Lewis Black
Birthdate – August 30, 1948 (76 Years Old)
Birthplace – Washington, D.C.
Lewis Black (birthname: Lewis Niles Black) has taken his signature stand-up comedy persona, characterized by gruff, caustic anger directed irreverently in every direction, to the big screen in several features since his debut appearance in Woody Allen’s Hannah and her Sisters (1986). Black was then cast in a string of small supporting roles in Jacob’s Ladder (1990), The Hard Way (1991), The Night We Never Met (1993), and Joey Breaker (1993).
Black began to be cast in more significant supporting roles with the Steve Pink-directed comedy, Accepted (2006), starring Justin Long, Blake Lively, Anthony Heald, and Jonah Hill, and grossing $38.6 million for Universal Pictures. Black’s profile increased this same year with top supporting roles in both writer-director Barry Levinson’s political satire, Man of the Year (2006), starring Robin Williams, Christopher Walken, Laura Linney, and Jeff Goldblum, and turning a mild profit for Universal with over $41 million in global grosses; and in co-writer and director Fay Ann Lee’s New York rom-com, Falling for Grace (2006), with Lee, Gale Harold, Margaret Cho, Roger Rees, Ken Leung, and Christine Baranski, which premiered at the Tribeca film festival and then was released by Canal Street Pictures.
Lewis Black had his first starring role in Warner Bros.’ Christmas comedy, Unaccompanied Minors (2006), with Wilmer Valderrama, Tyler James Williams, Rob Corddry, Rob Riggle, B.J. Novak, Mindy Kaling, Kristen Wiig, Al Roker, and Teri Garr under Paul Feig’s direction, and returning $22 million in global box office. Black played the narrator of the comedy-drama, Peep World (2010), directed by Barry W. Blaustein and co-starring Judy Greer, Michael C. Hall, Taraji P. Henson, Kate Mara, Ron Rifkin, Ben Schwartz, Sarah Silverman, Lesley Ann Warren, and Rainn Wilson, resulting in disastrous box office for IFC Films (under $15,000) after premiering at the Toronto film festival.
Black played himself in a few features in ensuing years, including the little-seen Canadian drama set in the Afghanistan war, Afghan Luke (2011), and co-writer/director Neil Berkeley’s documentary about late comic Gilbert Gottfried, Gilbert (2017), in which Black joined fellow comics and actors Joy Behar, Richard Belzer, Dick Van Dyke, Jim Gaffigan, Whoopi Goldman, Arsenio Hall, Penn Jillette, Richard Kind, Artie Lange, Jay Leno, Howie Mandel, Joe Piscopo, Paul Provenza, and Bob Saget, and which was released limited by Gravitas Ventures.
Black enjoyed his most prominent and acclaimed big-screen performance as the voice of Anger in Disney/Pixar’s acclaimed animated movie, Inside Out (2015), starring Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Kind, Bill Hader, Mindy Kaling, Diane Lane, and Kyle MacLachlan, under the direction of co-writer Pete Doctor, and which grossed an outstanding $858.8 million worldwide and winning the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
Lewis Black continued his run of voice performances in animation in the U.S./China co-production, Rock Dog (2016), co-written and directed by Ash Brannon, and with the voices of Luke Wilson, J.K. Simmons, Eddie Izzard, Kenan Thompson, Jorge Garcia, Matt Dillon, and Sam Elliott, and receiving mixed reviews and weak box office ($24 million on $60 million costs) for distributors Lionsgate and Huayi Brothers. Black appeared in a supporting role in the little-seen indie movie, Better Off Single (2016), directed and written by Benjamin Cox and co-starring Aaron Tveit, Abby Elliott, Kal Penn, and Lauren Miller Rogen.
Black resumed his role as Anger in Disney/Pixar’s long-awaited sequel, Inside Out 2 (2024), with returning stars as well as new cast members Tony Hale, Liza Lapira, Maya Hawke, Ayo Edebiri, Adele Exarchopoulos, and Paul Walter Hauser, under Kelsey Mann’s direction.
Personal Details
Lewis Black was born in Washington, D.C., and was raised in Silver Springs, Maryland by his parents Jeannette Black (teacher) and Samuel Black (artist, mechanical engineer). Lewis Black had one younger brother, Robert, who succumbed to cancer when he was 47 years old in 1997. Black attended the University of Maryland, College Park for his freshman year, and transferred to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he studied playwriting, and graduated in 1970.
After a break creating a theater company in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Black returned to Washington, D.C. Black’s first marriage lasted ten months in 1974-1975. Black attended the Yale School of Drama at Yale University, where he earned an MFA in playwriting in 1977. Black’s height is 5’ 9”. Black’s estimated net worth is $2.5 million.
Filmography
Inside Out
Anger(voice) (2015)
Anger ()
Rock Dog
Linnux (2017)
Hannah and Her Sisters
Paul (1986)
Inside Out 2
Anger (2024)
Gilbert
Self (2017)
Downwind
(2023)
Some Facts About Lewis Black
Playwright: Lewis Black has written over 40 plays.
State of the World: Black has commented that, in his lifetime, “we’ve gone from Dwight D. Eisenhower to George W. Bush…if this is evolution, I believe that in twelve years, we’ll be voting for plants.”
On Golf: Lewis Black dislikes golf, to the point of observing that “golf is a game that was invented for people who don’t hate themselves enough in their daily lives.”
Influence: Black’s major influence on his comedy is late, great comedian George Carlin, along with Lily Tomlin, Richard Pryor, Lenny Bruce, Bob Newhart, and Shelley Berman.
Author: Lewis Black is the author of an autobiography, Nothing’s Sacred, published in 2005, as well as the books Me of Little Faith (2008), and I’m Dreaming of a Black Christmas (2010). Black has also released 14 CDs and 11 DVDs of his stand-up concerts.
Awards
Winner, Funniest Male Stand-Up Comic, American Comedy Awards (2001); Nominee, Best Variety, Music or Comedy Special, Emmy Awards (2007); Two-time Winner, Best Comedy Album, Grammy Awards (2007, 2011); Two-time Winner, Best Supporting Male Vocal in a Feature Film/Best Vocal Ensemble in a Feature Film, Behind the Voice Actors Awards (2016).
