Godfrey is an American comedian, actor, writer, and producer who has a net worth of $4 million. Godfrey has starred in the stand-up comedy specials "Godfrey: Black by Accident" (2011) and "Godfrey: Regular Black" (2016), and he has written for the HBO Max sketch comedy series "That Damn Michael Che" (2021). Godfrey has more than 50 acting credits to his name, including the films "Zoolander" (2001), "Johnson Family Vacation" (2004), "Soul Plane" (2004), "The Cookout" (2004), "Phat Girlz" (2006), and "The Binge" (2020) and the television series "Louie" (2010–2011), "Deadbeat" (2014), "Neon Joe, Werewolf Hunter" (2017), "Lucha Underground" (2017–2018), and "South Side" (2021). He has lent his voice to animated projects such as "The Mr. Men Show" (2008–2009), "Black Dynamite" (2014), "Steven Universe" (2014–2016), "Our Cartoon President" (2018), and "Human Resources" (2022), and he produced "Godfrey: Regular Black" as well as the film "Unemployed" (2008), the special "In Godfrey We Trust: 2020 Year in Review" (2021), and his episode of "Tiffany Haddish Presents: They Ready" (2021). Godfrey hosted the Fox game show "Bullseye" in 2015, and he hosts the podcast "In Godfrey We Trust," on which he "joins some of his best friends in comedy, Hip-Hop and Hollywood to talk current events, pop culture, race issues, movies, music, TV and Kung Fu."
Godfrey was born Godfrey C. Danchimah, Jr. on July 21, 1969, in Lincoln, Nebraska. His parents are Nigerian (of the Igbo tribe), and they immigrated to the United States during the Nigerian Civil War, which lasted from mid-1967 to early 1970. Godfrey's uncle was Nigerian musician Sonny Okosun, who was the leader of the Ozzidi band and was known for protest songs about freedom and Pan-Africanism. Godfrey grew up in Chicago, Illinois, and he studied at Lane Technical College Preparatory High School. After graduation, he attended the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign on an academic scholarship and majored in psychology. As a college student, Godfrey was a member of the varsity football team, and he discovered that he had a talent for comedy while performing at a talent show for new members of the football team.
Godfrey spent the early '90s honing his comedy skills at Chicago's All Jokes Aside, and in 1995, he began performing in New York at the Comic Strip Live and Carolines on Broadway. After signing with the William Morris Talent Agency, Godfrey started working in television, starting with warm-up comedian gigs for the shows "Cosby" and "Soul Man." He first appeared on camera on NBC's "Friday Night Videos," and he performed at the Aspen Comedy Festival in 2000 and got his own episode of "Comedy Central Presents" in 2005. Godfrey appeared in the films "Original Gangstas" (1996), "Chain Reaction" (1996), "In the Weeds" (2000), "30 Years to Life" (2001), "Zoolander" (2001), "Johnson Family Vacation" (2004), "Soul Plane" (2004), "The Cookout" (2004), "Virginia" (2005), "Short Fuse" (2005), "Phat Girlz" (2006), "Dead Body" (2007), "A Dennis the Menace Christmas" (2007), and "Unemployed" (2008), and he is credited as a writer and actor in the 2008 films "Bum Boot Camp" and "The Sweep."
Godfrey guest-starred on "LateLine" (1999), "Third Watch" (2002), and "30 Rock" (2009), and he hosted "Thunderbox" (2000), "Rock of Ages" (2000), "30 by 30: Kid Flicks" (2001), "I Bet You Will" (2002), and "The Celebrity Look-Alike Show" (2003). He appeared on "The It Factor" (2002), "It's Showtime at the Apollo" (2002), "I Love the '80s Strikes Back" (2003), "I Love the '90s" (2004), "Black in the 80s" (2005), "I Love the Holidays" (2005), "Celebrity Paranormal Project" (2006), "I Love the New Millennium" (2008), "NESN Comedy All-Stars" (2008), "BET News" (2008), and "truTV Presents: World's Dumbest…" (2008), and from 2008 to 2009, he voiced Mr. Stubborn, Mr. Tall, and Mr. Metal on the animated series "The Mr. Men Show." Godfrey appeared in the films "Like Lambs" (2016), "The Hudson Tribes" (2016), "Rapid Eye Movement" (2019), "The Binge" (2020), "The Truth About Santa Claus" (2020), "Americanish" (2021), and "DOMINO: Battle of the Bones" (2021), and he was featured in the documentaries "I Am Comic" (2010), "Stars & Music" (2011), and "The Science of Doctor Who" (2012).
Godfrey guest-starred on the FX series "Louie" in 2010 and 2011, then he appeared on "The Heart, She Holler" (2011), "Juste pour rire" (2013), "Insane Clown Posse Theater" (2013), "Deadbeat" (2014), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (2014), "Benders" (2015), "South Side" (2021), "Harlem" (2021), and "That Damn Michael Che" (2021–2022). He played Plaid Jeff on Adult Swim's "Neon Joe, Werewolf Hunter" (2017) and had a recurring role as FBI Agent Winter on the El Rey Network's "Lucha Underground" (2017–2018), and he co-hosted truTV's "Upload with Shaquille O'Neal" in 2013. In 2021, Godfrey joined the cast of the VH1 series "Wild 'n Out," and in 2022, he appeared in W. Kamau Bell's Showtime miniseries "We Need To Talk About Cosby," the TV series "So Dumb it's Criminal Hosted by Snoop Dogg," and the Vice documentary series "Dark Side of Comedy." He also wrote, produced, and starred in the 2021 special "In Godfrey We Trust: 2020 Year in Review," in which he recapped the year, "tackling race, pop culture, social issues and politics in his trademark comedic ranting style."
In 2021, Godfrey was named Best Supporting Actor in an American Indie for "Americanish." "That Damn Michael Che" has earned him a Black Reel Awards for Television nomination for Outstanding Writing, Comedy Series and a Writers Guild of America Award nomination for Comedy/Variety Sketch Series.
Godfrey owns apartments in New York City and Los Angeles. In 2006 he paid $350,000 for a modest home in the Bronx, New York that was once owned by jazz singer and actress Maxine Sullivan. Maxine lived in the home for more than four decades. After some minor renovations, Godfrey sold the home in 2016 for $390,000.
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