Keegan-Michael Key

Keegan-Michael Key (born March 22, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. He and Jordan Peele co-created and co-starred in Comedy Central's sketch series Key & Peele (2012–2015) for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award. He also acted in the FOX sketch series Mad TV (2004–2009), USA Networks's sitcom Playing House (2014–2017), the Netflix comedy series Friends from College (2017–2019) and the Hulu series Reboot (2022). He also appeared alongside Peele in the first season of the FX series Fargo in 2014, and had a recurring role on Parks and Recreation from 2013 to 2015. Key currently stars in the Apple TV+ musical comedy series Schmigadoon! (2021–present). Key has had supporting roles in several films, including Horrible Bosses 2 in (2014), Pitch Perfect 2 (2015), Don't Think Twice (2016), Dolemite Is My Name (2019), and The Prom (2020). He has provided voice-work for The Lego Movie (2014), the subsequent films of the Hotel Transylvania franchise (2015–2022), Storks, The Angry Birds Movie (both 2016), The Star (2017), Wendell & Wild (2022), and The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023). He has also voiced roles in Disney's Toy Story 4 (2019) and the live action remakes of The Lion King (2019), and Pinocchio (2022). In 2015, he appeared at the White House Correspondents' Dinner as the Key & Peele character Luther, President Barack Obama's anger translator. Key and Peele produced and starred in the 2016 action-comedy film Keanu. In 2017, Key made his Broadway debut in Steve Martin's comic play Meteor Shower. He hosted The Planet's Funniest Animals on Animal Planet (2005–2008), and hosted Game On! on CBS in 2020. Early life Key was born in Southfield, Michigan, on March 22, 1971, the son of an African-American father, Leroy McDuffie, and Carrie Herr, a woman of Polish and Flemish descent. He was adopted at a young age by a couple from Detroit, Michael Key and Patricia Walsh, who were both social workers. Like his birth parents, his adoptive parents were also a black man and a white woman. Through his biological father, Key had two half-brothers, one of whom was comic book writer Dwayne McDuffie. Key discovered the existence of his half-siblings only after they had both died. Raised Catholic, Key attended the University of Detroit Mercy as an undergraduate, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theater in 1993, followed by a Master of Fine Arts in theater at Pennsylvania State University in 1996.