John Witherspoon

Acting

John Witherspoon

Born 1942-01-27 · Detroit, Michigan, USA

John Witherspoon was an African-American comedian and actor who has roles in over 20 movies and television shows. Acting for over three decades, Witherspoon starred in films such as Hollywood Shuffle (1987), Boomerang (1992), and the Friday film series. He also made appearances on television shows such as Barnaby Jones (1973), The Wayans Brothers (1994-99), The Tracy Morgan Show (2003), and Boondocks (2005). He has also taken his success in acting into screenwriting a movie called From the Old School where he takes the role as an elderly working man who tries to prevent a neighborhood convenience store from being developed into a strip club. Witherspoon released The John Witherspoon Collection, a line of comical greeting cards known as Spoon Cards.

Acting credits

Little Man poster
5.9

After leaving prison, dwarf criminal Calvin Sims joins his moron brother Percy in stealing an expensive huge diamond from a jewelry store for the mobster Walken. They are chased by the police, and Calvin hides the stone in the purse of executive Vanessa Edwards, whose husband Darryl Edwards wants to have a baby. Percy convinces Calvin to dress like a baby and be left in front of the Edwards' house to get inside the house and retrieve the diamond. Darryl and Vanessa keep Calvin for the weekend and decide to adopt him, while Walken threatens Darryl to get the stone back.

Little Man

2006

Fatal Instinct poster
5.5

Ned Ravine is a police officer and lawyer who occasionally defends the delinquents he arrests. He crosses paths with seductive Lola Cain during an assignment and promptly begins an affair with her. Meanwhile, Ned's wife, Lana, is deep in an affair of her own. Lana and her lover are planning to murder Ned in an elaborate fashion so they can collect on his triple indemnity life insurance policy.

Fatal Instinct

1993

Friday poster
7.1

Craig and Smokey are two guys in Los Angeles hanging out on their porch on a Friday afternoon, smoking and drinking, looking for something to do.

Friday

1995

House Party poster
6.4

Young Kid has been invited to a party at his friend Play's house. But after a fight at school, Kid's father grounds him. None the less, Kid sneaks out when his father falls asleep. But Kid doesn't know that three of the thugs at school have decided to give him a lesson in behavior.

House Party

1990

Little Nicky poster
5.8

After the lord of darkness decides he will not cede his throne to any of his three sons, the two most powerful of them escape to Earth to create a kingdom for themselves. This action closes the portal filtering sinful souls to Hell and causes Satan to wither away. He must send his most weak but beloved son, Little Nicky, to Earth to return his brothers to Hell.

Little Nicky

2000

A Thousand Words poster
6.1

Jack McCall is a fast-talking literary agent, who can close any deal, any time, any way. He has set his sights on New Age guru Dr. Sinja for his own selfish purposes. But Dr. Sinja is on to him, and Jack’s life comes unglued after a magical Bodhi tree mysteriously appears in his backyard. With every word Jack speaks, a leaf falls from the tree and he realizes that when the last leaf falls, both he and the tree are toast. Words have never failed Jack McCall, but now he’s got to stop talking and conjure up some outrageous ways to communicate or he’s a goner.

A Thousand Words

2012

Dr. Dolittle 2 poster
5.3

A group of beavers ask Dr. Dolittle to save their habitat from loggers. The only hope is to get the forest preserved because it's the home of a protected bear, but there's a problem: the bear's the only bear in the forest, so she can't reproduce. Undaunted, Dolittle persuades a circus bear to help out, but he has to teach him not just the ways of the wild, but the wiles of lady bears too.

Dr. Dolittle 2

2001

Bird poster
6.9

Saxophone player Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker comes to New York in 1940 and is quickly noticed for his remarkable way of playing. He becomes a drug addict but his loving wife Chan tries to help him.

Bird

1988

Soul Plane poster
5.5

Following a ridiculously awful flight that leads to his pet's death, Nashawn Wade files a lawsuit against the airline, and wins a multimillion-dollar settlement. Determined to create a better flying experience, Nashawn starts his own airline, one that caters to an African-American clientele. Going into business with a tricked-out plane piloted by the smooth Capt. Mack, the airline hits a snag when it has to deal with the family of Elvis Hunkee.

Soul Plane

2004

Boomerang poster
5.7

Marcus is a successful advertising executive who woos and beds women almost at will. After a company merger he finds that his new boss, the ravishing Jacqueline, is treating him in exactly the same way. Completely traumatised by this, his work goes badly downhill.

Boomerang

1992

Next Friday poster
6.5

A streetwise man flees South Central Los Angeles heading to the suburbs and his lottery-winner uncle and cousin to avoid a neighborhood thug with a grudge who has just escaped from prison. But trouble soon follows and the suburbs will never be the same.

Next Friday

2000

Friday After Next poster
6.4

Craig and his cousin Day-Day have finally moved out of their parents' houses and into their own crib, working nights at a local mall as security guards. When their house is robbed on Christmas Eve they set out to track down the culprit.

Friday After Next

2002

I'm Gonna Git You Sucka poster
6.4

Jack Spade returns from the army in his old ghetto neighbourhood when his brother, June Bug, dies. Jack declares war on Mr. Big, powerful local crimelord. His army is led by John Slade, his childhood idol who used to fight bad guys in the 70s.

I'm Gonna Git You Sucka

1988

After Sex poster
5.5

Sex is a background to examine intimacy and vulnerability. Looks at the complexity of modern day relationships told through eight separate couples. Through dialogue and compromising situations, the film takes us from the beginning of a relationship to the aftermath of one, and examines every stage in between seeing humor within the drama, heartache and confusion of it all.

After Sex

2007

Vampire in Brooklyn poster
5.1

Detective Rita Veder is assigned to a baffling serial murder case. After examining the crime scene — a corpse-filled ship found adrift at sea — she meets Maximilian, a smooth-talking Caribbean playboy determined to romance her.

Vampire in Brooklyn

1995

The Meteor Man poster
5.8

One night Jefferson Reed gets hit in the chest by a souped-up chunk of meteor. So he can fly, but he's scared of heights. He can master the information in any book ... for about thirty seconds. Now his friends and family want him to protect their community from the dreaded Golden Lords.

The Meteor Man

1993

Bulworth poster
6.3

A suicidally disillusioned liberal politician puts a contract out on himself and takes the opportunity to be bluntly honest with his voters by affecting the rhythms and speech of hip-hop music and culture.

Bulworth

1998

Hollywood Shuffle poster
6.5

Aspiring actor and hot-dog stand employee Bobby Taylor catches the ire of his grandmother for auditioning for a role in the regrettably titled exploitation film "Jivetime Jimmy's Revenge." When Tinseltown Studios casts Taylor in the title role, he has a series of conflicted dreams satirizing African-American stereotypes in Hollywood, and must reconcile his career goals with his desire to remain a positive role model for his little brother.

Hollywood Shuffle

1987

The Jazz Singer poster
5.9

A young Jewish man is torn between tradition and individuality when his old-fashioned family objects to his career as a jazz singer.

The Jazz Singer

1980

The Ladies Man poster
5.4

Because of his salacious language, late-night radio advice-show host Leon Phelps, along with his sweet and loyal producer Julie, is fired from his Chicago gig. Leon gets a letter from a former lover promising a life of wealth, but he doesn't know who she is. Can Leon find his secret sugar-mama? What about Julie?

The Ladies Man

2000

Boosters LA poster
NR

James and his best friend Lisa struggle to stay one step ahead of the law while heading their boosting operation through the clothing racks of LA.

Boosters LA

2022

The Five Heartbeats poster
7.3

In the early 1960s, a quintet of hopeful, young African-American men form an amateur vocal group called The Five Heartbeats. After an initially rocky start, the group improves, turns pro, and rises to become a top flight music sensation. Along the way, however, the guys learn many hard lessons about the reality of the music industry.

The Five Heartbeats

1991

Bebe's Kids poster
6.1

When Robin meets the lovely Jamika he thinks he's in heaven. But when he meets her friend Bebe's children, whom she is looking after, he knows he's in hell.

Bebe's Kids

1992

I Got the Hook-Up poster
5.5

Two broke buddies feel lucky when they come upon a truckload of cellular phones and begin selling them out of the back of their van. Trouble arises though, when the phones develop faults. The two friends then not only have to deal with unsatisfied customers but also the FBI.

I Got the Hook-Up

1998