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DeWayne Jessie

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

DeWayne Jessie (a.k.a. "Otis Day") is an American character actor best known for his portrayal of fictional frontman Otis Day of Otis Day and the Knights in National Lampoon's Animal House. In the movie, the songs "Shama Lama Ding Dong" and "Shout" were sung by Lloyd G. Williams and lip-synched by Jessie.

In the 1980s, Jessie purchased the rights to the band name Otis Day and The Knights from Universal Studios and formed a real-life version of the band with some members of his family and toured the country for years afterward, with Jessie assuming the identity of Otis Day. The group released a concert video, Otis My Man, in 1987 and recorded an album, produced by George Clinton, that came out in 1989 titled Shout which flopped. It included updated versions of "Shout" and "Shama Lama Ding Dong" sung by Jessie.

Jessie and the rest of the band members were initiated as honorary members of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity at the University of Central Oklahoma in 1985. He lives with three of his grandchildren.

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1970 Halls of Anger Lerone Johnson
1972 The New Centurions Mugging Suspect Uncredited
1974 The Crazy World of Julius Vrooder Rodali
1975 Darktown Strutters V.D.
1976 Sparkle Ham
1976 The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings Rainbow, All-Star (bat boy)
1976 Car Wash Lloyd
1977 Fun with Dick and Jane Robber #2
1977 Which Way Is Up? Sugar
1977 Scott Joplin John The Baptist TV movie
1978 Thank God It's Friday Floyd
1978 National Lampoon's Animal House Otis Day
1980 Where the Buffalo Roam Man #1
1980 Gorp Sweet Moe
1983 The Star Chamber Stanley Flowers
1983 D.C. Cab Bongo
1986 Otis Day and the Knights: Otis My Man! Documentary
2007 Drawn Together Cameo
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