Background and career
Lavell Maurice Crawford (born November 11, 1968) is an American comedian and actor, known for playing Huell Babineaux in Breaking Bad (2011–2013) and its spin-off Better Call Saul (2017–2022). He also played the role of Gus Patch in the Netflix original film The Ridiculous 6 (2015). The album version of his 2021 Comedy Vaccine special was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards.
Lavell Maurice Crawford was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on November 11, 1968, and grew up in nearby Pagedale. Crawford has two sisters, Elonda and Erica. He struggled with his weight in childhood and experienced a near-drowning at age ten. Crawford graduated from Pattonville High School in 1986 before attending Missouri Western State College, where he studied computer science.
Crawford began performing standup comedy professionally in 1990. He frequently performed on BET's ComicView during the 1990s. He was a contestant on NBC's Last Comic Standing in 2007, where in the two-hour season finale he lost to Jon Reep. In 2011 at the Roberts Orpheum Theatre in St. Louis, he recorded Lavell Crawford: Can a Brother Get Some Love. Crawford portrayed Saul Goodman's bodyguard Huell Babineaux in the crime drama series Breaking Bad and its spinoff, Better Call Saul, from 2011 to 2022. He also played Babineaux in Huell's Rules, a non-canonical comedy short set after the events of Breaking Bad. Crawford has also appeared in comedic roles in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Tosh.0, The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, and Aqua TV Show Show.
Crawford's weight peaked in March 2016 at approximately 500 pounds (230 kg). After gastric sleeve surgery, his weight dropped to 298 pounds (135 kg) by August 2017.
Can a Brother Get Some Love? (2011) Home for the Holidays (2017) New Look Same Comedy (2019) The Comedy Vaccine (2021) Thee Lavell Crawford (2023)
