Comedy great Witherspoon was born in Detroit in 1942 as John Weatherspoon. He launched a stand-up comedy career and began acting in the late 1970s with guest-starring TV roles, making his feature debut in the 1980 The Jazz Singer. Witherspoon appeared in numerous films, including Hollywood Shuffle,
James Barker, Vernon Atwood, Patricia Taylor, Sabrina Bollinger, Lisa Marshall, Meredith Dewitt, Mark Hopkins, Laverne Brown, Florence Brooks, Ed Halley, Loine Farris