September 4 is the 247th day of the year (248th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 118 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events[link]

• 476 – Romulus Augustulus, last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, is deposed when Odoacer proclaims himself "King of Italy", thus ending the Western Roman Empire.
• 626 – Li Shimin, posthumously known as Emperor Taizong of Tang, assumes the throne over the Tang Dynasty of China.
• 1260 – The Sienese Ghibellines, supported by the forces of King Manfred of Sicily, defeat the Florentine Guelphs at Montaperti.
• 1666 – In London, England, the most destructive damage from the Great Fire occurs.
• 1774 – New Caledonia is first sighted by Europeans, during the second voyage of Captain James Cook.
• 1781 – Los Angeles, California, is founded as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora La Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula (The Village of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of Porziuncola) by 44 Spanish settlers.
• 1797 – Coup of 18 Fructidor in France.
• 1812 – War of 1812: The Siege of Fort Harrison begins when the fort is set on fire.
• 1862 – Civil War Maryland Campaign: General Robert E. Lee takes the Army of Northern Virginia, and the war, into the North.
• 1870 – Emperor Napoleon III of France is deposed and the Third Republic is declared.
• 1884 – The United Kingdom ends its policy of penal transportation to New South Wales in Australia.^{[citation needed]}
• 1886 – Indian Wars: after almost 30 years of fighting, Apache leader Geronimo, with his remaining warriors, surrenders to General Nelson Miles in Arizona.
• 1888 – George Eastman registers the trademark Kodak and receives a patent for his camera that uses roll film.
• 1912 – Albanian rebels succeed in their revolt when the Ottoman Empire agrees to fulfill their demands
• 1919 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who founded the Republic of Turkey, gathers a congress in Sivas to make decisions as to the future of Anatolia and Thrace.
• 1923 – Maiden flight of the first U.S. airship, the USS Shenandoah.
• 1939 – World War II: a Bristol Blenheim is the first British aircraft to cross the German coast following the declaration of war and German ships are bombed.
• 1941 – World War II: a German submarine makes the first attack against a United States ship, the USS Greer.
• 1944 – World War II: the British 11th Armoured Division liberates the Belgian city of Antwerp.
• 1944 – World War II: Finland exits from the war with Soviet Union.
• 1948 – Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands abdicates for health reasons.
• 1949 – The Peekskill Riots erupt after a Paul Robeson concert in Peekskill, New York.
• 1950 – Darlington Raceway is the site of the inaugural Southern 500, the first 500-mile NASCAR race.
• 1951 – The first live transcontinental television broadcast takes place in San Francisco, California, from the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference.
• 1956 – The IBM RAMAC 305 is introduced, the first commercial computer to use magnetic disk storage.
• 1957 – American Civil Rights Movement: Little Rock Crisis – Orval Faubus, governor of Arkansas, calls out the National Guard to prevent African American students from enrolling in Central High School.
• 1957 – The Ford Motor Company introduces the Edsel.
• 1963 – Swissair Flight 306 crashes near Dürrenäsch, Switzerland, killing all 80 people on board.
• 1964 – Scotland's Forth Road Bridge near Edinburgh officially opens.
• 1967 – Vietnam War: Operation Swift begins: U.S. Marines engage the North Vietnamese in battle in the Que Son Valley.
• 1971 – Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 crashes near Juneau, Alaska, killing all 111 people on board.
• 1972 – Mark Spitz becomes the first competitor to win seven medals at a single Olympic Games.
• 1975 – The Sinai Interim Agreement relating to the Arab-Israeli conflict is signed.
• 1977 – The Golden Dragon Massacre took place in San Francisco, California.
• 1985 – The discovery of Buckminsterfullerene, the first fullerene molecule of carbon.
• 1989 – In Leipzig, East Germany, the first of weekly demonstration for the legalisation of opposition groups and democratic reforms takes place.
• 1996 – War on Drugs: Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) attack a military base in Guaviare, starting three weeks of guerrilla warfare in which at least 130 Colombians are killed.
• 1998 – Google is founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two students at Stanford University.
• 2001 – Tokyo DisneySea opens to the public as part of the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan.
• 2007 – Three terrorists suspected to be a part of Al-Qaeda are arrested in Germany after allegedly planning attacks on both the Frankfurt International airport and US military installations.
• 2010 – Canterbury earthquake: a 7.1 magnitude earthquake which struck the South Island of New Zealand at 4:35 am causing widespread damage and several power outages.

Births[link]

• 1241 – Alexander III of Scotland (d. 1286)
• 1383 – Count Amadeus VIII of Savoy (d. 1451)
• 1454 – Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English politician (d. 1483)
• 1557 – Sofie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, queen of Denmark and Norway (d. 1631)
• 1563 – Wanli, Emperor of China (d. 1620)
• 1596 – Constantijn Huygens, Dutch poet and composer (d. 1687)
• 1681 – Carl Heinrich Biber, violinist and composer (d. 1749)
• 1717 – Job Orton, English minister (d. 1783)
• 1718 – Carl Heinrich Biber, Austrian violinist and composer (d. 1749)
• 1755 – Count Axel von Fersen the Younger, Swedish Army officer, diplomat and statesman. (d. 1810)
• 1761 – F.L.Æ. Kunzen, German composer and conductor (d. 1817)
• 1768 – François-René de Chateaubriand, French diplomat (d. 1848)
• 1798 – Raynold Kaufgetz, Swiss academic (d. 1869)
• 1803 – Sarah Childress Polk, First Lady of the United States (d. 1891)
• 1809 – Juliusz Słowacki, Polish Romantic poet (d. 1849)
• 1824 – Anton Bruckner, Austrian composer (d. 1896)
• 1825 – Dadabhai Naoroji, An early Indian political leader (d. 1917)
• 1826 – Martin Wiberg, Swedish computer pioneer (d. 1905)
• 1832 – Antonio Agliardi, Italian diplomat (d. 1915)
• 1846 – Daniel Burnham, American architect (d. 1912)
• 1848 – Jennie Lee, American actress (d. 1925)
• 1850 – Luigi Cadorna, Italian Field Marshal (d. 1928)
• 1851 – John Dillon, Irish nationalist (d. 1927)
• 1885 – Antonio Bacci, Italian cardinal (d. 1971)
• 1885 – Dimitrios Loundras, Greek gymnast (d. 1971)
• 1886 – Albert Orsborn, General of the Salvation Army (d. 1967)
• 1887 – Roy William Neill, Irish director (d. 1946)
• 1890 – Naima Wifstrand, Swedish film actor, operetta singer, troubadour, director and composer (d. 1968)
• 1891 – Fritz Todt, Nazi official (d. 1942)
• 1892 – Darius Milhaud, French composer (d. 1974)
• 1896 – Antonin Artaud, French playwright (d. 1948)
• 1896 – Aspasia Manos, wife of king Alexander of Greece (d. 1972)
• 1901 – William Lyons, British industrialist (Jaguar cars) (d. 1985)
• 1902 – Thomas Mitchell, England cricketer (d. 1996)
• 1905 – Mary Renault, English novelist (d. 1983)
• 1906 – Max Delbrück, German biologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1981)
• 1908 – Edward Dmytryk, American film director (d. 1999)
• 1908 – Richard Wright, American writer (d. 1960)
• 1909 – Eduard Wirths, Nazi physician (d. 1945)
• 1910 – Denis Tomlinson, South African cricketer (d. 1993)
• 1912 – Syd Hoff, Jewish-American cartoonist and children's book author (d. 2004)
• 1913 – Mickey Cohen, American gangster (d. 1976)
• 1913 – Victor Kiernan, British historian (d. 2009)
• 1913 – Stanford Moore, American chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1982)
• 1914 – Rudolf Leiding, German auto executive, third postwar chairman of Volkswagen (d. 2003)
• 1917 – Henry Ford II, American industrialist (d. 1987)
• 1918 – Paul Harvey, American radio broadcaster (d. 2009)
• 1918 – Gerald Wilson, American jazz trumpeter and arranger
• 1919 – Howard Morris, American comic actor and director (d. 2005)
• 1920 – Clemar Bucci, Argentine racing driver (d. 2011)
• 1922 – Per Olof Sundman, Swedish writer and politician (d. 1992)
• 1923 – Ram Kishore Shukla, Indian Politician (d. 2003)
• 1924 – Joan Aiken, English writer (d. 2004)
• 1925 – Forrest Carter, American author (d. 1979)
• 1926 – Ivan Illich, Austrian philosopher (d. 2002)
• 1926 – Bert Olmstead, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1927 – John McCarthy, American computer scientist (d. 2011)
• 1927 – Ferenc Sánta, Hungarian writer (d. 2008)
• 1928 – Dick York, American actor (d. 1992)
• 1929 – Thomas Eagleton, American politician (d. 2007)
• 1930 – Don Ackerman, American basketball player (d. 2011)
• 1931 – Mitzi Gaynor, American actress
• 1931 – Antonios Trakatellis, Greek politician
• 1932 – Carlos Romero Barcelo, Puerto Rican politician
• 1932 – Dinsdale Landen, English actor (d. 2003)
• 1934 – Sir Clive Granger, Welsh-born economist, Nobel laureate
• 1934 – Eduard Khil, Russian singer
• 1936 – Wayne Cody, American popular radio and television sportscaster (d. 2002)
• 1937 – Dawn Fraser, Australian swimmer
• 1937 – Gene Ludwig, American jazz organist (d. 2010)
• 1937 – Mikk Mikiver, Estonian actor and director (d. 2006)
• 1939 – Denis Lindsay, South African cricketer (d. 2005)
• 1941 – Marilena Chaui, Brazilian philosopher
• 1941 – Sushilkumar Shinde, Indian politician
• 1941 – Ramesh Sethi, East African cricketer
• 1941 – Joanna Van Gyseghem, English actress
• 1942 – Raymond Floyd, American professional golfer
• 1942 – Jerry Jarrett, American professional wrestling promoter
• 1942 – Merald "Bubba" Knight, R&B singer with Gladys Knight & The Pips
• 1944 – Jennifer Salt, American actress
• 1944 – Ron Ward, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1945 – Danny Gatton, American musician (d. 1994)
• 1946 – Gary Duncan, American guitarist (Quicksilver Messenger Service)
• 1946 – Bryan Mauricette, Canadian cricketer
• 1946 – Dave Liebman, American saxophonist and flautist
• 1949 – Dean Pees, American football defensive coordinator
• 1949 – Tom Watson, American golfer
• 1950 – Doyle Alexander, American baseball player
• 1950 – Ehteshamuddin, Pakistani cricketer
• 1951 – Martin Chambers, English drummer (The Pretenders)
• 1951 – Judith Ivey, American actress
• 1951 – Marita Ulvskog, Swedish politician
• 1952 – Rishi Kapoor, Indian actor
• 1953 – Fatih Terim, Turkish footballer and coach
• 1955 – David Broza, a multi-platinum Israeli singer-songwriter and guitarist.
• 1955 – Garth Le Roux, former South African cricketer
• 1955 – Brian Schweitzer, American politician, 23rd governor of Montana
• 1956 – Blackie Lawless, American musician, lead singer in W.A.S.P.
• 1957 – Khandi Alexander, American actress
• 1957 – Patricia Tallman, American actress
• 1958 – George Hurley, American drummer (Minutemen)
• 1958 – Marzio Innocenti, Italian rugby union player and coach
• 1958 – David Drew Pinsky (Dr. Drew), American radio show host
• 1959 – Kevin Harrington, Australian actor
• 1959 – Armin Kogler, Austrian ski jumper
• 1960 – Kim Thayil, American guitarist (Soundgarden, Probot)
• 1960 – Damon Wayans, American actor and comedian
• 1961 – Nick Blinko, English musician (Rudimentary Peni)
• 1961 – Kevin Kennedy, English actor
• 1961 – Rizwan-uz-Zaman, Pakistani cricketer
• 1962 – Kiran More, Indian cricketer
• 1962 – Ulla Tørnæs, Danish politician
• 1963 – Bobby Jarzombek, American drummer (Halford)
• 1963 – John Vanbiesbrouck, American hockey player
• 1963 – Sam Yaffa, Finnish musician (Hanoi Rocks, New York Dolls)
• 1964 – René Pape, German bass
• 1965 – Sergio Momesso, French Canadian ice hockey player
• 1966 – Yanka Dyagileva, Russian poet and singer-songwriter (d. 1991)
• 1966 – Jeff Tremaine, American director and producer
• 1967 – Darrin Murray, New Zealand cricketer
• 1968 – John DiMaggio, American voice actor
• 1968 – Phill Lewis, American actor
• 1968 – Mike Piazza, American baseball player
• 1969 – Alexander Coe, Welsh DJ and record producer
• 1969 – Ramon Dekkers, Dutch kickboxer
• 1969 – Noah Taylor, English-born actor
• 1970 – Dave Buchwald, American hacker and film maker
• 1970 – Igor Cavalera, Brazilian drummer (Sepultura)
• 1970 – Daisy Dee, West Indian-born singer
• 1970 – Sven Meyer, German footballer
• 1971 – Lance Klusener, South African cricketer
• 1971 – Ione Skye, English actress
• 1971 – Maik Taylor, Northern Irish footballer
• 1971 – Anita Yuen, Hong Kong actress
• 1972 – Françoise Yip, Canadian actress
• 1973 – Jason David Frank, American actor
• 1973 – Aaron Fultz, American baseball player
• 1974 – Naved Ashraf, Pakistani cricketer
• 1974 – Carmit Bachar, American musician (Pussycat Dolls)
• 1974 – Lincoln Roberts, West Indian cricketer
• 1975 – Kai Owen, Welsh actor
• 1975 – Dave Salmoni, Canadian zoologist, animal trainer
• 1975 – Yoani Sánchez, Cuban dissident blogger
• 1976 – Katreeya English, Thai singer, actress, model
• 1976 – Denilson Martins Nascimento, Brazilian footballer
• 1976 – Clinton R. Nixon, American game designer
• 1976 – Mario-Ernesto Rodríguez, Uruguayan-Italian footballer
• 1977 – Sun-Woo Kim, Korean Major League Baseball player
• 1977 – Mark Ronson, English DJ/Producer and co-founder of Allido Records
• 1977 – Lucie Silvas, English musician
• 1978 – Wes Bentley, American actor
• 1978 – Christian Walz, Swedish artist.
• 1979 – Maxim Afinogenov, Russian ice hockey player
• 1979 – Pedro Camacho, Portuguese composer
• 1979 – Kristina Krepela, Croatian actress
• 1979 – Kosuke Matsuura, Japanese racing driver
• 1979 – MC Mong, South Korean hip hop artist
• 1980 – Pat Neshek, American baseball player
• 1980 – Hitomi Shimatani, Japanese singer
• 1981 – Richard Garcia, Australian footballer
• 1981 – Beyoncé Knowles, American singer and actress (Destiny's Child)
• 1981 – Lacey Sturm, American singer (Flyleaf)
• 1982 – Whitney Cummings, American comedian and actress
• 1983 – Joshua Gardner, American sex offender and fictional fifth Duke of Cleveland
• 1983 – Yuichi Nakamaru, Japanese idol, (member of KAT-TUN)
• 1983 – Margit Rüütel, Estonian tennis player
• 1984 – Camila Bordonaba, Argentine actress, singer and composer
• 1984 – Hamish McIntosh, Australian football player
• 1984 – Demetris Nichols, American basketball player
• 1985 – Walid Mesloub, Algerian footballer
• 1985 – Raúl Albiol, Spanish footballer
• 1986 – James Younghusband, Philippine footballer
• 1986 – Ayumi Kaihori, Japanese international footballer
• 1988 – John Tyler Hammons, American politician, mayor of Muskogee, Oklahoma
• 1990 – Stefanía Fernández, Venezuelan beauty queen and Miss Universe 2009
• 1990 – Jonny Lomax, English Rugby League player
• 1991 – Carter Jenkins, American actor
• 1995 – Trevor Gagnon, American actor
• 1999 – Kali Majors, American actress

Deaths[link]

• 422 – Pope Boniface I
• 799 – Musa al-Kazim, Shia Imam (b. 745)
• 1037 – King Bermudo III of León (b. 1010)
• 1063 – Tughril, Turkish conqueror of Persia and Baghdad
• 1199 – Joan of England, Queen consort of Sicily, wife of William II of Sicily (b. 1165)
• 1537 – Johann Dietenberger, German theologian (b. c.1475)
• 1588 – Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, English politician (b. 1532)
• 1767 – Charles Townshend, English politician (b. 1725)
• 1780 – John Fielding, English magistrate and social reformer (b. 1721)
• 1784 – César-François Cassini de Thury, French astronomer (b. 1714)
• 1794 – John Hely-Hutchinson, Irish statesman (b. 1724)
• 1804 – Richard Somers, American naval officer
• 1821 – José Miguel Carrera, Chilean general and founding father (b. 1785)
• 1852 – William MacGillivray, Scottish naturalist and ornithologist (b. 1796)
• 1864 – John Hunt Morgan, American Confederate military leader (b. 1825)
• 1907 – Edvard Grieg, Norwegian composer (b. 1843)
• 1909 – Clyde Fitch, American dramatist and playwright (b. 1865)
• 1940 – George William de Carteret, author from Jersey island (b. 1869)
• 1944 – General Erich Fellgiebel, German army officer who participated in the July 20th plot to assassinate Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. (b. 1886)
• 1963 – Robert Schuman, French politician (b. 1886)
• 1965 – Albert Schweitzer, Alsatian physician and missionary, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1875)
• 1974 – Marcel Achard, French playwright (b. 1899)
• 1974 – Creighton Abrams, U.S. Army general (b. 1914)
• 1974 – Lewi Pethrus, Swedish politician (b. 1884)
• 1977 – E. F. Schumacher, German economist and statistician (b. 1911)
• 1977 – Jean Rostand, French biologist (b. 1894)
• 1977 – Stelios Perpiniadis, Greek musician (b. 1899)
• 1979 – Canuplin, Filipino magician and bodabil entertainer (b. 1904)
• 1986 – Hank Greenberg, American baseball player (b. 1911)
• 1986 – Otto Glória, Brazilian football coach (b. 1917)
• 1987 – Bill Bowes, English cricketer (b. 1908)
• 1989 – Georges Simenon, French author (b. 1903)
• 1989 – Ronald Syme, New Zealand-born classicist and historian (b. 1903)
• 1990 – Irene Dunne American actress (b. 1898)
• 1991 – Tom Tryon, American actor and novelist (b. 1926)
• 1991 – Dottie West, American singer (b. 1932)
• 1991 – Charlie Barnet, American jazz saxophonist and bandleader (b. 1913)
• 1993 – Hervé Villechaize, French actor (b. 1943)
• 1995 – Chuck Greenberg, American musician (Shadowfax (b. 1950)
• 1995 – William Kunstler, American lawyer and activist (b. 1919)
• 1997 – Aldo Rossi, Italian architect (b. 1931)
• 1998 – Elizabeth Kata, Australian writer, A Patch of Blue (b. 1912)
• 1999 – Georg Gawliczek, German football manager (b. 1919)
• 2001 – Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf, American radio personality (b. 1962)
• 2002 – Vlado Perlemuter, Lithuanian pianist (b. 1904)
• 2003 – Tibor Varga, Hungarian violinist and conductor (b. 1921)
• 2003 – Lola Bobesco, Romanian-born violinist (b. 1921)
• 2004 – Alphonso Ford, American basketball player (b. 1971)
• 2004 – Moe Norman, Canadian golfer (b. 1929)
• 2004 – James O. Page, American paramedic (b. 1936)
• 2006 – Colin Thiele, Australian author and educator (b. 1920)
• 2006 – Giacinto Facchetti, Italian footballer (b. 1942)
• 2006 – Steve Irwin, Australian naturalist and television personality (b. 1962)
• 2006 – Astrid Varnay, Swedish-born soprano (b. 1918)
• 2011 – Lee Roy Selmon, American football player (b. 1954)

Holidays and observances[link]

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Blessed Catherine of Racconigi
  • Moses and Aaron (Lutheran Church and Eastern Orthodox Church)
  • Rosalia
  • Rose of Viterbo
  • Ultan of Ardbraccan
  • September 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Immigrant's Day (Argentina)
• Newspaper Carrier Day (United States)
• The first day of the Ludi Romani until 19 September. (Roman Empire)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: September 4

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

Dave Chappelle
Dave Chappelle, 2007
Birth name	David Khari Webber Chappelle
Born	(1973-08-24) August 24, 1973 (age 38) Washington, D.C., U.S.[1]
Medium	Stand-up, television, film
Nationality	American
Years active	1987–present
Genres	Satire/political satire, improvisational comedy, observational comedy, surreal humor, sketch comedy, black comedy, blue comedy
Subject(s)	Racism, race relations, American politics, African American culture, pop culture, recreational drug use, human sexuality, morality
Influences	Richard Pryor,[2] Eddie Murphy,[2] Mel Blanc,[2] Chris Rock[3]
Spouse	Elaine Chappelle (2001–present) 3 children
Notable works and roles	Himself and Various in Chappelle's Show Himself in Dave Chappelle's Block Party Achoo in Robin Hood: Men in Tights Thurgood Jenkins in Half Baked
Signature

David Khari Webber "Dave" Chappelle^[4] (/ʃəˈpɛl/; born August 24, 1973)^[1] is an American comedian, screenwriter, television/film producer, actor, and artist. Chappelle began his film career in the film Robin Hood: Men in Tights in 1993 and continued to star in minor roles in the films The Nutty Professor, Con Air, and Blue Streak. His first lead role in a film was in Half Baked in 1998. In 2003, he became widely known for his popular sketch comedy television series, Chappelle's Show, which ran until his abrupt retirement from the show in 2005. Chappelle is ranked forty-third in Comedy Central Presents: 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time.^[5]

Early life[link]

Chappelle was born David Khari Webber Chappelle in Washington, D.C. on August 24, 1973.^[1][2] His father, William David Chappelle III, was a professor at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio.^[2] His mother, Yvonne (née Reed), was a professor at Howard University, Prince George's Community College, and the University of Maryland and is also a Unitarian Universalist minister.^[6][7][8] Chappelle grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland and attended Woodlin Elementary School.^[2] During young Chappelle's formative years, his comic inspiration came from various comedians, particularly Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor.^[2]

After his parents separated, Chappelle stayed in Washington with his mother while spending summers with his father in Ohio. In 1991, he graduated from Washington's Duke Ellington School of the Arts where he studied theatre arts.^[2]

Chappelle moved to New York City to pursue a career as a comedian. He gathered the courage to perform at Harlem's famed Apollo Theater in front of the infamous "Amateur Night" audience. The performance resulted in him being booed off the stage. Chappelle has described the experience as the moment that gave him the courage to continue his show business aspirations.^[2] He quickly made a name for himself in the New York comedy circuit, even performing in the city's parks. At the age of 19, Chappelle made his film debut as "Ahchoo" in Mel Brooks' Robin Hood: Men in Tights. In the same year, Chappelle was offered the role of Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue in Forrest Gump. Concerned about what seemed to be a racially demeaning character, he turned down the part; the film would go on to win Academy Award for Best Picture that year. He has since admitted to regretting the decision.^[9] Chappelle played another supporting movie role in 1994's little-seen Getting In.

He attracted the attention of TV network executives and developed numerous pilots but none of them were picked up for series.^[2][10] In 1995, he made a guest appearance in an episode of ABC's highly rated sitcom Home Improvement. The storyline had Chappelle and real-life friend comedian Jim Breuer ask Tim Taylor for advice on their girlfriends. The characters' single outing in the episode proved so popular that ABC decided to give them their own spin-off sitcom titled Buddies. However, after taping a pilot episode, Jim Breuer was fired and replaced with actor Christopher Gartin. Buddies premiered in March 1996 to disappointing ratings. The show was cancelled after only four episodes out of thirteen that were produced. Nine years later, in May 2005, ten of the episodes were released on a single-disc DVD to capitalize on Chappelle's new-found fame.

After the failure of Buddies, Chappelle starred in another pilot. According to Chappelle, the network was uncomfortable with the African-American cast and wanted white actors added. Chappelle resisted and subsequently accused the network of racism. Shortly after this incident, Chappelle's father died. Chappelle returned to Ohio and considered leaving the entertainment business.^[2][10]

He later appeared as a nightclub comedian in the 1996 comedy The Nutty Professor starring Eddie Murphy, one of his major comedic influences. He also had a minor role in 1997's Con Air. He and Neal Brennan co-wrote the 1998 cult stoner film Half Baked, Chappelle's first starring role, about a group of marijuana-smoking friends trying to get their friend out of jail. That same year, he appeared in "Pilots and Pens Lost", a 1998 episode of The Larry Sanders Show's sixth season, in which he and the executives of the show's nameless television network satirized the treatment to which scriptwriters and show creators were subjected, as well as the executives' knee-jerk tendencies toward racial stereotypes. In December of that year Chappelle appeared as Tom Hanks' friend and confidant in You've Got Mail. In 1999, he appeared in the Martin Lawrence film Blue Streak.

In 2000, Chappelle recorded his first HBO special, Dave Chappelle: Killin' Them Softly, in Washington, DC.^[11] He followed this up with an appearance as "Conspiracy Brother" in the 2002 racial satire Undercover Brother.

[edit] 2003–2006: Standup and Chappelle's Show

In 2003, Chappelle debuted his own weekly sketch comedy show on Comedy Central called Chappelle's Show. The show parodied many aspects of American culture including racial stereotypes, politics and pop culture. Along with comedy skits, the show also featured musical performances by mostly hip-hop and soul artists.

Chappelle's pointed social and political commentary quickly helped the show garner critical and commercial success as well as controversy.^[10][12] Richard Pryor, one of Chappelle's comedic influences, was a fan of the show and stated that he had "passed the torch" to Chappelle.^[10] Chappelle received two Emmy nominations for the show.^[13] Additionally, the DVD set became the best-selling DVD of a television show to date, overtaking the previous best-selling, The Simpsons first season DVD. It had sold over 3 million copies.^[14] Due to the show's popularity, Comedy Central's parent company Viacom reportedly offered Chappelle a $55 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. Chappelle had stated that sketches are not his favorite form of comedy, and that the characteristics of the show's format were somewhat like short films.

In June 2004, based on the popularity of the "Rick James" sketch, it was announced that Chappelle was in talks to portray Rick James in a biopic from Paramount Pictures (also owned by Viacom).^[15] James's estate disagreed with the proposed comical tone of the film and put a halt to the talks.^[16]

In 2004, Chappelle recorded his second comedy special, this time airing on Showtime - Dave Chappelle: For What It's Worth, at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium.^[17]

Season three turbulence[link]

In a June 2004 stand-up performance in Sacramento, California, Chappelle walked off the stage after berating his audience for constantly shouting "I'm Rick James, bitch!," which became a catchphrase from the popular "Rick James" sketch. After a few minutes, Chappelle returned and continued by saying, "The show is ruining my life." He stated that he disliked working "20 hours a day" and that the popularity of the show was making it difficult for him to continue his stand-up career, which was "the most important thing" to him. He also told the audience:

You know why my show is good? Because the network officials say you're not smart enough to get what I'm doing, and every day I fight for you. I tell them how smart you are. Turns out, I was wrong. You people are stupid.^[18]

Season 3 was scheduled to air on May 31, 2005, but in that month, Chappelle stunned fans and the entertainment industry when he abruptly left during production of the third season of Chappelle's Show and took a trip to South Africa. Chappelle has since stated that he was unhappy with the direction the show had taken.

Coming here I don't have the distractions of fame. It quiets the ego down. I'm interested in the kind of person I've got to become. I want to be well rounded and the industry is a place of extremes. I want to be well balanced. I've got to check my intentions, man.^[19]

Return[link]

In June 2005, Chappelle performed impromptu stand-up shows in Los Angeles.^[20][21][22] He then went on a tour that began in Newport, Kentucky, not far from his Ohio home.^[23] He also made a surprise appearance on HBO's Def Poetry where he performed two poems, titled Fuck Ashton Kutcher and How I Got the Lead on "Jeopardy!."^[24] He was interviewed for Inside the Actors Studio on December 18, 2005 at Pace University's Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts. The show premiered on February 12, 2006.^[25] Chappelle stated that the death of his father in 1998 had an impact on his decision to go to South Africa. By throwing himself into his work, he had not taken a chance to mourn his father's death. He also said the rumors that he was in drug or psychiatric treatment only persuaded him to stay in South Africa.^[2]

He continued:

I would go to work on the show and I felt awful every day, that's not the way it was. ... I felt like some kind of prostitute or something. If I feel so bad, why keep on showing up to this place? I'm going to Africa. The hardest thing to do is to be true to yourself, especially when everybody is watching.

Chappelle also said that he felt some of his sketches were "socially irresponsible."^[26][27] He singled out the "pixie sketch" in which pixies appear to people and encourage them to reinforce stereotypes of their races. In the sketch, Chappelle is wearing blackface and is dressed as a character in a minstrel show.^[28] According to Chappelle, during the filming of the sketch, a crew member was laughing in a way that made him feel uncomfortable and made him rethink the show.^[26][27] Chappelle said, "it was the first time I felt that someone was not laughing with me but laughing at me."^[26]

During these interviews, Chappelle did not rule out returning to Chappelle's Show to "finish what we started," but promised that he would not return without changes to the production, such as a better working environment. He also stated he would like to donate half of the DVD sales to charity.^[29] Chappelle expressed disdain at the possibility of his material from the unfinished third season being aired, saying that to do so would be "a bully move," and that he would not return to the show if Comedy Central were to air the unfinished material.^[27] On July 9, 2006, Comedy Central aired the first episode of Chappelle's Show: The Lost Episodes. An uncensored DVD release of the episodes was made available on July 25.

The show still plays in syndication on several television networks despite the relatively small number of episodes compared to most American syndicated television programs.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Dave Chappelle's Block Party

The site of Dave Chappelle's Block Party in Brooklyn.

Chappelle was the star and producer of the Michel Gondry-directed documentary Dave Chappelle's Block Party, which chronicles a Chappelle-hosted concert in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn on September 18, 2004. Several musical artists, including Kanye West, The Roots, Erykah Badu, Mos Def, Dead Prez and Jill Scott are featured in the movie both performing in the concert and in conversation off-stage. The most surprising highlight of the event was the "last minute" reunion of popular 1990s hip hop group The Fugees. Chappelle toured several cities in February and March 2006 to promote the film under the moniker "Block Party All-Stars featuring Dave Chappelle". Universal Pictures' genre division Rogue Pictures released the film in the United States on March 3, 2006.

2007–present[link]

In April 2007, Chappelle set a stand-up endurance record at the Laugh Factory Sunset Strip comedy club, beating comedian Dane Cook's record of 3 hours and 50 minutes. In December of the same year, Chappelle broke his own record with a time of 6 hours and 12 minutes. Cook reclaimed the record in January 2008, with a time of 7 hours.^[30] On November 19, 2009 Chappelle performed at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles, where it was speculated that he would aim to take back the record. However, he was disqualified according to the club owner, after he left the stage, five hours into his routine.^[31]

Chappelle again appeared on Inside the Actors Studio and in celebration of the show's 200th episode, he humorously interviewed the show's usual host, James Lipton. The episode aired on November 11, 2008.

Personal life[link]

Chappelle lives with his wife Elaine, two sons,^[28] Sulayman^[32] and Ibrahim,^[33] and daughter Sonal, on a 65-acre (260,000 m²) farm,^[2][10] just outside Yellow Springs, Ohio.^[23] He also owns several houses in Xenia, Ohio. Regarding his home in Yellow Springs, Ohio, Chappelle says, "Turns out you don't need $50 million to live around these parts, just a nice smile and a kind way about you. You guys are the best neighbors ever," he stated at a blues and jazz festival in the town in mid-September 2006. "That's why I came back and that's why I'm staying."^[34]

Chappelle is a Muslim, having converted to Islam in 1998. He told Time Magazine in a May 2005 interview, "I don’t normally talk about my religion publicly because I don’t want people to associate me and my flaws with this beautiful thing. And I believe it is beautiful if you learn it the right way."^[35]

Filmography[link]

This section requires expansion.

Discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dave Chappelle

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Dave Chappelle

• Dave Chappelle at the Internet Movie Database
• Video of Anderson Cooper 360 Interview
• Fresh Air Interview in 2004