Birthday: Feb. 6, 1957.
Birthplace: Cook County Hospital in Chicago.
Occupation: Writer, director, actor, comedian and producer.
Current home: Los Angeles.
Marital status: Married to Cheri Townsend for eight years.
Children: Grace, 9, Sierra, 7, and Skylar, 5.
Working on: I’m hosting “Motown Live” in syndication and finishing up the last of the “Parent ‘Hood” shows on the WB. I’m doing a documentary and a movie for Showtime. I wrote, directed and acted in “Alan’s Experiment,” a feature film, and I started a school in Tuscaloosa, Ala., to work with inner-city kids and teach them about writing, directing and acting.
I stay home to watch: Information shows, documentaries, A&E biographies, the Discovery Channel and classic movies.
Prized possession: A 10-pound rock my family calls “Pop’s Head” because it’s shaped like my great-grandfather’s head. When I was a kid, it was a doorstop in his house. When he died, it was the only thing I wanted.
I’m better than anyone else when it comes to: Organization.
I’d give anything to meet: Elia Kazan. He’s a filmmaker who has created a body of work like no other: “A Face in the Crowd,” “On the Waterfront,” “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
My fantasy is: I live my fantasy. I always wanted to go to Rome, so I’m going, just to hang out at the museums.
If I could change one thing about myself: It would be my eating habits. I eat too much fast food.
People who knew me in high school thought I was: A sophisticated class clown. I made the teacher laugh.
My most irrational act: Going swimming without knowing how to swim. I was in St. Thomas and I wanted to feel what it was like. But the current took me and I thought I was going to die.
The three words that best describe me: Silly, intense and caring.
