Tone Bell
Michael Anthony Bell II (born August 10, 1983), known professionally as Tone Bell, is an American stand-up comedian and actor.[1][2]
Tone Bell | |
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Born | Michael Anthony Bell II August 10, 1983 Decatur, Georgia, U.S. |
Occupation(s) | Stand-up comedian, actor |
Years active | 2004–present |
Website | tonebell |
Early life
Bell was born in Decatur, Georgia.[1][3] He taught first grade before working on the production of HBO's Warm Springs and doing other various promo work.
Bell took a job in San Francisco as a brand manager with Swivel Media for a year, before moving back to Atlanta. There he started doing promotion work for a beer company that eventually transferred him to Dallas where he started doing open-mics at various comedy clubs.
Career
Shortly after moving to Los Angeles, Bell won the NBC Stand Up For Diversity Talent Search in 2012 and was awarded a development deal from the network. He was cast as "RJ" the bartender in the NBC sitcom Whitney and later as "Tedward" in NBC's Bad Judge. Bell also appeared in other TV shows, including VH1's Single Ladies, E!'s Love You, Mean It with Whitney Cummings, Comedy Central's Key and Peele and Game Show Network's Mind of a Man and hosted the first season of hidden camera show Jerks with Cameras on MTV.
Bell also has a web series on Russell Simmons' YouTube channel All Def Digital called The Green Room.
In March 2018, Bell was cast in a lead role for the CBS comedy pilot Fam after having starred in the Netflix multi-camera comedy Disjointed.[4]
Bell is the host of the new Netflix reality show Drink Masters, which premiered October 28, 2022, He stars as Khalil in the 2023 Netflix comedy series, Survival of the Thickest written by Michelle Buteau.
Filmography
Films
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2013 | Solstice | Bartender #1 | Short film |
2013 | Implanted | Philip | |
2013 | To My Future Assistant | Davis | Television film |
2016 | My Time Your Time | Parker | Television film |
2017 | Woman Child | Michael Abby | Short film |
2018 | Dog Days | Jimmy | |
2018 | The Weekend | Bradford Collins | |
2018 | It’s A Party | Cool Breeze | |
2019 | Little | Preston | |
2020 | Sylvie's Love | Dickie Brewster | |
2021 | The United States vs. Billie Holiday | John Levy | |
Television series
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2012 | Single Ladies | Parker | 2 episodes |
2012–13 | Whitney | RJ | Main role, 13 episodes |
2013 | Creepy Caress | Tom | 1 episode |
2013 | Key & Peele | Friend #1 | 1 episode |
2014–15 | Bad Judge | Tedward Mulray | Main role, 13 episodes |
2015 | Truth Be Told | Russell | Main role, 10 episodes |
2016 | The Flash | Scott Evans | 2 episodes |
2017 | 9JKL | Luke | 2 episodes |
2017–18 | Disjointed | Carter | Main role, 20 episodes |
2019 | Fam | Nick | Main role, 13 episodes |
2020 | BoJack Horseman | Voice | 1 episode |
2020 | American Soul | Richard Pryor | Recurring role |
2022 | Nailed It! | Himself (Guest judge) | 1 episode |
2022 | Drink Masters | Himself (Host) | 10 episodes |
2023 | Survival of the Thickest | Khalil | Main Cast |
References
- "Tone Bell". cbs.com. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
- "Tone Bell Interview". clichemag.com. 12 November 2014. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
- Ho, Rodney. "Decatur native Tone Bell stars in CBS sitcom 'FAM' with Nina Dobrev". Radio & TV Talk Blog (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). Retrieved 2023-07-24.
- Otterson, Joe (2018-03-13). "'Disjointed' Alum Tone Bell to Star in CBS Comedy Pilot 'Fam'". Variety. Retrieved 2018-05-17.