2		0
18	1988	I'm Gonna Git You Sucka	Minor Role (uncredited)	64
19	1989	That's Adequate	Standup Comic	32
20	1989	The Mighty Quinn	Maubee	61
21	1989	Robert Townsend: Partners in Crime: Vol. 3		0
22	1989	Robert Townsend: Partners in Crime: Vol. 4		0
23	1990	Robin Harris: One Night Stand	Bum #3	0
24	1991	The Five Heartbeats	Duck	74
25	1993	The Meteor Man	Jefferson Reed	58
26	1994	The Legend of Dolemite! Bigger & Badder	Self	0
27	1997	Stuart Hall: Representation & the Media	Archive Footage (Hollywood Shuffle)	80
28	1999	Joseph's Gift	James Saunders	0
29	1999	Love Songs	Champ	80
30	1999	Jackie's Back!	Robert Townsend	65
31	1999	Mercenary II: Thick & Thin	Charlie Love	47
32	1999	Taxman	Peyton Cody	35
33	2000	Up, Up, and Away	Jim Marshall / Bronze Eagle	57
34	2000	Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light		60
35	2002	Book of Love: The Definitive Reason Why Men Are Dogs		100
36	2002	Undercover Brother	Mr. UB	59
37	2002	I Was a Teenage Faust	Mr. Five	55
38	2003	Richard Pryor: I Ain't Dead Yet, #*%$#@!!	Self	80
39	2003	Black Listed	Alan Chambers	25
40	2006	Edge of Outside	Bobby Taylor (archive footage)	58
41	2007	Tao of The Golden Mask		0
42	2008	Of Boys and Men	Holden Cole	77
43	2009	Why We Laugh: Black Comedians on Black Comedy	Self	80
44	2009	Directors on Directing	Self	0
45	2012	Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire	Vampire Actor #1 (voice)	77
46	2015	Playin' for Love	Coach Banks	50
47	2019	A Walk with Charles Burnett	Self	0

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1972	MAS*H	Patient	79
2	1985	Amazing Stories	Billy Burliss	75
3	1991	The Carol Burnett Show		73
4	1995	The Parent 'Hood	Robert Peterson	73
5	1995	Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child	Rumpelstiltskin (voice)	60
6	1998	Hollywood Squares		72
7	2005	Black in the 80s	Self	0
8	2018	Black Lightning	Dr. Napier Frank	70
9	2022	The Bear	Emmanuel Adamu	82
10	2024	Before		65

Robert Townsend

Film

Television