Early life & career

Morgan was born in The Bronx, New York, the son of Jimmy Morgan, a musician.[1] After attending De Witt Clinton High School in the Bronx, He was discovered in 1984 while doing stand-up at The Apollo. Tracy Morgan began his career on Martin, where he played Hustle Man. The character sold random items he had from the 'hood, always greeting people with his trademark "What's happ'n, chief?" In the 2003 movie Head of State, starring Chris Rock, Morgan appears several times as a man watching television, often questioning why they aren't watching Martin.

Tracy was also a regular cast member on "Uptown Comedy Club", a sketch comedy show filmed in Harlem, New York City which aired from 1992 to 1994 on various channels. It had a predominantly African-American cast, but there were a couple of white performers, notably Jim Breuer. He was also on the HBO show Snaps.

Saturday Night Live

Morgan joined the cast of comedy show Saturday Night Live in 1996, where he performed as a regular until 2003. Morgan performed a variety of characters on the program, including Brian Fellow, Dominican Lou, Bishop Don "Mack" Donald (from Pimp Chat), Astronaut Jones, African Andy, Benny the Bengal, and Woodrow. Morgan is also credited with impressions of Aretha Franklin, Harry Belafonte, Maya Angelou, Samuel L. Jackson, Mike Tyson, Judge Greg Mathis, Oprah Winfrey, and Star Jones.

Other work

Morgan had his own show, The Tracy Morgan Show, in 2003, which was cancelled after one season.

Morgan also had a stand-up special entitled "One Mic," that was shown on Comedy Central. Morgan was the host of the first Spike Guys' Choice Awards, which aired on June 13, 2007. In 2003, he was on an episode of Punk'd in which his car was towed from the valet parking. He can be heard as "Spoonie Luv" on the Comedy Central program Crank Yankers and as Woof in the MTV2 Animated Series Where My Dogs At?.

Morgan acted in commercials for ESPN NFL 2K, ESPN NBA 2K, and ESPN NHL 2K where he co-starred with Warren Sapp, Ben Wallace and Jeremy Roenick. He appeared in the movie The Longest Yard, starring Adam Sandler, as a transvestite inmate. Morgan is currently a cast member of the NBC television show 30 Rock, playing the character "Tracy Jordan", a caricature of himself.

Morgan will host the new season of Scare Tactics, the Sci-Fi Channel's gruesome hidden camera show that "punks" people by using their worst fears against them.