Bio
Nick Cannon is an American actor, comedian, rapper and television personality. On television, he began as a teenage sketch comedian on All That before going on to host The Nick Cannon Show and Wild 'n Out and later America's Got Talent.
A San Diego native, Cannon began performing at the age of eight after his grandfather left him several instruments as gifts.
Through what Cannon recalls as "a lot of trial and failure," he recorded his first song at home on his boom box. Soon after, Cannon took to the stage to perform his music along with standup comedy.
Cannon headed for Hollywood at age 15 and landed gigs at world-renowned comedy venues, including the Improv, the Laugh Factory and the Comedy Store.
Cannon went on to share the stage with the likes of Chris Tucker, Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock before landing his first television gig as a standup audience warm-up for the long-running Nickelodeon hit show All That.
Producers quickly recognised Cannon's calling was in front of the camera and he became a regular on the show as well as a writer, making him the youngest staff writer in television history at the age of 17.
This path culminated in the creation of The Nick Cannon Show in which he starred, directed and executive produced - all of which earned him his first Kids' Choice Award.
Cannon's stage presence captivated more than just pint-sized audiences. While he enjoyed tremendous success on Nickelodeon, Cannon's career catapulted onto the big screen in 2002.
He made an appearance alongside Will Smith in Men in Black II before landing a leading role in the feature Drumline. That same year he released his own self-titled debut album, and has collaborated with a host of other musicians, such as Kanye West, the Neptunes, Diddy, Mary J. Blige, Will Smith, R. Kelly and E-40, on soundtracks and other projects.
Cannon later voiced the character of Louis in Garfield: The Movie, and starred in films such Underclassman (which he also executive produced), Shall We Dance? and Roll Bounce.
In 2005, MTV debuted Nick Cannon Presents Wild 'N' Out, an improv comedy show with musical performances that Cannon created, produced and hosted that eventually became one of MTV's highest-rated shows in the network's history. The series aired new episodes for four consecutive seasons.
In the fall of 2006, Cannon was featured in Bobby, the film written and directed by Emilio Estevez, which was a fictionalised account of the hours leading up to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.
Cannon shared the screen with stars such as Harry Belafonte, Demi Moore, Laurence Fishburne, Anthony Hopkins, Sharon Stone and many others.
His performance earned him a 2007 SAG nomination for Outstanding Performance in addition to becoming the first African-American actor in history to be honoured at the Cannes Film Festival with the Breakthrough Actor of the Year award.
In 2008, Cannon hosted the Teen Choice Awards for FBC, and was the host/deejay for ABC's Presidential Inaugural Neighborhood Ball. Also in that year, he married singer Mariah Carey.
Cannon's other film credits include the Sundance Film Festival films Weapons and American Son. He also appeared in the psychological thriller, The Killing Room.
He now has his own multi-media company - NCredible Entertainment - which has several TV shows and films in development.
In 2013 he starred as a fictional version of himself in the comedy-improv reality television parody series Real Husbands of Hollywood.