Birth name and early life

David Khari Webber Chappelle is his full birth name; "Dave" is a short form, not a separate legal alias. LOC authorities list Chappelle, Dave, with variant Chappelle, David (LOC). His father, William David Chappelle III, taught at Antioch College; his mother, Yvonne Seon, is a Unitarian Universalist minister and academic. After his parents separated, he split time between Washington, D.C., and Yellow Springs, Ohio, and studied at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts.

Chappelle's Show and return to stand-up

Chappelle's early film work included Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) and Half Baked (1998). With Neal Brennan he co-created Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show (2003–2006), which became a landmark sketch series; he left during production of the third season. After a public hiatus he returned to touring stand-up and released multiple Netflix specials; Rolling Stone ranked him among top stand-up comics of all time in a 2017 list (LOC; major press profiles).

He lives much of the time in Ohio and remains one of the most-discussed living American comedians. This page covers public career facts only.

Chappelle's Show complete series DVD Half Baked Blu-ray/DVD Dave Chappelle stand-up / memoir-adjacent books