Biography
Best known as slightly geeky would-be ladies' man Dwayne Wayne on the television series
A Different World, actor Kadeem Hardison's engaging onscreen persona and easy flair for comedy has earned him steady work as a supporting player in both film and television. Born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1965, Hardison became interested in acting when he was in his early teens, and he began studying theater at New York's Eubie Blake Theater, where one of his instructors was Earle Hyman, who later portrayed Grandpa Huxtable on
The Cosby Show. Hardison's work with Hyman helped win the young actor a guest spot on a 1984 episode of
The Cosby Show, playing opposite
Lisa Bonet; the same year, Hardison made his big-screen debut with a small role in the hip-hop musical
Beat Street. Hardison made a handful of appearances in movies and television projects over the next two years, but his debut appearance on
The Cosby Show earned him a major dividend in 1987, when Denise Huxtable,
Lisa Bonet's character on
The Cosby Show, was spun-off into her own series,
A Different World, and Hardison was cast as fellow student Dwayne Wayne. While Bonet left the show after its first season, Hardison remained in the cast for its entire seven-season run, and directed several during the show's final two seasons. During his down time from
A Different World, Hardison continued to work in motion pictures, with supporting roles in
I'm Gonna Git You Sucka and
School Daze and a leading role in the independent horror film
Def By Temptation. After
A Different World went off the air in 1993, Hardison concentrated on film work, with roles ranging from the horror/comedy
Vampire in Brooklyn to the political drama
Panther. In 1997, he took another stab at series television on the short-lived sitcom Between Brothers, and began adding more TV guests spots to his resumé, appearing on
Touched By an Angel,
Just Shoot Me, and the revived
Fantasy Island, while still maintaining a busy schedule of film work. ~ Mark Deming ~ All Movie Guide