Keenen Ivory Wayans Net Worth (2024)

What Is Keenen Ivory Wayans' Net Worth?

Keenen Ivory Wayans is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and director who has a net worth of $65 million. Keenen Ivory Wayans is a member of the Wayans family of entertainers, and many of his films include either film or some of his family members. Keenen Ivory Wayans was the co-creator and executive producer of the sketch comedy show "In Living Color" and produced many of his family members' hit films.

Early Life

Keenen Ivory Desuma Wayans Sr. was born on June 8, 1958, in Harlem, New York. His mother, Elvira Alethia, was a homemaker and social worker, and his father, Howell Stouten Wayans, worked as a supermarket manager. Keenen has nine siblings. He attended Seward Park High School, and received an engineering scholarship to Tuskegee University. However, he dropped out of college one semester before graduation to focus on comedy.

Career Beginnings

During his first performance at The Improv comedy club in New York, Wayans met actor/director Robert Townsend. Townsend taught Wayans about the comedy business, and they drove together to Los Angeles when Keenen moved to California in 1980. The two would go on to collaborate, even co-writing and co-starring in the 1987 film "Hollywood Shuffle." During this early period in his career, Wayans also had acting roles on television series like "Cheers" (1982) and "For Love and Honor" (1983). The success of "Hollywood Shuffle" helped Keenen get funding for his 1988 film "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka," which he both directed and starred in.

"In Living Color"

As his popularity and notoriety grew, Fox Broadcasting Company approached Wayans and offered him his own show. He wanted to make a show similar to the comedy show "Saturday Night Live" but with a cast of people of color and more daring, irreverent content. Thus, Wayans created the sketch comedy show "In Living Color," which ran on the Fox Network from 1990 to 1994. Many of his family members appeared on this show, including Damon Wayans, Kim Wayans, Shawn Wayans, and Marlon Wayans, and it is credited with not only launching their careers but the careers of actors such as Jim Carrey, David Alan Grier, Jamie Foxx, Alexandra Wentworth, and Kim Coles, among others. Jennifer Lopez also got her start on the show as a "Fly Girl" dancer.

Films and Other Projects

Wayans also directed the first two films of the insanely successful "Scary Movie" franchise, which were written by his brothers Shawn and Marlon (who also starred in the films). Keenen either wrote, produced, directed, or acted in "White Chicks," "Hollywood Shuffle," "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka," "A Low Down Dirty Shame," "Mo Money," "Blankman," "My Wife and Kids," "Dance Flick," and "Little Man," to name just a handful of the successful family's television and film projects.

He hosted the talk show "The Keenan Ivory Wayans Show" from 1997 to 1998 and was also the show's executive producer. From 2014 to 2015, he was a judge on the reality TV series "Last Comic Standing." Wayans won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1991 for "In Living Color" and was nominated for six more Primetime Emmys for the same series. The show also earned him an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Performance in an Educational/Informational Youth or Children's Series/Special and a PGA Award for Most Promising Producer in Television. In 2004, he won two BET Comedy Awards for the movie "White Chicks," Outstanding Directing and Outstanding Writing.

Personal Life

Keenan married Daphne Polk on June 16, 2001, and they welcomed five children together. However, the couple separated in 2004 and divorced in late 2006. Wayans has also been romantically linked to actress Brittany Daniel.

Real Estate

In 2007, Keenan paid $2.6 million for a home in Tarzana, California. In November 2020, he listed this home for sale for $3.2 million.