How did an iconic comedian go from refueling fighter jets to fronting a
funk band? Legendary performer Sinbad has had an eclectic career both in and out of Comedy.
You might not think it from looking at him, but in his younger days,
Sinbad was an extremely talented basketball player. He revealed to VladTV that he was
heavily recruited out of high school, and was offered scholarships by something
like 70 college programs. Among those pursuing him was the Air Force Academy,
where the coach was a young go-getter by the name of Gregg Popovich, who would famously go on to
a legendary NBA career littered with Coach of the Year titles and championship rings.
Sinbad ultimately settled on the University of Colorado at Denver,
where he posted respectable stats over a three-year career. Unfortunately,
any pro aspirations he might have had were derailed by a knee injury, and a potential
contract with a pro team in London fell through, according to Morning Call. A bit disillusioned
with the whole experience, Sinbad dropped out of college and decided to pursue a wildly different
career path — although probably not the one you know him for. That would come later.
Strangely enough, Sinbad did indeed end up in the Air Force — not as a student, but as
an airman. The future comedian served as a boom operator, also known as an "In-Flight Refueling
Specialist," aboard a KC-135 Stratotanker. It was while stationed at a refueling wing in Wichita,
Kansas, that Sinbad first started dipping his toes into the waters of comedy, heading downtown
to perform in local clubs during downtime and entering an Air Force talent show in 1981.
In an interview with Royal Air Force Mildenhall, Sinbad fondly remembered his time in the military
and credited his Air Force stint with helping him to achieve his dreams. He did, however,
only narrowly avoid a dishonorable discharge. According to CBS Austin, he incurred a number of
infractions including going AWOL and, for the last straw, parking his car facing the wrong direction.
It seemed that, much like basketball, a lifelong military career was not in the cards. Fortunately
for Sinbad, he had a talent or two outside of playing ball and refueling fighter jets.
Way before American Idol and America's Got Talent, there was Star Search. Hosted by the legendary Ed
McMahon, the show began its run in 1983, giving unknowns the chance to prove their mettle in a
number of categories including singing, dancing, and comedy. During the show's inaugural season,
Sinbad nearly won it all in the comedy category, coming in second place to John Kassir.
Sinbad did manage to conquer a number of other talented competitors on the show. He beat out
Dennis Miller, who humorously alluded to his loss in the middle of his short,
brutal run as the host of his own talk show in 1997, saying,
As noted by The Wrap, Sinbad's near-triumph led to his casting in a short-lived sitcom centered
on the legendary comedian Redd Foxx, and when that show bit the dust after just one season,
a far steadier TV gig was waiting in the wings.
The name Bill Cosby is likely to leave a bad taste in the mouth of anybody who has paid attention
to the comedian's legal troubles over the last couple of decades or so. In the '80s, however,
his reputation was very different, and in a decade filled with iconic sitcoms, The Cosby Show was at
the top of the pile. It wasn't long after The Redd Foxx Show closed up shop that Sinbad was tapped
for a single-episode guest appearance on The Cosby Show. His performance went so well that when the
college-oriented spinoff, A Different World, came out, Sinbad landed a recurring role on the series.
As it turns out, the comic may not have gotten this gig without Cosby's intervention. Speaking
to his cast mates on the A Different World reunion special, Sinbad remembered that he
was initially hired as a comic to warm up the studio audience — a gig he landed by lying his
face off to producers, telling them that he'd done the same job for other sitcoms in the past.
"I had never warmed up a studio audience. So I was lying. I lied to get the job."
With Sinbad's job hanging by a thread, Cosby stepped in, saying,
And so it was that Sinbad appeared in 77 episodes of A Different World as
Coach Walter Oakes, raising his profile exponentially.
During his stint on A Different World, Sinbad branched out into a number of
different ventures — most notably, HBO comedy specials. His relentlessly high-energy,
non-profane style made him a good fit for a wide audience. His first special,
Brain Damaged, came out in 1991, and with it the comic established himself as a regular
presence on the then-relatively young medium of cable television.
Throughout the '90s, Sinbad kept that presence up, starring in the 1993 special Afros & Bellbottoms,
1996's Son of a Preacher Man, and 1998's Nuthin' But the Funk. In between specials,
he found time to dabble in movies. He first appeared in a bit in the Saturday
Night Live sketch adaptation Coneheads before landing co-starring roles in 1995's Houseguest
and the 1996 Arnold Schwarzenegger holiday classic Jingle All the Way.
"Yeah!"
Sinbad's stardom was well and truly on the rise — and given
his sitcom roots and increasing bankability,
it's no surprise that he was given a shot at solo sitcom stardom, short-lived as it was.
Sinbad did indeed headline his own half-hour network comedy,
but if you blinked, you might have missed it. The Sinbad Show aired for a single season on the Fox
network between 1993 and 1994, and it's safe to say it was very standard fare for the time,
with Sinbad portraying a fun-loving guy who gets in over his head after becoming the foster
father to a couple of older kids. The series barely registered a blip on the cultural radar,
but it's notable for a couple of its supporting players and guest stars.
Most interestingly, a young Salma Hayek appeared as a guest in three episodes,
at a time when she was still mainly a TV actor with only a single feature credit to her name.
The show also featured veteran comic and character actor T.K. Carter in a small
role and co-starred none other than future R&B sensation Ray J as one of Sinbad's foster kids.
While Sinbad would continue to pop up in small TV and film roles over the years, The Sinbad Show
marked his last series-regular role for nearly two decades. He did land a co-starring gig on
the Fox comedy Rel in 2018; unfortunately, that show also bit the dust after only one season.
You may be aware that in the '90s, both late night and daytime talk shows were all the rage. In 1997,
legendary music producer Quincy Jones decided that he wanted a piece of that action, and so
Vibe was born. Vibe was a late-night gabfest spun off from Jones' urban music magazine by the same
name. Vibe was set to hit the ground running with a roster of high-profile guests popping by within
its first week, including Mel Gibson, Brandy, and Shaquille O'Neal. Comic Chris Spencer, who
the Los Angeles Times reports Jones had described as the next "big star" in comedy, was set to host.
On the subject of entertainment, Jones's instincts are rarely misguided. In the case of Spencer,
though, his prediction did not play out as planned. After just 11 weeks,
the Times reported that Spencer had been bounced from the show,
with none other than Sinbad tapped to take over his duties. Sinbad said at the time,
"Catch Sinbad every week night as the host of 'Vibe.' Nighttime will never be the same again."
"I'm so excited."
If it seems like Sinbad was a touch reluctant to accept the hosting gig
full-time, it may be because of some writing that he spotted on the wall.
Vibe ultimately sputtered, and was canceled after only two seasons.
Another major craze of the '90s were boy and girl groups, and late in that decade,
R&B songstresses 702 were making a name for themselves on the pop charts. According to
Billboard, the group notched a #4 single with "Where My Girls At?" in 1999, and contributed
tunes to the soundtracks of films like the 2002 John Leguizamo crime thriller Empire and Chris
Rock's bizarre 2001 comedy Pootie Tang. While the group's heyday was relatively brief, they burned
pretty brightly for a few years there — and they may never have broken through if not for Sinbad.
According to Bossip, Sinbad discovered the group — then going by the name Sweeter Than
Suga — after a performance near Las Vegas. He then used his star power
to get them on the roster at a popular Atlanta talent show where they hooked
up with legendary producer Michael Bivins of Bell Biv Devoe fame. Bivins
became their manager and suggested their new moniker. The rest, as they say, is history.
In 2009, Sinbad was no longer flying quite so high with the TV and film roles,
and his comedy special run was largely in the rearview mirror. That year,
the St. Louis American reported that the comedian owed an eye-watering $8 million to the IRS,
a circumstance which had forced him to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In that filing, he
claimed anywhere from $10 million to $50 million in liabilities against a measly $50,000 in assets.
The comic was still embroiled in tax difficulties in May 2013, when he filed for bankruptcy a second
time. That year, he spoke to HuffPost about his problem, claiming that he was in no way
living the high life and had always intended to resolve his tax issues. Sinbad told the outlet:
Later that year, the comedian told TMZ that he had been discharged from bankruptcy debt-free.
As with most creative types,
Sinbad's talents aren't limited to bringing the funny. According to Democrat & Chronicle,
he also excels musically, specializing in drums, percussion, and guitar. Sinbad was also known
for playing gigs in small clubs with his funk outfit, Memphis Red and the Stank Nasty Band.
"People couldn't get past me being in a band, so I said,
'Let me create a alter ego.' So, my name is Memphis Red and he's a whole different cat."
Speaking with the Oklahoma Gazette in 2017, Sinbad revealed that he'd had
a passion for music his entire life, but had let his musical inclinations
slide during his comedic rise. He started funkin' it up again with his band in 2012,
after a few years of sharpening his drumming skills and dabbling in just about any instrument
he could get his hands on. During his more recent comedy club appearances, he'll bring
along a DJ and a musician or two, often sitting in on bass or drums for a couple of numbers.
Since he has made a name for himself by being a boundless well of energy,
it's tough to imagine anything slowing Sinbad down. However,
in 2020, it was reported that — at the age of 64 — the comedian suffered a serious stroke,
with very little additional information forthcoming. His fans held their collective
breath, and as it turned out, they would be holding it for quite some time.
No further info would be made public until 2022, when Sinbad's family took to social media with
an update. It was revealed that following the stroke, the comic couldn't move his left side
or lift his head, but that he had begun "intense therapy" in the months after, and at the time of
the report he was relearning how to walk. He had regained a great deal of mobility, was "fighting
for every inch," and had not forgotten about the fans who love him. Sinbad's family posted,
It's a tough hand for anyone to deal with, but if there's anybody capable of dealing
with such a serious scare with grace, determination, and humor, it's Sinbad.