New York-born Saturday Night Live cast member Tracy Morgan memorably spoofed everyone from Fat Albert to Tiger Woods' father during his time on the long-running comedy television staple. Working in mostly bit roles until a scathingly incisive skit in which he claimed that his biggest role each week was the guy waving in the background during the closing credits, Morgan then began a streak of standout characters that quickly placed his distinctive mark among his fellow cast members.
Morgan appeared on television's Martin before joining the cast of SNL in September 1996, later appearing in 3rd Rock From the Sun and in such films as Half Baked (1998) and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001). With his film career picking up momentum with such comedies as 30 Years to Life and Frank McKlusky, C.I., it appeared that Morgan would enjoy a healthy career away from his Saturday Night Live home. Morgan appeared in the Chris Rock-directed comedy Head of State, and was the star of the short-lived sitcom The Tracy Morgan Show. He also contributed regularly to the prank-phone-calls-with-puppets series Crank Yankers. In addition to a video release compiling his most memorable moments from Saturday Night Live, Morgan appeared in Adam Sandler's remake of The Longest Yard, and played a role in the Wayans brothers comedy Little Man. Morgan was one of many contributors to Bob Saget's spoof Farce of the Penguins. In the fall of 2006, he joined the cast of 30 Rock, former SNL head writer Tina Fey's new sitcom about the backstage antics at a similar live sketch comedy show. A major hit for NBC, 30 Rock earned Morgan an Emmy nomination in 2009, and was still going strong three years later. Meanwhile, when he wasn't cracking up television viewers, Morgan could frequently be seen on the big screen in such films as the Kevin Smith buddy cop comedy Cop Out, and the Neil LaBute remake Death at a funeral. Though in 2011 Morgan received a verbal lashing from GLAAD following a stand-up routine that the organization viewed as homophobic, the quick witted writers at 30 Rock wasted no time turning versy into comedy gold by poking fun at the incident in primetime.
