The Biography

Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (born September 25, 1983), also known by the stage name Childish Gambino, is an American actor, rapper, singer, writer, comedian, director, and producer. After working on Derrick Comedy while studying at New York University, Glover was hired at age 23 by Tina Fey as a writer for the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. He later rose to fame for portraying college student Troy Barnes on the NBC sitcom Community from 2009 to 2014. Since 2016, Glover stars in the FX series Atlanta, which he created and occasionally directs. For his work on Atlanta, Glover won various accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. Glover has starred in several successful films, including the supernatural horror The Lazarus Effect (2015), the comedy-drama Magic Mike XXL (2015), and science fiction film The Martian (2015). He played Aaron Davis in the superhero film Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), and played Lando Calrissian in the Space Western Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). He also provided the voice of adult Simba in The Lion King (2019). A filmmaker, Glover starred in and produced the short film Guava Island (2019).