Robert Townsend (born February 6, 1957) is an American film director, writer, and actor.

Townsend was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Shirley (née Jenkins) and Robert Townsend.

Townsend had a brief uncredited role in the movie Cooley High (1975). His career hit mainstream in the early 1980s. This included stand-up comedy routines which appeared on cable television. His film credits include A Soldier's Story (1984), directed by Norman Jewison, and The Mighty Quinn (1989), with Denzel Washington. Townsend broke ground when he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the comedy Hollywood Shuffle in 1987. He created and produced two television variety shows—the CableACE award–winning Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime for HBO, and the Fox Television Variety Show Townsend Television (1993). He also created and starred in the WB Network's sitcom The Parent Hood (1995).

On the big screen, he has directed Eddie Murphy in Eddie Murphy: Raw (1987); Halle Berry and Martin Landau in B*A*P*S (1997); James Earl Jones and Bill Cosby in The Meteor Man (1993), which Townsend also wrote and in which he starred. Other credits include The Five Heartbeats (1991); Love Songs (1999), a TV movie starring Louis Gossett, Jr., and Andre Braugher; the Disney family film Up, Up, and Away (2000); and the LGBT TV movie Holiday Heart, starring Ving Rhames.

At the 2001 Image Awards of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Townsend had directed three actors nominated in the best actor/actress category in three different films: Leon Robinson, for his role in Little Richard, which Townsend directed for NBC; Alfre Woodard, for her role in the Showtime Movie Holiday Heart (2000), which also garnered her a Golden Globe nomination; and Natalie Cole as herself in Livin' for Love: The Natalie Cole Story (2000), for which she won the Image Award for best actress. Townsend also produced the television films Carmen: A Hip Hopera (2001) and 10,000 Black Men Named George.

Townsend is director of programming at the Black Family Channel.

Considered one of the most versatile talents in Hollywood today, many regard Robert Townsend a renaissance man. He's an actor, director, producer, comedian and writer with a career that spans a mere 15 years. He has acted in films like Soldier's Story, A (1984), directed by Norman Jewison. Mighty Quinn, The (1989) with Denzel Washington, and truly broke ground when he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the classic comedy Hollywood Shuffle (1987) in 1987. Since then, Townsend has danced back and forth -- wearing various caps as actor, director and writer. For the small screen, he created and produced two groundbreaking variety shows -- the Cable Ace award-winning 'Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime' for HBO and the Fox Television Variety Show "Townsend Television" (1993) and he created and starred in the WB Network's hit sitcom "Parent 'Hood, The" (1995). On the big screen, he has directed Eddie Murphy (I) in Eddie Murphy Raw (1987); Academy Award-winning actress Halle Berry and Academy Award-winning actor - Martin Landau in B*A*P*S (1997); James Earl Jones, Bill Cosby and a cast of thousands in his inner-city fable that he wrote, directed and starred in, Meteor Man, The (1993). Other films in which he starred and directed include: Five Heartbeats, The (1991), Love Songs (1999) (TV), starring 'Louis Gossett, Jr.' and Andre Braugher; and the Disney family film _Up, Up, and Away! (2000) (TV) _. Townsend made history at the Image Awards in 2001 by directing three actors nominated in the best actor/actress category in three different films - Leon Robinson, for his role in Little Richard (2000) (TV) which Townsend directed for NBC; Alfre Woodard for her role in the Showtime Movie Holiday Heart (2000) (TV), which also garnered her a Golden Globe nomination; and Natalie Cole for her gripping self portrayal in Livin' for Love: The Natalie Cole Story (2000) (TV), for which she won the covenant Image Award for best actress. Townsend recently helmed two new television films - _Carmen: A Hip Hopera (2001) (TV) _ for MTV Films. Starring 'Beyonce Knowles' in the title role. The other film is called 10,000 Black Men Named George (2002) (TV), a period piece about the Pullman porter strike for Showtime. It stars Charles S. Dutton, Andre Braugher, Brock Peters and Mario Van Peebles.