John Ridley

Personal Info

Known For Writer

Gender Male

Birthday 1964-10-01 (60 years old)

Place of Birth Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

John Ridley

Biography

John Ridley (born 1965 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American film director, actor, and writer. Ridley got his start as a stand-up comedian. He eventually was hired as a writer for sitcoms such as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Martin. He began to concentrate on writing and wrote his first novel, Stray Dogs, which became the basis the 1997 film U Turn, directed by Oliver Stone. Ridley also provided the original script for the film Three Kings, starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube. But his script was changed so much by director David O. Russell that he only received a credit for the original story. He also tried his hand at directing with the film Cold Around the Heart. He is one of the creators of Urban Entertainment, showcasing short films and animation from minority filmmakers, including his own works: the animated cartoons Undercover Brother (the basis for the Undercover Brother film starring comedian Eddie Griffin) and Those Who Walk in Darkness, featuring the voice of rapper Lil' Kim — which itself was the basis of a novel of the same name written by Ridley. Additionally, Ridley developed Tim Story's 2002 motion picture Barbershop into the short-lived 2005 Showtime comedy Barbershop: The Series. Ridley was the original co-host on the MSNBC daily morning show Morning Joe upon its premiere in 2007, and was an occasional guest on the network's cancelled nightly program Scarborough Country. He hosted the short-lived Movie Club with John Ridley on American Movie Classics and has written The Authority and The American Way for DC Comics. He has recently become a regular guest commentator on American Public Media's Weekend America in a segment called "Good News, Bad News, No News" which reviews the week's news. He co-produced the film Bobby. He wrote the play Ten Thousand Years about kamikaze pilots in World War II. On the weekend of August 19, 2006, John co-hosted the syndicated program Ebert & Roeper while film critic Roger Ebert was on medical leave. On August 28, 2007, it was announced that George Lucas hired him to pen the script for his upcoming World War II film Red Tails. Currently (December, 2009) Ridley is head writer and co-executive producer of The Wanda Sykes Show. Description above from the Wikipedia article John Ridley, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

Writer

2024
Shirley

as Writer

2022
2021
2020
Body Cam

as Writer

2017
Guerrilla

as Writer

2016
Ben-Hur

as Screenplay

2015
American Crime

as Writer

2014
Celblok H

as Original Story

2013
12 Years a Slave

as Screenplay

2012
Red Tails

as Screenplay

2012
Red Tails

as Story

2003
Platinum

as Writer

2002
Undercover Brother

as Screenplay

2001
Justice League

as Writer

2000
Static Shock

as Writer

1999
Three Kings

as Story

1999
Third Watch

as Writer

1997
U Turn

as Screenplay

1997
1997
U Turn

as Novel

1997
1996
The Show

as Writer

1992
Martin

as Writer

1990

Director

The American Way

as Director

2024
Shirley

as Director

2022
2021
2017
Guerrilla

as Director

2015
American Crime

as Director

2013
2005
Barbershop

as Director

2003
Platinum

as Director

1997

Producer

2024
Shirley

as Producer

2022
Five Days at Memorial

as Executive Producer

2021
Waiting for Godot

as Producer

2021
Needle in a Timestack

as Executive Producer

2013
Out of the Furnace

as Co-Producer

2013
12 Years a Slave

as Executive Producer

2013
Jimi: All Is by My Side

as Executive Producer

2002
Undercover Brother

as Executive Producer

1997
U Turn

as Executive Producer

Creator

2022
2017
Guerrilla

as Creator

2015
American Crime

as Creator