Edward Francis Jemison, Jr. (born November 25, 1963)[1] is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles as Livingston Dell in the Ocean's film trilogy and Mickey Duka in The Punisher, as well as the television series Hung, iZombie and Chicago Med.
As an actor in films, Jemison's major breakthrough was the Ocean's franchise, a series of movies in which he played Livingston Dell.[6][7] He made his directorial debut in 2013 with an independent film called King of Herrings, starring himself and longtime friends Joe Chrest and John Mese, who both also came out of LSU's theatre department.[8][9] Jemison's wife, Laura Lamson, co-starred in the film as well.[8]
Television career
In the mid-1990s, before launching a film career, he starred in a series of Bud Light commercials with the tagline "Yes, I am".[7][10][11] This catchphrase, "Yes, I am," has stuck to Jemison over the years, to the point that he became a little weary of being the "Yes, I am" guy.[4] Other major commercial credits for Jemison included a Wheaties commercial with basketball star Michael Jordan and an appearance alongside football star Joe Montana.[12]
Online, Jemison starred in the web series Self Storage.[13]
Jemison has also appeared on Late Night with David Letterman.[14]
^ abHolleman, Joe (July 20, 2008). "The king of ads - Inbev has acquired more than just beer - decades of clever marketing have made Anheuser-Busch ... The king of ads". Newsbank. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 19 April 2023. The first of the recent "catch phrase" ads, the commercials featured a pathological liar who would make any claim just so he could get his hands on some Bud Light. For example, the obviously white man - played by Eddie Jemison, who has gone on to star as techno-thief Livingston Dell in the George Clooney/Brad Pitt "Ocean's 11" trilogy - is asked if he is Dr. Lee, an Asian man for whom a reception stocked with Bud Light, is being held. The man replies, "Yes, I am."
^Baron, David (October 7, 1994). "Reach for the Stars: Who's Who at the Fest". Newsbank. Times Picayune. Retrieved 10 April 2023. Eddie Jemison, the "Yes I am" guy in the Bud Light ads, star of "One Way Glass" (Canal Place, 7pm, Fri.)
^"Lee Family Reunion". YouTube. User: incubator2008. October 13, 2009. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
^McGehee, Ted (January 19, 1992). "LSU Theater grads making a go of it *** Locally trained actors ply their trade in New York and Los Angeles". Newsbank. Baton Rouge Advocate. Retrieved 19 April 2023. While the footlights provide satisfaction, Jemison says TV commercials are paying the rent. His best-known work to date is the Wheaties commercial with Michael Jordan. The diminutive, curly-haired Jemison provides a comic foil for Jordan, as he taunts the Chicago Bulls basketball star at a practice gym, challenging him to a game of one-on-one. "Come on Michael. You and me. Right now," Jemison's character squeaks, casually flipping the ball up in the air. Jordan looks down at Jemison and deadpans the camera. As it turns out, his challenge to Jordan is for a game of basketball tiddly-winks, free inside specially marked boxes of Wheaties. A similar commercial involving Jemison and San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana is also running.
^Pixler, J. (1988, September 2). `Dzuma' focuses on plague of communism. Chicago Sun-Times, p. 9. Available from NewsBank: America's News – Historical and Current: https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AMNEWS&docref=news/0EB36DFA0FC9CFA9. Quote: "The seven-member cast includes Sills' Compass-Second City-Story Theatre cohorts Severn Darden and Warren Leming, and upstarts Dennis Cockrum (American Blues Theatre's 'Bad Moon'), Christopher Holloway (of DePaul University and the Piven Theatre Workshop) and Eddie Jemison in his acting debut."
^Weiss, H. (1988, September 4). `Talking to Myself,' a mosaic of memoriesStuds Terkel recalls past in present tense. Chicago Sun-Times, p. 6. Available from NewsBank: America's News – Historical and Current: https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AMNEWS&docref=news/0EB36DFAB1E2AE43. Quote: "Playing Terkel will be Eddie Jemison, a 24-year-old actor and recent graduate of Louisiana State University, who will be making his Chicago debut."
^Weiss, Hedy (October 12, 1989). "'Butter and Egg Man' leaves a soggy mess". Newsbank. Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved 10 April 2023. Then there's Jemison, the slight, wonderfully graceful, endlessly animated young actor who played Studs Terkel so memorably in an otherwise forgettable show at Northlight last season. Jemison has a face that sparkles like Italian Christmas lights. And he brings precisely the right kind of deft comic energy to his role that should have marked the entire production. He dances, while nearly everyone else plods. He can even wear a top hat with style.
^Weiss, Hedy (November 30, 1989). "Goodman's soaring 'Christmas Carol' is a feast of warmth". Newsbank. Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved 10 April 2023. and Eddie Jemison, who has a touch of comic madness in him, proves once again that there are no small parts.
^Weiss, Hedy (September 21, 1990). "'T Bone N Weasel' is amusing but thin". Newsbank. Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved 10 April 2023. Weasel, with a scuzzy little beard and a polyester print shirt, is illiterate poor white trash. Yet as played by that most enchanting comic actor Eddie Jemison (best known for his portrayal of the young Studs Terkel two seasons ago at Northlight), his mind seems to be working a hundred miles a minute.
^Weiss, Hedy (February 1, 1991). "Top bananas turn 'Only Kidding!' into comic delight". Newsbank. Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved 10 April 2023. (Eddie Jemison, whose usual manic energy is here fused with a startling streak of nastiness)
^Weiss, Hedy (September 19, 2000). "The Two Gentlemen of Verona". Newsbank. Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved 10 April 2023. Eddie Jemison as Proteus' remarkably rubber-faced and earthy philosopher-clown
