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Cleveland Orenthal Brown, Senior
Cleveland ClevelandDance v3F
Vital statistics
Age 42
Relatives :
Jobs :
Voiced by Mike Henry



Cleveland Orenthal Brown, Sr. is the main character/protagonist of The Cleveland Show.

Until recently he was married to Loretta Brown, but they separated after Loretta had an affair with Quagmire, although they still have feelings for each other. Together they had a son, Cleveland Brown, Jr. Eventually, Loretta gains his house and Cleveland has to move. Cleveland is now married to Donna and has two step children, Roberta, and Rallo. He also sports a mustache and often offers deep insight that the other characters are unable to see.

Donna and Cleveland were initially best friends in high school, although Cleveland clearly had romantic feelings towards her. Donna unfortunately was for the most part oblivious to his feelings, and instead dated Cleveland's unofficial rival Robert. After years apart, Donna was of course over-joyed to see her best friend, Cleveland again. Cleveland and his son, who were passing through Stoolbend while driving to California, had stopped by the high school to retrace Cleveland's old stomping grounds. Donna offers that the Browns stay at her house, which resulted in a rekindling of their friendship that soon blossomed into a full-blown romance and marriage.

As part of their divorce, Loretta gave custody of Cleveland Jr. back to Cleveland. Cleveland has trouble at times trying to understand his son's childish ways and lack of ability to make friends, seeking out companionship for him in "The One About Friends". Cleveland constantly tries to get his son to act more mature, restarting the Stoolbend High School baseball team in an effort to give Junior a chance to shine for his peers in "Field of Streams". He also tries to cut him off from "trick-or-treating" in "It's the Great Pancake, Junior Brown" but realizes with the help of Donna that Junior's childishness is part of who he is. He also has trouble trying to understand if the childishness is really a cover for being smart and maintains a list in "Terry Unmarried" after Junior creates a flying suit from the household appliances, but quickly tells Donna the truth when she demands to know what happened to her house.

Cleveland has a strained relationship with his-stepchildren. For example, in "Cleveland's Angels" he took and gambled away Roberta's collage money, Cleveland hating Roberta seems unlikely but in "Ain't Nothin' But Mutton Bustin'" he completely forgot about her which hints that Cleveland doesn't care about her. On the other hand, he has gone out of his way to protect her in "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Roberta?" after she took off with Diego and became an unwilling participant in a street race. He also took her to his old college in "B.M.O.C." as an excuse to relive his college days. But when Cleveland runs into trouble with the latest members of his old fraternity, Roberta beats them when they get fresh with her until they reveal where they left him.

Rallo originally strongly disliked his new father, breaking his leg and getting a metal rod inserted at a hospital simply to get to switch rooms with Cleveland in "From Bed to Worse". Although as the series goes on, a truce would be had at times when he though Cleveland had rescued him from a near-drowning in "Fat and Wet". When he found out Cleveland was covering up for his inattention, he blackmailed him until Cleveland asserted himself.

History

Cleveland grew up in Stoolbend and played baseball at high school, where he hung out with Terry and Gordy. He was in love with Donna, but Donna was dating Robert at the time. At some point before 1984, he moved to Quahog. Here he met Peter Griffin, Glenn Quagmire, and, years later, Joe Swanson, who he became friends with. The foursome became drinking buddies, and are close friends.

Moving to Stoolbend led to him needing a new job after selling his deli upon leaving Quahog. In "Birth of a Salesman", Tim was able to get him a job as a telemarketer at Waterman Cable, where he was later promoted to cable installer.

During "Harder, Better, Faster, Browner", Cleveland went through a mid-life crisis after realizing how much more Barack Obama had done with his life than Cleveland had. To rectify this, Cleveland helped out Kenny West and his daughter, Candice. Eventually, he wrote and sang a rap with the young Kenny, "Be-Cleve In Yourself", and served as his manager for a short while before he was fired.

Hobbies

Cleveland loves baseball, having played the sport back when he was in high school. His jersey was number nine and was retired. During a particularly challenging game recounted in "Field of Streams", he ran back and forth between third and home forty-two times. Coach McFall called it one of the most impressive run-arounds he'd ever seen. Despite his prowess at the game, he still struck out against Lester, who didn't even consider baseball an actual game during a bet in "Little Man on Campus". Cleveland's right arm is significantly shorter than his left, which he blames as the reason he didn't play for the Yankees in "Of Lice and Men". He enjoys watching minor league baseball and was originally going to move to California to scout professionally before marrying Donna, a goal he got to realize in "California Dreamin'" before discovering living in California wasn't all it was cracked up to be. He has tried several times to get his son interested in the sport, but to no avail. He also played basketball in his youth, attending a sports camp with Barack Obama in "Harder, Better, Faster, Browner".

Cleveland is a huge fan of fashion, especially his mustache which he also mentions in the show's Theme Song. He reads several fashion magazines, including "Mustache Mustachionado". He owns an entire kit specifically made for grooming his mustache. When Cleveland gets his son fired from The Broken Stool in "The Curious Case of Jr. Working at the Stool", he gets revenge by shaving Cleveland's mustache; apparently, it was serving as a natural buffer for Cleveland's voice, and without it, he sounds and looks awkward.

He has an entire closet wall stocked with a variety of hats and spent a 200 dollar bonus on a top hat in "Birth of a Salesman". Being a fan of Worf, he purchases Worf hats for both himself and his son at a convention in "The One About Friends". After being hit by a speeding van of bank robbers in "The Essence of Cleveland", Cleveland's primary concern is for the hat he was wearing. He also becomes excited in "Sex and the Biddy" when he hopes he is getting a new hat from a stranger he meets at the Black's Gym.

Cleveland also has an affinity for a pair of suspenders he wears when he is feeling smug, such as when Patty Donner gets the best of Donna over dinner in "The Essence of Cleveland" or when introducing Junior's new girlfriend Cecilia to the guys in "Y Tu Junior Tambien".

Notes

  • Cleveland's voice actor Mike Henry has stated that his inspiration for the voice was someone that he had met and told him that he had graduated from the University of Maryland, pronouncing it "the University of Merlind", which is recognizable.
  • Cleveland's e-mail address in "Da Doggone Daddy-Daughter Dinner Dance" is ClevelandBrown@clevebro.com
  • Cleveland drives a Blue Saab 9-5 as seen in almost every episode and the Family Guy episode "Love Blactually".
  • Cleveland has been shown to have an dark sense of humor, for example in "Pilot", he says to Donna that Roberta could have genital mutilation as an idea, but he says he was kidding. Also, another time was in "Harder, Better, Faster, Browner", as he wakes Donna at night saying Rallo is dead.
  • In "Birth of a Salesman", Cleveland once sold ice to an Eskimo.
  • Cleveland recounts losing his virginity when he was nine in "Cleveland Jr. Cherry Bomb".
  • Cleveland claims 9/11 was an inside job as seen at the end of "Cleveland Live!".
  • In "Ain't Nothin' But Mutton Bustin'", Cleveland enjoys ham so much that his family partakes in a "Ham Night".
  • Cleveland has a Presidential Award for Physical Fitness in "The Essence of Cleveland", which he claims is one of his life's biggest events.
  • In "BFFs", it is revealed that Cleveland doesn't know who Francine Smith is.
  • Cleveland claims his major was ceramics in "A Short Story and a Tall Tale". In "B.M.O.C.", Cleveland notes that he was a geology minor and plays the trombone at college in a flashback.
  • Cleveland tells Donna that he was conceived during the 7th inning stretch of a Cleveland Indians game in "The Essence of Cleveland".
  • Cleveland demonstrates some of his experience as a former deli owner in "The Men in Me" when he mentions knowing the difference between a sweet bread-and-butter pickle and a German-style dill.

For pre-The Cleveland Show & post-cancellation information see:

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