Donald Glover later rose to fame for portraying college student Troy Barnes on the NBC sitcom Community from 2009 to 2014.
53 Facts About Donald Glover
2.
From 2016 to 2022, Donald Glover starred in the FX series Atlanta, which he created and occasionally directed.
3.
Donald Glover has starred in several successful films including the supernatural horror The Lazarus Effect, the comedy-drama Magic Mike XXL, and science fiction film The Martian.
4.
Donald Glover played Aaron Davis in the superhero film Spider-Man: Homecoming, and played Lando Calrissian in the space western Solo: A Star Wars Story.
5.
Donald Glover provided the voice of adult Simba in The Lion King.
6.
Donald Glover is a filmmaker, and starred in and produced the short film Guava Island.
7.
In 2018, Donald Glover released "This Is America", which debuted at number-one on the Hot 100, and won four Grammy Awards, including for Song and Record of the Year.
8.
Donald Glover's mother, Beverly, is a retired daycare provider, and his father, Donald Glover Sr.
9.
Donald Glover's parents served as foster parents for 14 years.
10.
Donald Glover was raised as a Jehovah's Witness, but he is no longer religious.
11.
Donald Glover attended Avondale High School and DeKalb School of the Arts, and was voted "Most Likely to Write for The Simpsons" in his high school yearbook.
12.
In 2006 Donald Glover caught the attention of producer David Miner after Donald Glover sent writing samples including a spec script that he had written for The Simpsons.
13.
From 2006 to 2009 Donald Glover wrote for 30 Rock, in which he had occasional appearances.
14.
In 2008, Donald Glover unsuccessfully auditioned to play President Barack Obama on the sketch comedy program Saturday Night Live; the role went to cast member Fred Armisen.
15.
Donald Glover starred as former high school jock Troy Barnes on Dan Harmon's NBC sitcom Community, which premiered in September 2009.
16.
Donald Glover did not return as a full-time cast member for the show's fifth season, appearing only in the first five episodes.
17.
In March 2010, Donald Glover performed a 30-minute set on the stand-up showcase program Comedy Central Presents.
18.
However, Donald Glover did not audition, and the role went to Andrew Garfield.
19.
Donald Glover later revealed that he was never contacted by Sony Pictures.
20.
Comics writer Brian Michael Bendis, who announced Miles Morales, an African-American version of Spider-Man, a year later, said he had conceived of the character before Donald Glover's campaign went viral.
21.
Donald Glover received the Rising Comedy Star award at the Just for Laughs festival in July 2010, and was featured in Gap's 2010 holiday advertising campaign.
22.
Donald Glover's first extended play, titled EP, was released as a free digital download in March 2011.
23.
Donald Glover appeared at the 2011 Bonnaroo Music Festival as both Childish Gambino and as a comedian, performing a set with Bill Bailey.
24.
In November 2012, Goransson stated that he and Donald Glover were in the studio generating new ideas for the next album which was to be "bigger" and "with more people involved".
25.
In 2013, Donald Glover signed a deal to create a music-themed show for FX titled Atlanta, in which he would star, write, and serve as an executive producer.
26.
Donald Glover had a supporting role in the romantic comedy The To Do List, which performed below expectations, and guest starred in two episodes of the comedy-drama television series Girls in early 2013, as a Republican who is the brief love interest to Lena Dunham's character.
27.
Donald Glover directed the music video for the song "The Pressure" by Jhene Aiko, whose previous single, "Bed Peace", had featured a guest appearance by him.
28.
Donald Glover described them as a joint project and the "first concept mixtape ever" that continues the story told in Camp and Because the Internet.
29.
At the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, Donald Glover received his first Grammy nominations in Best Rap Album for Because the Internet and Best Rap Performance for "3005".
30.
Donald Glover contributed to the soundtrack of Creed, a film in the Rocky film series, providing vocals to the song "Waiting For My Moment" and co-writing another titled "Breathe".
31.
Donald Glover writes, occasionally directs, executive produces, and stars in the series as Earnest "Earn" Marks, a Princeton dropout who manages his rapper cousin as they navigate through the Atlanta hip hop scene.
32.
Donald Glover later posted an unofficial and unproduced script to his Twitter account, stating he was not "too busy to work on Deadpool", ending media speculation.
33.
In 2017, Donald Glover appeared as criminal Aaron Davis in the superhero film Spider-Man: Homecoming.
34.
Davis is the uncle of the Miles Morales version of Spider-Man, whom Donald Glover had voiced in the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series.
35.
Tina Fey wrote the entry for Donald Glover, stating that he "embodies his generation's belief that people can be whatever they want and change what it is they want, at any time".
36.
Donald Glover announced his intention to retire the Childish Gambino stage name in June 2017, telling the audience at Governors Ball Music Festival, "I'll see you for the last Gambino album" before walking off stage.
37.
Donald Glover signed with RCA Records in January 2018, which Donald Glover called "a necessary change of pace".
38.
In July 2018, Donald Glover released the Summer Pack extended play containing the songs "Summertime Magic" and "Feels Like Summer", the former of which was originally meant to be the lead single from Donald Glover's forthcoming fourth studio album.
39.
In February 2018, Donald Glover approached New Regency, without a script, about a project he would like to work on while he had free time between Solo promotional duties and his This Is America Tour.
40.
Guava Island, the resulting film written by Stephen Donald Glover and directed by Hiro Murai, was filmed in Cuba.
41.
Donald Glover partnered with Adidas Originals to reimagine three pairs of classic Adidas sneakers, which were launched in April 2019 under the "Donald Glover Presents" line and were promoted by a series of advertisements starring comedian Mo'Nique.
42.
Days after headlining Coachella in April 2019, Donald Glover premiered a new song, "Algorythm", through the mobile app Pharos AR.
43.
Donald Glover was expected to release another album per the RCA Records contract he signed in January 2018.
44.
Donald Glover provided the voice for adult Simba, the titular protagonist and lion prince turned king in The Lion King, a remake of the 1994 Disney film of the same name.
45.
Donald Glover praised the director, Jon Favreau, for the way he constructed the timeless story and asked him to re-record his lines as he connected to the film's story line more personally after his father's death.
46.
Donald Glover sang on the film's soundtrack and on the curated album The Lion King: The Gift, featuring songs inspired by the film.
47.
In December 2019, Donald Glover endorsed 2020 Democratic candidate Andrew Yang and joined his campaign as a creative consultant.
48.
In November 2020, in a rare appearance on his Twitter account, Donald Glover opined that seasons 3 and 4 of Atlanta would be on the caliber of The Sopranos and that his next musical project would be his "biggest by far".
49.
In 2021, Donald Glover signed an overall deal with Amazon Studios.
50.
Donald Glover is the creator of the television series Swarm, starring Dominique Fishback, Damson Idris, and Chloe Bailey, about a Beyonce-esque character.
51.
Donald Glover has influenced a number of younger musicians and actors.
52.
Donald Glover is known as a private person and rarely posts on social media or does interviews unless for promotional work.
53.
On December 17,2018, during the final stop for the This Is America Tour, Donald Glover announced that his father had died.