Deon Cole

Cole was born in Roseland in Chicago on January 9, 1972. He was educated at Thornridge High School and earned an acting degree from Philander Smith College.Cole started in comedy when a friend bet him $50 that he would not get up on stage one night in Chicago. Cole was on the writing staff for The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien from 2009 to 2010, and he worked as a writer for Conan from 2010 to 2012. He has appeared frequently in comedic bits for both broadcasts, and he has, along with the rest of the staff, received two Primetime Emmy nominations. Cole also performed on Conan O'Brien's "The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour" in 2010.

In February 2010, Cole performed on Comic Aid Haiti, a comedy performance that benefited victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Cole was on the cast of Angie Tribeca from 2016 to 2018. Cole is part of a television ad campaign for Old Spice body wash, alongside actress/comedian Gabrielle Dennis.

Cole has a recurring role on the ABC sitcom Black-ish as Charlie Telphy. Cole was promoted to a main role beginning with season 4. He then made some appearances in the Black-ish's spin-off Grown-ish.

Cole has performed stand up on other programs such as John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show, Mash Up and Lopez Tonight. Cole created his own production company, Coled Blooded, to produce the sketch comedy show Deon Cole's Black Box. It premiered on June 10, 2013, on TBS, but it was canceled on October 25, 2013. Cole hosted the game show Face Value on BET in 2017.

In 2017, he performed in a half-hour set in the Netflix original series The Standups.

In October 2019, Netflix released a stand-up special called Deon Cole: Cole Hearted.

On June 25, 2020, Cole appeared on To Tell the Truth and won the Doris Award, becoming the second panelist to do so.

On May 6, 2023, Cole received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from his alma mater Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas.