# List of In Living Color cast members
**In Living Color** was an American sketch comedy series on the Fox network, created by [Keenen Ivory Wayans](https://www.edgepedia.org/keenen-ivory-wayans), that premiered on April 15, 1990 and ran for five seasons through 1994[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048). Its cast was an ensemble of mostly Black and Latino comedians assembled around the [Wayans family](https://www.edgepedia.org/wayans-family), with a dance troupe, the Fly Girls, whose members included [Jennifer Lopez](https://www.edgepedia.org/jennifer-lopez) and Carrie Ann Inaba[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048). The show won an Emmy for Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Series before its second season, beating The Arsenio Hall Show, Saturday Night Live, and Late Night With David Letterman[2](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/03/in-living-color-televisions-boldest-bet/686500/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Creator and host | Keenen Ivory Wayans, also executive producer and head writer[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048) • [3](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED363546.pdf) |
| First-season cast | A predominantly Black ensemble[4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-11-04-ca-5343-story.html) |
| Wayans family in the cast | Damon, Shawn, and Marlon Wayans and Kim Wayans in starring roles[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048) |
| Later arrivals | Jamie Foxx (third season), Ali Wentworth (1993, featured player for two seasons), Chris Rock (special guest appearances in 1993)[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048) • [5](https://time.com/3507801/snl-chris-rock-prince/) |
| Dance troupe | The Fly Girls, choreographed by Rosie Perez for four seasons; members included Jennifer Lopez and Carrie Ann Inaba[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048) |
| Signature characters | Fire Marshall Bill and Vera de Milo (Carrey); Homey the Clown and Blaine Edwards of "Men on Films" (Damon Wayans); Wanda (Foxx); Luther (Davidson)[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048) • [6](https://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/In_Living_Color) |
| Emmy | Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Series, won before the season 2 premiere[2](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/03/in-living-color-televisions-boldest-bet/686500/) |
## Original cast
Keenen Ivory Wayans built the show around his family. Wayans had worked as a comedian and actor in films including [Hollywood Shuffle](https://www.edgepedia.org/hollywood-shuffle) and [I'm Gonna Git You Sucka](https://www.edgepedia.org/im-gonna-git-you-sucka) before creating the series, and he put brothers Damon, Shawn, and Marlon and sister Kim in starring roles[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048). A 1993 profile described the production as funky and urban, with a predominantly Black ensemble, a team of hip-hop dancers, and a house deejay, his brother Shawn, performing as SW1[3](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED363546.pdf).
The first-season cast of nine held seven Black and two white performers[4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-11-04-ca-5343-story.html). Kelly Coffield Park was the show's lone white female cast member in season one, playing characters including Film Noir Girl[7](https://www.bet.com/naacp-image-awards/photos/38ccz6/where-are-they-now-the-cast-of-in-living-color/1ytjr4).
The credited performers of the original ensemble were:
- **Keenen Ivory Wayans**, host, head writer, and executive producer[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048) • [3](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED363546.pdf)
- **Damon Wayans**, who created Homey the Clown and the flamboyant film critic of the "Men on Films" sketches[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048) • [6](https://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/In_Living_Color)
- **David Alan Grier**, a Yale-trained stage actor cast by Keenen after his appearance in I'm Gonna Git You Sucka; he played opposite Damon as the other half of the "Men on Films" critic duo[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048)
- **Jim Carrey**, then credited as James Carrey, whose characters included Fire Marshall Bill and the female bodybuilder Vera de Milo[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048)
- **Tommy Davidson**, whose roles included Luther, the cook at Snack n Shack[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048)
- **Kim Wayans**, Keenen's sister[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048)
- **Kim Coles**[7](https://www.bet.com/naacp-image-awards/photos/38ccz6/where-are-they-now-the-cast-of-in-living-color/1ytjr4)
- **T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh**[7](https://www.bet.com/naacp-image-awards/photos/38ccz6/where-are-they-now-the-cast-of-in-living-color/1ytjr4)
- **Kelly Coffield Park**, who impersonated [Roseanne Barr](https://www.edgepedia.org/roseanne-barr), Barbara Bush, and [Cyndi Lauper](https://www.edgepedia.org/cyndi-lauper), among others[7](https://www.bet.com/naacp-image-awards/photos/38ccz6/where-are-they-now-the-cast-of-in-living-color/1ytjr4) • [1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048)
- **Shawn Wayans**, performer and house deejay as SW1[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048) • [3](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED363546.pdf)
- **Marlon Wayans**, the youngest Wayans brother in the cast[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048)
## Later cast additions
Several performers joined after the first season. [Jamie Foxx](https://www.edgepedia.org/jamie-foxx) came aboard in the show's third season and is best remembered for the character Wanda; he went on to win an Oscar for his portrayal of [Ray Charles](https://www.edgepedia.org/ray-charles)[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048). [Chris Rock](https://www.edgepedia.org/chris-rock) left Saturday Night Live in 1993 to join the predominantly African American sketch show[5](https://time.com/3507801/snl-chris-rock-prince/). The Atlantic reports that Rock had grown frustrated with the limited roles he was given on SNL[2](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/03/in-living-color-televisions-boldest-bet/686500/), and per that account he appeared as a special guest star in a selected number of fifth-season skits, reprising his petty, cheapskate character from I'm Gonna Git You Sucka[2](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/03/in-living-color-televisions-boldest-bet/686500/) • [6](https://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/In_Living_Color).
[Ali Wentworth](https://www.edgepedia.org/ali-wentworth) joined in 1993 as a featured player for two seasons; Keenen cast her after seeing her character "super bimbo," a superhero who was also a bimbo[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048). Reggie McFadden, a Def Comedy Jam comic, appeared as a cast member for one season[8](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2026-10-05/reggie-mcfadden-in-living-color-comedian-dies-at-57). A cast member identified in one account as Tony Riley played an apathetic gas-station attendant in the "Great Moments in Black History" sketch that claimed a Black man had "invented" self-serve gas stations[2](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/03/in-living-color-televisions-boldest-bet/686500/).
## The Fly Girls
The show's dance troupe, the Fly Girls, performed between sketch segments and were described by Keenen Ivory Wayans as bringing hip-hop culture and sex appeal to the program; "fly girl" was, he said, a street term for attractive young women[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048) • [9](https://empac.rpi.edu/news/2016/depth-caroline-garcia-conjures-living-colors-fly-girls). Their routines accompanied live music breaks and were choreographed by [Rosie Perez](https://www.edgepedia.org/rosie-perez), who held the job for four seasons after drawing attention with her performance in the opening credits of [Spike Lee](https://www.edgepedia.org/spike-lee)'s Do the Right Thing[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048) • [10](https://www.labkoringoma.com.br/_files/ugd/592918_4522bfb76db14fb3b94dc185dbb7becb.pdf).
Jennifer Lopez joined the Fly Girls in the show's third season, which led to work as a backup dancer for [Janet Jackson](https://www.edgepedia.org/janet-jackson) before her acting and recording careers[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048). [Carrie Ann Inaba](https://www.edgepedia.org/carrie-ann-inaba) also began her career as a Fly Girl, later touring as a backup dancer for Madonna and becoming a judge on ABC's Dancing With the Stars[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048).
## Careers launched by the show
The cast became a launching pad for major film and television careers. Jim Carrey's movie career skyrocketed with Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, a film that reached theaters only a few months after the Fox show was canceled in 1994[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048). Damon Wayans later starred in the ABC series My Wife and Kids[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048). Keenen Ivory Wayans left the show completely in its fourth year amid complaints that Fox was censoring it, and later directed Scary Movie, starring his younger brothers Shawn and Marlon[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048).
David Alan Grier returned to Broadway in a revival of Porgy and Bess and continues to act, starring as ER doctor Ron in the NBC comedy St. Denis Medical[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048) • [7](https://www.bet.com/naacp-image-awards/photos/38ccz6/where-are-they-now-the-cast-of-in-living-color/1ytjr4). Kim Wayans moved toward dramatic work, earning accolades for her role in the indie film Pariah[1](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048). Kelly Coffield Park appeared as a guest on shows such as 30 Rock and The Good Wife[7](https://www.bet.com/naacp-image-awards/photos/38ccz6/where-are-they-now-the-cast-of-in-living-color/1ytjr4), and Kim Coles later reprised her role as Whitley King on the soap opera Days of Our Lives[7](https://www.bet.com/naacp-image-awards/photos/38ccz6/where-are-they-now-the-cast-of-in-living-color/1ytjr4).
## References
1. ['In Living Color' Cast: Where Are They Now?, ABC News (2012)](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/living-color-cast-reunion-stars-now/story?id=16203048)
2. [The In Living Color Effect, The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/03/in-living-color-televisions-boldest-bet/686500/)
3. [Biography Today, January 1993 (ERIC full text)](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED363546.pdf)
4. [Hip-Hop TV's Leading Edge, Los Angeles Times (1990)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-11-04-ca-5343-story.html)
5. [Chris Rock Will Host Saturday Night Live With Prince As Musical Guest, Time (2014)](https://time.com/3507801/snl-chris-rock-prince/)
6. [In Living Color, Academic Kids encyclopedia entry](https://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/In_Living_Color)
7. [Where Are They Now: The Cast of In Living Color, BET](https://www.bet.com/naacp-image-awards/photos/38ccz6/where-are-they-now-the-cast-of-in-living-color/1ytjr4)
8. [Reggie McFadden, 'In Living Color' and 'Def Comedy Jam' comedian, dies at 57, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2026-10-05/reggie-mcfadden-in-living-color-comedian-dies-at-57)
9. [In Depth: Caroline Garcia conjures In Living Color's "Fly Girls", EMPAC](https://empac.rpi.edu/news/2016/depth-caroline-garcia-conjures-living-colors-fly-girls)
10. [Dance and the Hollywood Latina (scholarly chapter PDF)](https://www.labkoringoma.com.br/_files/ugd/592918_4522bfb76db14fb3b94dc185dbb7becb.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Sitcom and comedy series › Sketch comedy series*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 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