Kenan Thompson

Actor

Birthday May 10, 1978

Birth Sign Taurus

Birthplace Columbus, Ohio, U.S.

Age 45 years old

Nationality United States

Height 1.74 m

#3488 Most Popular

1975

He was also the first regular cast member born after the show's premiere in 1975.

Outside of SNL, Thompson starred on NBC's sitcom Kenan from 2021 to 2022.

1978

Kenan Thompson (born May 10, 1978) is an American comedian and actor.

Thompson was born on May 10, 1978, in Columbus, Ohio.

His parents are Fletcher and Elizabeth Ann Thompson.

He has two siblings: an older brother and a younger sister.

His family moved to Atlanta, Georgia, when he was 9 months old.

Thompson's mother enrolled him in acting classes at age five.

His first role as Toto in a church production of The Wiz had no lines.

He continued acting throughout his youth, appearing in school plays such as The Gingerbread Duck.

He auditioned for a theater company, The Youth Ensemble of Atlanta (YEA).

As a child, he was a fan of The Price Is Right, which he has called "my first love" and "very joyful viewing" that shaped his acting style.

One of Thompson's earliest roles was as an entertainment reporter for CNN's "Real News for Kids".

He went on to star in the original run of All That for its first five seasons, playing such characters as Principal Pimpell, Miss Piddlin, Pierre Escargot, and Superdude.

1990

Thompson began his acting career in the early 1990s, and was an original cast member of Nickelodeon's sketch comedy series All That (1994–2005), where he often collaborated with co-star Kel Mitchell.

1996

Beginning in 1996, they starred in their own sitcom Kenan & Kel (1996–2000).

He starred as Kenan Rockmore on Nickelodeon's Kenan & Kel from 1996 to 2000, mostly while still working on All That.

He began acting in his first film, D2: The Mighty Ducks, while attending Tri-Cities High School, a visual and performing arts magnet school in East Point, Georgia.

Thompson has starred in several films including Good Burger, based on the All That sketch of the same title, and Fat Albert, in which he played the title character.

He has also had supporting roles in the films Heavyweights, D2: The Mighty Ducks, D3: The Mighty Ducks, Love Don't Cost a Thing, Barbershop 2: Back in Business, My Boss's Daughter, and Snakes on a Plane.

2003

Thompson has been a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live since 2003, making him the longest-tenured cast member in the show's history.

2004

Thompson also had roles in The Mighty Ducks franchise, Good Burger, and as the title character in the 2004 film Fat Albert.

He has been nominated six times for a Primetime Emmy Award for his work on SNL, winning once.

He is ranked at No. 88 on VH1's 100 Greatest Teen Stars.

2009

In 2009, Thompson was a regular voice actor in the Fox animated series Sit Down, Shut Up, portraying Sue Sezno who, like her last name, always says no. The series premiered on April 19, 2009, but was canceled after only four episodes due to low ratings and poor reviews.

Thompson voiced the LeBron James puppet in Nike's MVP "Most Valuable Puppets" commercials, which were produced to be shown throughout the 2009 NBA playoffs.

Thompson also guest-starred as Gus's estranged college singing buddy on the USA Network series Psych in the fourth-season episode "High Top Fade Out".

2011

In 2011, he returned to Nickelodeon, guest-starring in "iParty with Victorious", a crossover episode of sitcoms iCarly and Victorious.

Thompson appeared as a host of sorts of TeenNick's retro programming block, The '90s Are All That, appearing in many of the block's early bumpers and hyping material.

2015

He would return to the block, eventually called NickRewind but at the time called The Splat, for All That's 22nd anniversary, with segments filmed at the 2015 New York Comic Con.

In 2015, film ticketing website Fandango announced that Thompson would play their brand character, Miles Mouvay.

Thompson would play Mouvay in 18 videos, eight 30-second commercials, and several comedic skits.

On September 23, 2015, Thompson appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon alongside former All That co-star Kel Mitchell in which they reprised their popular Good Burger roles as "Ed" and "Lester Oakes, Construction Worker".

2018

They later competed against one another in an episode of the revived Nickelodeon game show Double Dare that aired in November 2018.

2019

In 2019, Thompson served as a judge for NBC's comedy competition series Bring the Funny.

He also became an executive producer with Mitchell for Nickelodeon's All That revival, premiering in June.

In May 2019, NBC announced they had picked up Thompson's single-camera comedy The Kenan Show to series.

The series, retitled Kenan, premiered in 2021 on NBC, featuring Thompson as a newly-widowed father determined to be a "super dad".

He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series after its first season.

In May 2022, the series was canceled after its second season.