Meet Kenya Duke Owen, wife of comedian/actor Gary Owen. The couple has three kids together and resides in Ohio.
Kenya Owens is the owner of Premier Sports and Corporate Travel, a successful travel management company that specializes in the travel of Professional and College Sports Teams, Music Tours, Independent film and TV production. Kenya’s company also specializes in the travel of Athletes and Entertainers.
Gary Owen, the only white man to host BET’s “Comic View,” got his big break on the show by captivating mostly African-American audiences with jokes about interracial dating, black and white issues and his relationship with his wife and children.
Owen recalls:
“The only place I could get on stage regularly, was in the so-called ‘hood’ in San Diego. Then I thought, “Why don’t I make fun of black and whites?” We’re both sitting here. That’s when I started addressing the different black and white issues� interracial dating and social issues. I like to deal with issues white guys aren’t supposed to talk about.”
Owen’s mass multicultural appeal has led him to a wide variety of opportunities in movies and television, including roles in “Daddy Day Care,” “Little Man,” Tyler Perry’s “House of Payne” and the new film “Think Like a Man,” which opens on April 20th, 2012.
Check out this video of Owen doing stand up comedy about his kids:
During an interview with Mediamikes.com, Owen talked about his interracial marriage.
Owen told Mike Gencarelli:
“A lot of my comedy is about my life. I am married to a black girl and I married real black! I didn’t go Hillary Banks. My wife is from Oakland and went to public school. I couldn’t break up with her if I wanted to because I am sort of scared of her [laughs]. I said if I was going to this and marry a black woman I was going to be in it to win it. I wanted one that was inner city black! [laughs]”
Owen also chopped it up with Blackamericaweb.com about his experience being married to a black woman.
Here’s a quick excerpt from the interview below:
Black America Web: You’re married to a black woman, and there is a lot of advice going around right now suggesting that black women should date and marry white men. Do you have any advice for black women interested in dating white men?
Gary Owen: Be patient with us. Don’t put us out on the dance floor right away. Let us pick up the dance moves first. Don’t expect us to know the cha-cha slide on the first date (Laughs.)
Black America Web: Have you ever had a white girlfriend?
Gary Owen: Jesus made me this way. He put me on this earth to like black women. I don’t know how he did it, but he did it.
Black America Web: What did you have to learn about black women to date them? Did you already know about the hair thing and all the rest?
Gary Owen: No, I didn’t know. I was dating this one girl one time, and I had my arm around her, and she got up, and she didn’t know her hair was still under my arm – and I hear (mimicks ripping sound). I was like ‘What the f&^k?’ I didn’t know what had happened. I thought I had scalped her (Laughs).
You can read the entire transcript of both interviews here and here.
1st Photo Credit: Gary Owen
2nd Photo Credit: Kenya Duke Owen
