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An Original King of Comedy Visits Webster
"I had a friend who had a friend who had a friend who had a house in Hollywood. We agreed to rent it sight-unseen," said the legendary comedian Cedric the Entertainer, as he explained in his own unique way his rise to fame in the entertainment industry along with his business manager, Eric Rhone, President and CEO of Visions Management Group, Inc. The two put on their own version of a stand-up comedy show giving a packed and laughing Webster auditorium an inside scoop into the "business world" of entertainment. The pair, who met in college, came to Webster at the invitation of Dr. Benjamin Ola. Akande, Dean of the School of Business and Technology, a friend of Rhone. "Together, they have paved the way for a new generation of entertainers and business-savvy young people," said Akande. "They have broken the color barrier through sheer tenacity and excellent work. Together they have shown us that it is indeed possible to make the impossible possible." When the two got to Hollywood, they said they thought the house looked great from the outside, even though they were told it was in the process of renovation. "But then you get inside and well, there were no countertops in the kitchen and holes in the floor... And we became very scared," said Cedric shaking his head. "Then we find out it had been in renovation for five years." "And it still is," Rhone added. Born Cedric Kyles, in Jefferson City, Missouri, Cedric the Entertainer is an American actor and comedian. The self-dubbed title, "The Entertainer" comes from his early days as a comedian when he also sang and danced. Cedric was voted "most popular" and "most humorous" by his high school classmates, but said he felt lost after he graduated from Southeast Missouri State and had to take a job at State Farm Insurance. When Rhone offered to be his entertainment manager, Cedric agreed. So Rhone started Black Swan Enterprises out of his St. Louis home with $65 and with Cedric as his only client. Rhone also continued his corporate job at Monsanto Corp., a chemical and pharmaceutical company. This lasted for several years with Cedric working for State Farm Insurance and doing his comedy act part-time with Rhone as his manager. Cedric's stand-up comedy started to win him several comedy contest titles and prizes and allowed him opportunities to perform at more and more comedy clubs nationwide.
Cedric's first TV appearance was on "It's Showtime at the Apollo" in 1992. Soon after, he appeared on HBO's "Def Comedy Jam" and Black Entertainment Television's "ComicView," where he went on to host for the '94-95 season. In 1994, Cedric also won the Richard Pryor Comic of the Year Award from BET. With these successes came the big decision take the plunge, commit all the way and quit their jobs at State Farm and Monsanto, pack up their belongings and head for Hollywood. "He (Rhone) was the only guy who would always challenge me," said Cedric. "He is a finisher. He will do what he said he is going to do. And when we showed up, we were going to make Hollywood work for us." But it was much harder than they anticipated, according to Rhone and Cedric. "We thought everyone knew who Cedric was by then, but they didn't and they had never heard of me," explained Rhone. But their perseverance paid off little by little. Cedric then went on to explain that when things really started to gain momentum and come together--and he became more and more high-profile in the entertainment business, "everyone wants to be your manager or wants a job" and the requests can be very absurd. "You get these calls," Cedric said. "'I need a job.'" "What do you do?" "'I'm a bass player.'" "Well, I'm a comedian. What am I gonna do with a bass player? What, I'll be walking around on stage telling a joke and then you hear doo dada, doo dada, dooooo ... and if someone questions it I'm supposed to say, that's my bass player. ... No, it doesn't work."
Cedric's acting career grew and grew and he began appearing in movies, including Big Momma's House with Martin Lawrence, Barbershop and Barbershop 2 with Ice Cube, Serving Sara, Johnson Family Vacation, Intolerable Cruelty with George Clooney, Man of the House, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events with Jim Carrey, Kingdom Come with Whoopi Goldberg and Be Cool with John Travolta. Cedric has also been seen in The Honeymooners in which he starred as Jackie Gleason's famed character Ralph Cramden, for which he received a thumbs up from Roger Ebert, the movie critic.
Dubbed "Madison Avenue's Most Valuable Player" by USA Today, 144 million viewers also witnessed Cedric and Anheuser-Busch's Bud Light commercial take the No. 1 commercial spot for during the 2001 Super Bowl XXXV. During the 2002 Super Bowl championship, Cedric's new Bud Light commercial won the No. 3 spot. While continuing to collaborate with Rhone on his career development, Cedric remained loyal to his stand-up comedy traveling the country as one of the Kings of Comedy headliners with Steve Harvey, Bernie Mac and D.L. Hughley. The comedy act was then made into Spike Lee film called, The Original Kings of Comedy. Additionally, Cedric won a record-breaking, four consecutive NAACP Image Awards for "Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series" for his portrayal of the lovable Coach Cedric Robinson on "The Steve Harvey Show." Cedric has also displayed tremendous vocal talent with character parts in the animated films Madagascar, Dr. Dolittle 2 and Ice Age. He will also appear in the movie Charlotte's Web as the voice of Golly the gander. Other upcoming projects include starring roles in movies such as The Cleaner opposite Lucy Liu, Mr. Lucky co-starring Bruce Willis, Johnson Family Vacation 2 and Flash co-starring another fellow St. Louisan, Nelly. Rhone's entertainment management corporation is now a multimillion-dollar firm that manages the careers of many up-and-coming entertainers, writers and athletes. Headquartered in St. Louis, Rhone travels back and forth between St. Louis and Los Angeles to work with his clients. "Eric and I are strategists with my career. You kind of pick and choose things that you want to do and you do them for a reason, a reason that a lot of times our lawyers and our agents don't understand," explained Cedric. Cedrick and Rhone were the cover story feature in an issue of St. Louis Commerce magazine in 2006.
Rhone was the cover story of Money magazine in 2000 where he shares his investment strategies and how they helped him reach millionaire status. The team also explained how they stay grounded living in the Hollywood world. Rhone said that it is important to remember that, "You make the money. The money doesn't make you." And with that, the luxuries of success must be kept in perspective." You can view Cedric and Eric's entire presentation "The Business of Entertainment" online at: www.webster.edu/depts/business/speakers |
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