Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (born September 25, 1983), also known by the stage name Childish Gambino, is an American actor, singer, rapper, stand-up comedian, writer, producer, and director.
After working on Derrick Comedy while studying at New York University, Glover was hired at age 23 by Tina Fey as a writer for the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. He later rose to fame for portraying college student Troy Barnes on the NBC sitcom Community from 2009 to 2014. Since 2016, Glover stars in the FX series Atlanta, which he created and occasionally directs. For his work on Atlanta, Glover won various accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2017, Glover was included on the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.
Glover has also appeared in a number of commercially successful films, including the supernatural horror The Lazarus Effect (2015), the comedy-drama Magic Mike XXL (2015), science fiction film The Martian (2015), the superhero film Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), where he played Aaron Davis, and the space Western film Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), where he portrayed a young Lando Calrissian. Glover starred in and produced his own short film Guava Island (2019). He also provided the voice of adult Simba in the remake of the Disney film The Lion King (2019).
Following several independently released albums and mixtapes, Glover signed with Glassnote Records in 2011. He released his first studio album, Camp, on November 15, 2011. His second studio album, Because the Internet, was released on December 10, 2013. Glover's third album, "Awaken, My Love!", was released on December 2, 2016, spawning the single "Redbone", which peaked at number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100 and eventually earned him his first Grammy Award. In May 2018, Glover released the song and music video "This Is America", which debuted at number-one on the Hot 100. The song won four Grammy Awards at the 2019 ceremony: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Music Video. On March 22, 2020, he released his fourth studio album 3.15.20.
Last Updated: June 9, 2021
