David Adkins (born November 10, 1956), better known by his stage name Sinbad, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He became known in the 1990s from being featured on his own HBO specials, appearing on several television series, most notably as Coach Walter Oakes in A Different World (1987–1991) and as David Bryan on The Sinbad Show (1993–1994). He has also appeared in films such as That's Adequate (1989), Coneheads (1993), Houseguest (1995), Jingle All the Way (1996), Good Burger (1997), Crazy as Hell (2002) and Planes (2013).
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Early life
Sinbad was born November 10, 1956, in Benton Harbor, Michigan, the son of Louise and a Baptist minister, Donald Beckley Adkins Sr. He has five siblings: Donna, Dorothea, Mark, Michael, and Donald Jr. His paternal grandmother was of Irish descent. Sinbad attended Benton Harbor High School and graduated in 1974. He attended college from 1974 to 1978 at the University of Denver in Denver, Colorado, where he lettered two seasons for the Denver Pioneers men's basketball team.
Military service
Sinbad served in the United States Air Force as a boom operator aboard KC-135 Stratotankers. While assigned to the 384th Air Refueling Wing at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas, he would often travel downtown to perform stand-up comedy. He competed as a comedian/MC in the Air Force's Talent Contest in 1981. Sinbad was almost dismissed with a dishonorable discharge for various misbehaviors, including going AWOL.
I didn't make the Air Force basketball team and went into denial. So, I kept going AWOL. My mother kept begging me to go back. I told her, "No, I'm not going back. I'll just grow a beard. They won't recognize me. I'll just be another black man with a beard." I was going to Georgia Tech to learn about computers. I'd go AWOL all the time. I'd just leave. I'd come back, hoping they'd throw me out.
After a series of incidents, he was eventually discharged "for parking my car in the wrong position."
Career
In an attempt to stand out in the entertainment industry, Adkins worked under the professional name Sinbad, which he chose out of admiration for Sinbad the Sailor. He began his stand-up comic career appearing on Star Search. Sinbad won his round against fellow comedian Dennis Miller and made it to the finals before losing to John Kassir.
He soon was cast on The Redd Foxx Show, a short-lived sitcom, playing Byron Lightfoot.
A Different World
In 1987, Sinbad landed a role in A Different World, a spin-off of The Cosby Show built around Lisa Bonet's character Denise Huxtable. Previously, Sinbad appeared in a one-off role on The Cosby Show as car salesman Davis Sarrette. While Bonet only stayed with the program for a season, Sinbad stayed with the cast from 1988 until 1991 as Coach Walter Oakes.
Walter began to fall in love with a girl named Jaleesa Vinson, played by Dawnn Lewis. They dated, and eventually became engaged but decided to cancel the wedding due to differing outlooks on life.
The Sinbad Show
By the early 1990s, his popularity had grown enough for Fox to greenlight The Sinbad Show, which premiered September 16, 1993. In it, Sinbad played 35-year-old David Bryan, a bachelor who decides to become a foster parent to two children after becoming emotionally attached to them.
Around that time, Sinbad had received joint custody of his two children: Royce, age 4; and Paige, age 7, and told the press that these experiences informed him of single parenting.
Black men are already responsible, already take care of our duties, but nobody emphasizes that. I hear all this bad talk against men and their children. I just got so tired of it. More than anything else, I'm showing that life has changed, the world has changed. And now the key is not going to just be parenting, it's going to be mentoring, where people who are not even in your family are going to have to go in and help. And we are going to accept that responsibility, which we used to do in our culture.
The Sinbad Show was canceled, with the last episode airing April 21, 1994. However, the role earned him a nomination in the 1995 Kids' Choice Awards for "Favorite Television Actor".
Films and other projects
In 1990, Sinbad did his first stand-up comedy special for HBO called Sinbad: Brain Damaged. The special was recorded at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1993, Sinbad did his next stand up special in New York City's Paramount Theater at Madison Square Garden called Sinbad: Afros and Bellbottoms for which he won a 1995 Image Award. He was brought back in 1996 for Sinbad: Son of a Preacher Man, recorded at the Paramount Theatre in Denver, Colorado, and again in 1997 for Sinbad: Nothin' but the Funk. All of these shows have been released on VHS and DVD.
Sinbad again won an NAACP Image Award in 1998 for his role in Sinbad's Summer Jam III: '70s Soul Music Festival. By 1995, Sinbad created a company called "David & Goliath Productions", that was located in Studio City.
From 1989 to 1991, Sinbad was host of It's Showtime at the Apollo, and returned in 2005, while regular host Mo'Nique was on maternity leave. He hosted an episode of Soul Train that aired January 14, 1995; appeared as a contestant in an episode of Celebrity Jeopardy! in 1998; and was the emcee for the May 2000 Miss Universe Pageant.
During the 1990s, Sinbad guest starred on an episode of Nickelodeon's All That. In one sketch, he played the father of recurring character Ishboo, dubbed "Sinboo". He also made a cameo appearance in the comedy movie Good Burger, starring Kenan & Kel, as "Mr. Wheat", a short-tempered teacher. His character was modeled after Gough Wheat, a past teacher of the movie's producer, Dan Schneider, at White Station High School in Memphis, Tennessee.
He and Phil Hartman co-starred in the comedy film Houseguest, where he plays Kevin Franklin, a Pittsburgh resident who owes $50,000 to the mob. Hartman, as Gary Young, comments to his children that they are waiting to pick up his old college friend, who is black and he has not seen for twenty years. Taking who they think to be a well-known dentist home, Young's family is stabilized by Franklin's own unstable nature. Released January 6, 1995, the film grossed $26 million in North America.
Sinbad's film roles also include First Kid, which he starred in, and Jingle All the Way (1996) opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rita Wilson and the late Phil Hartman. For Jingle All the Way, Sinbad won a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for "Favorite Supporting Actor – Family"; it was also his third and final collaboration with Hartman following the latter's death in May 1998.
Apple
Sinbad has a long history of using and promoting Apple products, working with Apple and appearing at Apple events. Examples include numerous appearances at Macworld and WWDC shows.
On January 25, 2011, he was the celebrity speaker of MacWorld Expo 2011.
Music
Sinbad also plays percussion and drums which he most often displays after every show appearance. He has played with numerous artists and musicians under the moniker of "Memphis Red"; such as Dawnn Lewis and Adult-Urban instrumentalist (saxophonist) Journell Henry "p/k/a. J. Henry".
Personal life
Sinbad married Meredith Fuller in 1985. They have two children together. The couple divorced in 1992, but remarried in 2002.
In November 2020, his family announced to the press that Sinbad was recovering from a recent stroke. In March 2024, Sinbad announced on social media that he was still recovering but that he was attempting a comeback.
Tax issues
In April 2009, Sinbad was listed as one of the ten worst tax debtors in the state of California, owing the state $2.5 million in personal income tax. On December 11, 2009, Sinbad filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. On February 5, 2010, it was reported that Sinbad put his 2.5-acre (1.0 ha) hilltop home up for sale in order to alleviate his tax burdens.
