Dave Chappelle Biography

David Chappelle (born August 23 or August 24, 1972 or 1973 in Washington, D.C.) is an American comedian and actor.

Chappelle attended elementary school in Silver Spring, Maryland and went to middle school in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where his father William was a professor and taught voice and music at Antioch College. After his parents' divorce, Chappelle moved to Washington, D.C., with his mother Yvonne Seon (a Unitarian minister). He attended high school in Washington D.C., but spent his summers with his father in Yellow Springs.
***

***
Young Comedian

Chappelle began playing comedy clubs in Washington when he was 14 years old, while studying acting and literary media at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Within a year, he had a chance to perform at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. He was promptly booed off stage. Undeterred, Chappelle became a hit at clubs along the East Coast, refining sets which were laid-back and socially conscious. By 1992, he had appeared on HBO's Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam. Catching the eye of Whoopi Goldberg, he became the youngest comic to have a featured spot on Comic Relief VI, at age 20.

His first major role was in Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Chappelle turned down the role of Bubba in the 1994 movie Forrest Gump. He has defended refusing the role, because of the stereotypical racial overtones of a black sidekick less intelligent than the white main character. He later appeared as the abrasive comedian in the remake of The Nutty Professor, had a minor role in Con Air, a supporting role in Martin Lawrence's Blue Streak, and then wrote and starred in Half Baked, a film about a group of pot-smoking best friends trying to get their friend out of jail. Chappelle appeared as himself in an episode of The Larry Sanders Show. In that performance, Chappelle and the executives of the show's nameless television network satirized the treatment that scriptwriters and show creators are subject to, as well as the executives' knee-jerk stereotyping when it comes to race. Dave is also a practicing muslim.

Television Stardom

Chappelle as "Black Bush"In 2003, Chappelle debuted his own weekly television show on Comedy Central, Chappelle's Show. His sketch comedy heavily skewers racial stereotypes and slurs, including Chappelle's African-American heritage. This, with pointed social and political commentary, quickly achieved great popularity. By the end of the second season, it was one of the highest-rated shows on basic cable, and second only to South Park on Comedy Central. Additionally, the DVD set of the first season became the best-selling DVD of a television show to date. Due to the show's popularity, Comedy Central's parent company Viacom reportedly offered Chappelle a $50 million contract (giving Chappelle a share of DVD sales) to continue production of Chappelle's Show for two more years while allowing him to do side projects.

"I'm Rick James, Bitch!"One of Chappelle's well-known sketches is the Rick James Sketch, which has him portraying the late Rick James during his drug years. The phrase "I'm Rick James, bitch!" (a phrase James acknowledged he actually used) has now become a part of popular culture, as have many of his other characters and sketches. However, the phrase became so overdone that Chappelle would insult audience members who yelled it at him, and tell them to "shut the fuck up." Chappelle also has done two parodies of music videos, "Piss On You" and its remix, which parodies R&B singer R. Kelly's "Feeling on your Booty", and "Ignition (Remix)".

Season 3 Turbulence

The comedian stunned fans and the entertainment industry when he abruptly left during production of the third season of Chappelle's Show. He spent two weeks in South Africa before returning home to his 65-acre farm near Yellow Springs, and then returned to standup comedy. His decision triggered reports that he had mental or drug problems, which he denied. On May 11, news sources (most notably Entertainment Weekly) reported that Chappelle had checked himself into a psychiatric facility in South Africa. Chappelle denies this. On May 14, Time Magazine announced that one of their reporters had interviewed Chappelle in South Africa, and the comedian said no psychiatric treatments were occurring or necessary. Chappelle reportedly went to South Africa to purify himself and to do some soul searching. Chappelle has also said he was unhappy with the direction of his show.

Chappelle's Show is on hiatus as of December 2005 while he sorts out unspecified personal issues. Recent news has located Chappelle back in the United States, at his house in Ohio, and performing impromptu shows in Los Angeles and the Cincinnati, Ohio suburb of Newport, Kentucky. On August 3rd, co-star Charlie Murphy gave an interview to TV Guide stating that he believes that Dave Chappelle is finished with Chappelle's Show and would not be returning.

Although Chappelle may be done with filming the show, Comedy Central has recently reported that they will release the un-aired sketches of the third season of "Chappelle's Show" into four half hour episodes in mid-2006. A season three trailer was shown on Comedy Central during their Last Laugh '05 and then on their website.

Chappelle was interviewed for Inside the Actors Studio on December 18, 2005, at Pace University's Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts.

DAVE CHAPPELLE PICTURES

1 - 2 - 3 - 4

DAVE CHAPPELLE BIOGRAPHY