Dwayne Wayne
A Different World character
First appearanceReconcilable Differences
Last appearanceWhen One Door Closes...: Part 2
Created byBill Cosby
Portrayed byKadeem Hardison
In-universe information
Full nameDwayne Cleophus Wayne
GenderMale
OccupationStudent
FamilyAdele Wayne (mother)
Woodson Wayne (father)
SpouseWhitley Marion Gilbert-Wayne
NationalityAmerican

Dwayne Wayne is a fictional character who appears in the American sitcom A Different World, portrayed by actor Kadeem Hardison.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

He is known for his trademark flip up eyeglasses/shades and making unsuccessful advances on numerous women throughout his freshman year.[7]

Maggie Lauten, portrayed by actress Marisa Tomei who left the show after one season, was to have an interracial relationship with Dwayne.[8]

Dwayne Wayne has an on off relationship with Whitley Gilbert-Wayne.[9] They eventually get married and visit Los Angeles, which coincided with the 1992 riots following the verdict in the Rodney King trial.[10]

Character history

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Wayne was known for his characteristic flip-up glasses and for his sense of flirting with girls on the college campus. He was a student, tutor, and teacher all through the series of A Different World. He majored in mathematics and engineering. In the first season, he was in love with sophomore Denise Huxtable, who was portrayed by Lisa Bonet. By the second season, he wanted to enter a serious relationship with Suzanne, the daughter of "Dr. War", better known as Col. Taylor (Glynn Turman). Suzanne ended the relationship because she was not ready for a serious commitment. Then Dwayne started to fall for Whitley, but stopped pursuing her after the third season when she seemed uninterested. By the fourth season, Dwayne had found an interest in Kinu Owens, portrayed by Alisa Gyse Dickens. The relationship ended when Kinu realized that Dwayne was still in love with Whitley Gilbert. He eventually proposed to Whitley. In the beginning of the fifth season, Dwayne became a calculus teacher, but the students put a mutiny out on him because of his strict rules. Whitley was beginning to put too much pressure on Dwayne. Dwayne decided to have a coffee date with Lisa Westin (Debbi Morgan). His honesty made him confess the truth to Whitley. Whitley was heartbroken and broke the engagement. By the end of this season, Whitley had fallen in love with Byron Douglass, portrayed by Joe Morton. Dwayne became jealous of their whirlwind romance, and spent the night with Whitley. When Byron proposed to Whitley, who still was in love with Dwayne secretly; Dwayne was heartbroken. At the wedding, Dwayne and Whitley could not hold the pressure anymore and pushed Byron out of the picture and got married. In the sixth season, Dwayne and Whitley told of their horrifying honeymoon, experiencing the 1992 Los Angeles riots in Los Angeles. At the end of the series, Dwayne got a new job in Tokyo, and decided to move with a now-pregnant Whitley.

Reception

The character was praised as a positive portrayal of an African-American male college student and as an engineer and mathematician.[11][12][13][2][14]

References

  1. ↑ Gray, Herman (3 August 2017). Watching Race: Television and the Struggle for Blackness. U of Minnesota Press. ISBN 9780816645107. Retrieved 3 August 2017 – via Google Books.
  2. 1 2 Smith-Shomade, Beretta E. (10 January 2013). Watching While Black: Centering the Television of Black Audiences. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 9780813553887. Retrieved 3 August 2017 – via Google Books.
  3. ↑ "Tupac Amaru Shakur". epubli. Retrieved 3 August 2017 – via Google Books.
  4. ↑ Walker, Erica N. (17 April 2015). Building Mathematics Learning Communities: Improving Outcomes in Urban High Schools. Teachers College Press. ISBN 9780807771044. Retrieved 3 August 2017 – via Google Books.
  5. ↑ "A Definitive Ranking Of The 25 Greatest Characters From 'A Different World'". 5 August 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  6. ↑ Patricia A. Turner, Ceramic Uncles & Celluloid Mammies: Black Images and Their Influence on Culture (Anchor Books, 1994), 144.
  7. ↑ Williams, Akhee (1 July 2009). The Truth Between the Lines: From History to Our Story, and Beyond. Lulu.com. ISBN 9780578017983. Retrieved 3 August 2017 – via Google Books.
  8. ↑ Smith-Shomade, Beretta E. (10 January 2013). Watching While Black: Centering the Television of Black Audiences. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 9780813553887. Retrieved 1 August 2017 – via Google Books.
  9. ↑ Spencer, Jon M. (1 June 1995). The New Colored People: The Mixed-Race Movement in America. NYU Press. ISBN 9780814739808. Retrieved 3 August 2017 – via Google Books.
  10. ↑ Company, Johnson Publishing (19 October 1992). "Jet". Johnson Publishing Company. Retrieved 3 August 2017 – via Google Books.
  11. ↑ Walker, Erica N. (29 May 2014). Beyond Banneker: Black Mathematicians and the Paths to Excellence. SUNY Press. ISBN 9781438452159. Retrieved 3 August 2017 – via Google Books.
  12. ↑ Company, Johnson Publishing (16 April 1990). "Jet". Johnson Publishing Company. Retrieved 3 August 2017 – via Google Books.
  13. ↑ LLC, SPIN Media (1 August 1989). "SPIN". SPIN Media LLC. Retrieved 3 August 2017 – via Google Books.
  14. ↑ Gray, Herman (3 August 2017). Watching Race: Television and the Struggle for Blackness. U of Minnesota Press. ISBN 9780816645107. Retrieved 3 August 2017 – via Google Books.
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