Why 2 Broke Girls' Cashier Earl Washington Looks So Familiar
In 2011, Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs took television by storm in "2 Broke Girls" (which featured more SNL stars than you remember). The CBS sitcom follows Max (Dennings) and Caroline (Behrs), two waitresses who spend most of the six seasons struggling to make ends meet in Brooklyn, NY. Max and Caroline are vastly different characters. Max grew up poor while Caroline was rich until her father lost their fortune, but the girls quickly became friends and worked to open a cupcake business.
While waitressing, the girls interact with a wide cast of characters, one of which being Earl Washington (Garrett Morris). This former jazz musician has worked as a cashier at Williamsburg Diner for years. He is nostalgic for the old days and is highly loyal to his friends, especially Max, with whom he shares a father-daughter relationship.
Garrett Morris has an extensive resume, and fans of "2 Broke Girls" might have recognized him in other productions. Here is a look at some of his most memorable roles.
He played many characters on SNL
Garrett Morris is one of the original cast members of the popular sketch show "Saturday Night Live." He stayed on the series for five years, leaving in 1980 after appearing in over 100 episodes.
Morris had several recurring characters on "SNL," including Merkon, the leader of the Coneheads, and Cliff, the friend of the "wild and crazy" Festrunk Brothers (Dan Aykroyd and Steve Martin). However, perhaps his most well-known characters were Chico Escuela and Weekend Update's "News for the Hard of Hearing" translator because of how they spoke and reacted to situations.
Chico was a Dominican baseball player who spoke broken English, and the "News for the Hard of Hearing Translator" helped the newscaster reiterate the main headlines for their deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences. However, instead of using sign language, the character would shout, believing that if he yelled loud enough, the viewers would eventually hear him.
He scammed George Jefferson
"2 Broke Girls" viewers might also recognize Garrett Morris as one of the only actors still alive from "The Jeffersons." He played Jimmy, who is first introduced to audiences as a child who George (Sherman Hemsley) and Louise (Isabel Sanford) have sponsored for years. In "True Confessions," they finally meet the "child" they have been sending money to, only to find out he is an adult who has been conning them for years.
Though he is found out, this is not the last we see of Jimmy. He returns in the three-part episode "Mission: Incredible," in which George recruits him after Tom Willis (Franklin Cover) is scammed out of thousands of dollars. They head to Los Angeles, where Jimmy's cousin (Greg Morris) has an elaborate plan to fool the con artists and get Tom's money back. Garrett Morris's last appearance is in "In the Chips," where he arrives at a bingo fundraiser with a bagful of casino chips and murderous men on his tail.
He is Jamie Foxx's uncle
Fans of "The Jamie Foxx Show" probably know Garrett Morris as the titular character's uncle, Junior King. "The Jamie Foxx Show" lasted five seasons from 1996 to 2001. According to IMDb, Morris is credited as Uncle Junior for all 100 episodes. He is the owner of the financially-strapped King Tower Hotel, alongside his wife, Helen, where Jamie King (Foxx) works to support himself as he aspires to become a famous musician.
Uncle Junior is a compulsive gambler and the reason why the hotel is in so much debt. He often concocts schemes to make money, but they don't always work out. He even convinces Jamie to gamble to save the hotel but eventually loses everything even though he had been on a roll. Despite his addictive nature, Junior seems very loving, helping his nephew when he can and secretly restoring his wife's wedding ring for their anniversary.