Martin Lawrence

Martin's favorite NBA basketball team is the Detroit Pistons.

Martin's mother named him after civil rights activist Martin Luther King. His middle name came from late President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

Martin's height is 5' 7¼" (1.71 m).

Martin married Patricia Southall, a former Miss Virginia winner, in January 1995. The couple had a daughter, Jasmine Page, born on January 15, 1996. Martin and Patricia later divorced in September 1997. Lawrence also has two other daughters, Iyanna and Amara, born in 2001 and 2003.

Martin was a 90 pound, mid-Atlantic Golden Gloves boxer in his teen years, calling his boxing trainer his only father figure.

Martin won the 'Icon Comedy Award' from BET in 2005.

Martin popularized his trademark phrase 'Whasssssup?'

Martin was robbed at gunpoint in broad daylight, while employed as a gas station attendant.

When Martin was a teen, he worked at Sears with future stars Salt-N-Peppa, and Kid'N'Play in Queens, New York.

Martin is credited as a writer, actor, director, producer, comedian, and music supervisor.

Martin was awarded two NAACP Image Awards in 1995 & 1996 for 'Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series' for his work on Martin.

In August 1999, Martin collapsed from heat exhaustion in the 100 degree Los Angeles heat while jogging. He lapsed into a coma in the hospital, but recovered fully.

Martin was banned for life from Saturday Night Live after his first appearance as host on February 19th, 1994 for an extremely crude monologue that had to be edited out.

Martin was personally selected by Russell Simmons to host the hit show on HBO, Def Comedy Jam, which exposed him to a brand new audience.

Martin was in music videos for: Kid'N'Play's 'Funhouse', JayZ's 'Girls Best Friend', and Diana King's 'Shy Guy'.

Martin's salary for: Bad Boys II in 2003 was $20,000,000.00, National Security in 2003 was $20,000,000.00, Black Knight in 2001 was $16,500,000.00, and Nothing To Lose was $6,000,000.00 in 1997.

Martin was arrested in August 1996, at the Burbank Airport for carrying a loaded and concealed weapon in his suitcase.

Martin was arrested March 28th, 1997 for punching a fellow nightclub patron. He was ordered to perform Community Service for the altercation.

Martin toned down his raunchy act to earn a spot on Star Search in 1987. The tape of his appearance made its way to the executives at Columbia Pictures and led to his role on Whats Happening Now!! in its final season.

Martin appeared briefly in Spike Lee's hit Do The Right Thing, as the guy ordering pizza during the riot. He also had a small role in the Hudlin brothers' House Party with Kid 'N' Play, as the tone-deaf DJ.

Martin was openly criticized by Bill Cosby for his vulgarity and for reinforcing negative stereotypes of blacks.

In 1984, Martin graduated from Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Maryland.

His teachers used to give him the last few minutes of class to make his classmates laugh.

Martin is the brother of Rae Proctor who has acted as Martin's personal assistant. Rae is also a producer.

Martin Lawrence is the second youngest of six children.

Tisha Campbell, Martin's co-star on Martin and in the House Party films, filed suit against the star and the show's producers, HBO Studios, saying Martin sexually harassed her and it was to the point that she feared for her safety. On the set of his directorial debut,A Thin Line Between Love and Hate, Martin erupted in a violent outburst and began taking psychotropic drugs. After that a few months later, he was arrested for another disturbance type situation, where he reportedly took out a pistol and screamed at tourists. Over the next two years, his behavior became even more dangerous and erratic as he racked up a series of gun-related arrests. He landed in drug rehab and filed for divorce from his current ex-wife, who was Miss Virginia,.... after she got a temporary restraining order against him for yet another vicious eruption.