Dave Chappelle is one of the greatest comedians in the world, right up their with Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby. It’s been said that when Richard Pryor died he said he had past the torch on to Dave Chappelle. Dave was born on August 24th , 1973 in Washington, D.C. He talks openly about growing up in a bad neighborhood and even talks about it in his comedy acts. Dave started doing comedy at age nine. At age fourteen he had finally gathered up the courage to perform in front of a crowd. So he went to Harlem’s famed Apollo Theater for his first try , well the audience booed him off stage. In a later interview after he was famous , he described the experience as enlightening and that was the moment that gave him the courage to continue pursuing his acting career. Eventually, Dave’s parents divorced and he decided to stay in Washington, D.C with his mother, while spending summers in Yellow Springs, Ohio with his father. Both of Dave’s parents where highly educated and where able to send him to a very good school. In June 1991, Dave graduated from Washington’s Duke Ellington School of the performing Arts. He excelled their while majoring in literary and theatre arts. Within a year of his graduation, at age nineteen, Dave appeared in two small but very showy roles.
First, in the movie, Robin Hood: Men in Tights , which was released in 1993 and secondly Undercover Blues which was released in 1993 also. In 1994, he got a part in a movie called Getting In. In 1995, Dave got a small role in one episode of the very popular show Home Improvement. This performance got the attention of network executives at ABC. ABC network executives liked him so much they decided to offer him his own show. The half-hour show Buddies premiered in March of 1996 and only had four episodes before being took off the air. Soon after, Dave was offered the role Benjamin Buford Blue in the film Forest Gump, but he turned it down, saying he thought the movie would be unsuccessful. He later said he regretted denying the role because the movie was so successful but also said to act as a black man dumber then Forest Gump would be wrong and irresponsible to African Americans.
In 1998, Dave’s career and life changed dramatically with the starring role in the movie Half Baked, which he co-wrote and produced. Also in 1998, Dave decided to convert to Islam, Dave has never talked publicly about why he made this decision and doesn’t talk openly about. In 2003, Dave decided to debut his own TV show on Comedy Central called The Chappelle’s Show. This show not only featured Dave doing stand up but also skits and musical performances. By the end of the second season , it was one of the highest-rated shows on basic cable. Also, the DVD set , Chappelles’s Show Season One Uncensored, became the best-selling DVD of a television show to date. Dave also stared in Dave Chappelle’s Block Party which chronicles Dave hosting an event in Brooklyn in September. During the third season of The Chappelle Show Dave abruptly left the show. He later stated he was unhappy with the direction the show was going and unhappy with pressure from network executives. He then left the United States and went to South Africa.
This caused a fiery of rumors here in the U.S. Newspapers and magazines were reporting he had left because of drug problems and psychiatric problems. Dave later denied both. Dave later stated after his return to the U.S that he left because he needed to reflect on his life and career. Also Dave has said he never had a chance to mourn the recent death of his father. Since returning to the U.S he has had interviews with Oprah and Inside the Actor’s Studio. Dave has stated he will not return to the show unless some changes are made in the production area, and to date has not returned. Currently, Dave lives in Yellow Springs, Ohio on a sixty-five acre farm with his wife Elaine and their two sons.
