Martin Fitzgerald Lawrence, born on April 16, 1965, is an American actor and comedian. He kicked off his career with stand-up gigs at spots like The Improv, landed his first acting gig on the sitcom What’s Happening Now!! (1987–1988), and co-created the Fox hit Martin (1992–1997) as the lead character. This propelled him to major films, starting with Detective Sergeant Marcus Burnett in the action-comedy Bad Boys (1995) and its sequels.
Before fame
Born while his father John served in the U.S. military in Frankfurt, Germany, Lawrence grew up mostly in Maryland. As a youth, he juggled various jobs to support his family and competed as a Mid-Atlantic Golden Gloves boxing contender until an eye injury derailed his boxing ambitions.
Trivia
In 1994, Saturday Night Live issued a lifetime ban after Lawrence’s edgy jokes about women’s hygiene.
Family life
He was engaged to actress Lark Voorhies in 1993, he married Miss Virginia USA Patricia Southall in 1995; they had daughter Jasmine Page (born 1996) before divorcing in 1997. Lawrence then dated Shamicka Gibbs, with whom he shares daughters Iyanna Faith (born 2000) and Amara Trinity (born 2002); they wed in 2010 and divorced in 2012, agreeing to joint custody.