“BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG”
“You have to coooooooordinate”
Those are just a couple of the famous lines that fans worldwide remember about legendary actor John Witherspoon. It was confirmed by his family today that the funnyman died on Tuesday, October 29, 2019. He was 77.
“It is with deep sadness we have to tweet this,” posts the family of Witherspoon on Instagram. “But our husband & father John Witherspoon has passed away. He was a Legend in the entertainment industry, and a father figure to all who watched him over the years. We love you “POPS” always & forever. We are all in shock, please give us a minute for a moment in privacy and we will celebrate his life and his work together. John used to say ‘I’m no big deal’, but he was huge deal to us.- The Witherspoon Family”
Witherspoon is perhaps best known for his role in the Friday movies and for voicing Robert Jebediah “Grandad” Freeman in The Boondocks. Witherspoon has acted in several movies and television shows throughout his long career, such as Hollywood Shuffle, Boomerang, Vampire In Brooklyn, I’m Gonna Get You Sucka, House Party, I Got the Hook-Up, Soul Plane, Little Man, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Wayans Brothers, Living Single, The Tracy Morgan Show, Black Jesus, Black Dynamite…the list goes on and on.
He always played a memorable character in anything he was in. I mean, just looking at him, you know you had to laugh.
Born John “Weatherspoon” in Detroit, Michigan, John found laughter in just about anything, including how he grew up in a family of 11 brothers and sisters. “My mother made me wear two left boots to school when I was in 5th grade,” explains John. “You never forget that when you’re growing up. That’s why I work so hard now.”
Her later changed his name to “Witherspoon” legally. And many people don’t know this, but Witherspoon used to work as a…