The best known part of Dave Chappelle’s biography is that he is the star of his own sketch comedy show called “Chappelle’s Show” that airs on TV’s Comedy Central channel. This biography of Dave Chappelle will concentrate mainly on his career as a comedian, host and comedic actor. It is a time-line Biography/Filmography that lists events in chronological order.
August, 24th, 1973: Dave is born in Washington, D.C. to William and Yvonne Seon Chappelle, whom later divorced.
1988: He pursued a comic career at a very young age, starting to do stand-ups in local clubs at the age of 14.
1989: His first “big-time” gig came within in his first year of doing stand-up; performing his act at the famed Apollo Theatre in Harlem, but it was a flop.
1992: He appeared on “Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam” on HBO, his first TV appearance and also on “”Six Comics in Search of a Generation” airing on Lifetime.
1993: The start of his Filmography, Dave appeared in the movie “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” as “Ahchoo” and a role in “Undercover Blues” as “Ozzie”
1994: Co-hosted the HBO special “Comic Relief VI” with Whoopi Goldberg and was in the movie “Getting In” and was also featured in “Comic Justice. He was also in the “Apollo Theatre Hall of Fame” on Television.
1995: Had a guest appearance on “Home Improvement” airing on ABC at the time.
1996: He had his own TV series “Buddies” for a short time on ABC, starred as a standup comic “Reggie Warrington” with Eddie Murphy in “The Nutty Professor”, was a “Cockroach” in “Joe’s Apartemnt” and had a short-lived Disney sitcom “Buddies” with Christopher Gartin.
1997: He played a convict named “Pinball” in the movie “Con-Air”, had a short-run TV Series called “The Dave Chappelle Project”, and was in the “HBO Comedy Half-Hour”.
1998: He played opposite of Tommy Davidson as “Lenny” in the movie “Woo”, had a supporting role as “Kevin Scanlon” in “You’ve Got Mail” and played “Zee” in “The Real Blonde”. Dave Chappelle also added the credit of “screen-writer” to his biography this year by writing and starring in “Half-Baked”, as “Sir Smoka Lot/ Thurgood”, a movie about marijuana usage that is supposed to honor “Cheech and Chong” movies. He was also on “Comic Relief VIII”. It is reportedly around this year that he converted to Islam.
1999: He was in the movie “200 Cigarettes” as a cab driver (“Disco Cabbie”) and “Blue Streak”, where he played Martin Lawrence’s friend “Tulley.
2000: He had a role opposite of Norm MacDonald playing “Rusty P Hayes” in the movie “Screwed” and also co-executive produced, co-wrote and starred in “Dave Chappelle: Killin’ Them Softly”, a special airing on HBO and is featured in “Def Comedy Jam: All Stars Vol. 4”.
2001: Sulayman Chappelle, Dave’s son is born. He also has another son with wife Elaine, but is very guarded about his private life.
2002: Played “Conspiracy Brother” with Eddie Griffin in the movie “Undercover Brother”. This year he was also the voice of one of the many puppets that made crank calls on Comedy Central’s “Crank Yankers” and was also featured in “The Best of Def Comedy Jam – Collection Box Set 1: Volumes 1-6
2003: “Chappelle’s Show” is launched on Comedy Central, in which he stars, hosts, writes and produces for the network and in “Uncensored Comedy: That’s Not Funny. He was also part of the “The GQ Men of the Year Awards”, the “Essence Awards” and “Comedy Central Presents: The Commies”
2004: He is “Richard Pryor – I Ain’t Dead Yet”- the uncensored version and “Dave Chappelle – For What It’s Worth
2005: He is one of the stars in “Just For Laughs – Stand-Up Vol. 1 – Best of the Uptown Comics” and “Before They Were Kings – Vol. 2”. He was also interviewed by Time magazine this year, where he discusses his religious practice of Islam.
2006: “Dave Chappelle’s Block Party” a documentary about the comedian’s life is released..
This year he abruptly left for South Africa while filming the 3rd season of his show and there are mixed reports of the reason why. Some say for pyschatric treatment, Dave says for spiritual “soul searching” reasons. It is also unclear as to wether he is returning to his hit program or not. As of now, production is on hold.
He was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey on February 3rd, 2006 and will appear on one of the Bravo network’s best show, “Inside the Actor’s Studio” on February 12, 2006.
Even if “The Chappelle Show” is bound for re-run land, I am sure that we have not heard the last from this out-spoken comedian.
Reference:
- “Official Site of Dave Chappelle” www.davechapelle.com/ “Dave Chappelle’s Keeping it Real Could Go Wrong” found on www.associatedcontent.com Chappelle’s Woes No Different From Those of Other Artists” found on: www.associatedcontent.com “Chappelle’s Show” found on www.comedycentral.com/
