Craig Robinson Biography

Craig Robinson had a knack for comedy from an early age. Growing up he would entertain his family with imitations of Richard Nixon. His father encouraged his talent by motivating Craig to read stories like "The Three Little Pigs" to his family, while inserting his own real-world twist. When enrolled at Illinois State University, his friends encouraged him to try stand-up comedy.

After finishing his Master’s degree at Saint Xavier University, Craig landed a job as a music teacher at Horace Mann Elementary school in Chicago, while at the same time taking improv classes. His breakthrough comedic performance was in 1998 at the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival, where he accepted a development deal from FOX Broadcasting. That same year he won the Oakland Comedy Festival and the Miller Genuine Draft 1996 Comedy Search. In 1999 when he moved to Los Angeles he joined comedy guru Jerry Minor to create the stage act Witherspoon & Chucky. Craig was Chucky the keyboardist and backup singer for L. Witherspoon, who was played by Minor.

Soon after, Craig began to receive offers for various roles. His first major role was in 2003 in the television series Lucky, which was short lived, but he had continuous appearances on the small screen including Friends, The Bernie Mac Show, Curb your Enthusiasm and Arrested Development. His first recurring role on television was on the series The Office as Darryl Philbin, the blue-collar warehouse manager. Concurrently, Craig was offered roles on the big screen, including the monster film Dragon War, Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls, Walk Hard: Dewey Cox story, Kevin Smith’s Zack and Miri Make a Porno and the Judd Apatow films Knocked Up and Pineapple Express. Robinson at this time was commended in The New York Times, which said he "is fast becoming the most dependable comic counterpuncher in the business and who needs some bigger roles or a sitcom of his own right away."

Craig hit some setbacks along the way, involving encounters with the law. In 2008 he was pulled over for a traffic violation, and police found he was intoxicated with illegal drugs in his car. A follow-up investigation found him to be under the influence of several drugs, including cocaine, amphetamines and marijuana. However, with Robinson pleading guilty, his charges were dismissed once he completed drug education classes.

His rise to fame continued with appearances in films such as Fanboys, Miss March, Post Grad, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard and Shrek Forever After. His performance in the movie The Hot Tub Machine received great reviews, even though the movie itself was panned. Other work includes This is the End (2013), Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (2015), the ensemble animated comedy Sausage Party (2016), and the Anna Kendrick comedy Table 19 (2017).

In 2019 he appeared in the comedy film Dolemite is My Name alongside Eddie Murphy and Keegan-Michael Key. The film received a critical acclaim and was viewed as a return to form for a Murphy led film. The same year he appeared in the film Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019) with Kevin Smith.

The next year he appeared in Dolittle (2020) with Robert Downey Jr. and Antonio Banderas.

In 2022, he voiced the character of Shark in The Bad Guys (2022), the film was a critical and commercial success, and he will reprise his role in The Bad Guys 2 (2025).

Still in 2022, he starred as the lead on Killing It. He played the character, Craig Foster, for 18 episodes for the series’ first two seasons. The status of the third season is still up in the air.

Filmography:

The Bad Guys 2 (2025)
Hot Frosty (2024)
My Spy: The Eternal City (2024)
Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie (2024)
The Bad Guys (2022)
Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon (2021)
Songbird (2020)
Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made (2020)
Dolittle (2020)
Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019)
Zeroville (2019)
Dolemite is My Name (2019)
Henchmen (2018)
An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn (2018)
Austin Found (2017)
Table 19 (2017)
Sausage Party (2016)
Hot Tub Time Machine 2(2015)
Escape from Planet Earth (2013)
This is the End (2013)
Rapture – Palooza (2013)
Peeples (2013)
Father of Invention (2010)
Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)
Shrek Forever After (2010)
Post Grad (2009)
Miss March (2009)
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (2009)
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)
Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)
Pineapple Express (2008)
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
Fanboys (2007)
Knocked Up (2007)
Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls (2007)
Dragon Wars (2007)