# Doug E. Doug
**Doug E. Doug** (born Douglas Bourne, 1970, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American actor, comedian, producer, director, and writer who came to screen acting from stand-up comedy and is best known for playing Sanka Coffie in the 1993 Disney film *Cool Runnings* and Griffin Vesey on the CBS sitcom *Cosby*.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Birth name and date | Douglas Bourne, born 1970 in Brooklyn, New York[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/doug-doug-e-1970-douglas-bourne) |
| Start in comedy | Began as a stand-up comedian at age 17, appearing at the Apollo Theater, the Comic Strip, and other venues across the United States[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/doug-doug-e-1970-douglas-bourne) |
| Screen debut | A walk-on in Spike Lee's *Mo' Better Blues* (1990), after Lee saw his routine at the Apollo Theater[2](https://www.fandango.com/people/doug-e-doug-177508/biography) |
| Signature film role | Sanka Coffie in *Cool Runnings* (1993), a comedy loosely based on the 1988 Jamaican Olympic bobsled team[3](https://www.nbcsports.com/olympics/news/doug-e-doug-cool-runnings-bobsled-jamaica-winter-olympics) |
| Television leads | Douglas St. Martin on *Where I Live* (ABC, 1993) and a recurring role as Griffen Vesey on *Cosby* (CBS, 1996–2000)[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/doug-doug-e-1970-douglas-bourne) |
| Nominations | Independent Spirit Award, best male lead, 1992, for *Hangin' with the Homeboys*; Image Award nominations for *Cosby* in 1998, 1999, and 2000[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/doug-doug-e-1970-douglas-bourne) |
| Work behind the camera | Producer, director, and screenwriter of *Citizen James* (2000), in which he also played the title role[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/doug-doug-e-1970-douglas-bourne) |
## Early life and stand-up career
Doug grew up in Brooklyn and studied journalism and communications for three years at St. Johns University. While attending college he worked as a security guard at NBC and became a fixture on the New York comedy club circuit, performing at Sweetwaters, the Uptown Comedy Club, and the Comic Strip. He took to the road as a stand-up comic at 17, opening for [Miles Davis](https://www.edgepedia.org/miles-davis) and Kool and the Gang, and appeared at the [Apollo Theater](https://www.edgepedia.org/apollo-theater) in Harlem. His first paid gig, he has said, was at the Savage nightclub in New York City, where he learned that even a well-received performer may have to press to be paid.[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/doug-doug-e-1970-douglas-bourne) • [4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-02-28-tv-27-story.html) • [5](https://trainwreckdsociety.com/2019/11/06/doug-e-doug-interview/)
The break into film came from [Spike Lee](https://www.edgepedia.org/spike-lee), the writer-director, who saw Doug's routine at the Apollo Theater and invited him to do a walk-on in *Mo' Better Blues* (1990).[2](https://www.fandango.com/people/doug-e-doug-177508/biography)
## Film career
Doug's early film roles came quickly. He played Willie Stevens, an embittered Brooklyn teenager, in *Hangin' with the Homeboys* (1991), a performance that earned him an Independent Spirit Award nomination for best male lead in 1992, and he had a small part in Lee's *Jungle Fever* the same year. In 1992 he appeared in the comedy *Class Act* as Popsicle and in the horror comedy *Dr. Giggles* as Trotter.[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/doug-doug-e-1970-douglas-bourne) • [2](https://www.fandango.com/people/doug-e-doug-177508/biography)
**Cool Runnings.** In 1993 Doug played Sanka Coffie, the pusher-cart driver turned brakeman, in Disney's *Cool Runnings*, a comedy inspired by the true story of the first Jamaican Olympic bobsled team at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. The character, with his Rastafarian-style hair and the line "I feel so Olympic today!", became the face of the film's advertising campaign. Doug said the actors trained as athletes under a bobsled instructor from Montreal, and that the cast pushed a 600-pound sled down the 1,475-foot Olympic track at Calgary's Olympic Park for establishing shots. He welcomed the chance to appear in an uplifting story with African-American actors, telling the *Los Angeles Times*, "Enough other black-urban-ghetto-violence-crack-baby movies are made. Let's turn things around."[3](https://www.nbcsports.com/olympics/news/doug-e-doug-cool-runnings-bobsled-jamaica-winter-olympics) • [6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-09-30-ca-40417-story.html) • [7](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-18-vl-58215-story.html)
He has described the film's lasting appeal in similar terms: it is about "the little guy persevering and earning respect," a struggle he said audiences around the world recognize, which is why they root for the bobsledders.[5](https://trainwreckdsociety.com/2019/11/06/doug-e-doug-interview/) In a 2023 retrospective marking the film's 30th anniversary, he appeared alongside his fellow cast members Leon, Malik Yoba, and Rawle D Lewis, and director [Jon Turteltaub](https://www.edgepedia.org/jon-turteltaub).[8](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/features/cool-runnings-movie-making-of-b2420306.html)
**Later films.** Doug followed *Cool Runnings* with Henry "H. A." Ashford in *Operation Dumbo Drop* (1995) and Zeke Kelso in Disney's remake *That Darn Cat* (1997), opposite [Christina Ricci](https://www.edgepedia.org/christina-ricci). He has said he particularly enjoys making movies for families and children. His later screen work included the title role in *Citizen James* (2000), which he also produced and directed, Harlan Griffith in *Eight Legged Freaks* (2002), and the voice of Bernie, a Rastafarian jellyfish, in the animated feature *Shark Tale* (2004).[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/doug-doug-e-1970-douglas-bourne) • [5](https://trainwreckdsociety.com/2019/11/06/doug-e-doug-interview/) • [9](https://cinegraph.org/people/doug-e-doug)
## Television
Doug's first major television role came in 1993 as the star and co-producer of *Where I Live*, an ABC sitcom produced by Disney about a Harlem teenager navigating life with his friends and his middle-class family. The show was loosely based on his own life; executive producer Michael Jacobs, who conceived it after seeing Doug host a [New Year's Eve](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-years-eve) special in 1991, described the concept as a kind of contemporary, Harlem-set *Our Town*, with Doug occasionally turning to the camera to address the audience directly. The role brought him a [Young Artist Award](https://www.edgepedia.org/young-artist-award) nomination for best youth comedian in 1994.[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/doug-doug-e-1970-douglas-bourne) • [4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-02-28-tv-27-story.html)
From 1996 to 2000 he played Griffen Vesey, the boyfriend of [Bill Cosby](https://www.edgepedia.org/bill-cosby)'s character's daughter, in a recurring role on the CBS sitcom *Cosby*, earning NAACP Image Award nominations for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series in 1998, 1999, and 2000.[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/doug-doug-e-1970-douglas-bourne) • [10](https://tv.apple.com/sg/person/doug-e-doug/umc.cpc.q39p3xvztugsr2gx3st9wogo)
His other television work has been wide-ranging. He hosted and co-wrote *The New Music Report*, a local New York music and talk show on WNBC, hosted specials including *The Making of Operation Dumbo Drop* (The [Disney Channel](https://www.edgepedia.org/disney-channel), 1995) and the Caribbean Music Awards (1997), and voiced Percy Mulch on the [Nickelodeon](https://www.edgepedia.org/nickelodeon) animated series *Little Bill*. Guest appearances include *Diagnosis Murder*, *Touched by an Angel*, *Law & Order*, *Law & Order: Special Victims Unit*, *Justified*, and *Blue Bloods*, and he starred as Lemont in the series *[Brown Nation](https://www.edgepedia.org/brown-nation)* (2016).[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/doug-doug-e-1970-douglas-bourne) • [11](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/doug-e-doug/credits/3030518590/) • [12](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/18037/doug-e-doug)
## Writing and other work
Doug has worked across formats as a writer and host. He wrote for *The New Music Report* and contributed to *Spin*, and his screenwriting credit is the *Citizen James* screenplay, which he also directed and produced.[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/doug-doug-e-1970-douglas-bourne) In a 2019 interview he said that if he were limited to one creative pursuit he would choose writing, "nothing brings me more joy," and promoted his first novel, *The Fall of '87*, as forthcoming.[5](https://trainwreckdsociety.com/2019/11/06/doug-e-doug-interview/) His stated interests outside performance include promoting literacy and mentoring, studying music, and playing the trumpet.[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/doug-doug-e-1970-douglas-bourne)
## References
1. [Doug, Doug E. 1970– (Douglas Bourne), Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/doug-doug-e-1970-douglas-bourne)
2. [Doug E. Doug Biography, Fandango](https://www.fandango.com/people/doug-e-doug-177508/biography)
3. [Doug E. Doug reflects on 'Cool Runnings', NBC Sports](https://www.nbcsports.com/olympics/news/doug-e-doug-cool-runnings-bobsled-jamaica-winter-olympics)
4. [Profile: Hangin' With Doug E., Los Angeles Times (February 28, 1993)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-02-28-tv-27-story.html)
5. [Doug E. Doug [Interview], Trainwreck'd Society (November 6, 2019)](https://trainwreckdsociety.com/2019/11/06/doug-e-doug-interview/)
6. [From Real Life to Screen Proved Tough Sledding, Los Angeles Times (September 30, 1993)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-09-30-ca-40417-story.html)
7. [Kids on Film: Reggae, Bobsledding, the Olympics, Los Angeles Times (November 18, 1993)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-18-vl-58215-story.html)
8. [Cool Runnings at 30, as told by its stars, The Independent (September 30, 2023)](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/features/cool-runnings-movie-making-of-b2420306.html)
9. [Doug E. Doug, Cinegraph](https://cinegraph.org/people/doug-e-doug)
10. [Doug E. Doug, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/sg/person/doug-e-doug/umc.cpc.q39p3xvztugsr2gx3st9wogo)
11. [Doug E. Doug List of Movies and TV Shows, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/doug-e-doug/credits/3030518590/)
12. [Doug E. Doug, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/18037/doug-e-doug)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames Do to Es*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license