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Arsenio Hall

 
Artist: Chunky A
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Arsenio Hall
  • Active: '90s
  • Genres: Rap
  • Instrument: Vocals Representative Album: "Large & In Charge"

Biography

Once upon a time in the early '90s, Arsenio Hall was an important supporter of rap. He had a hit talk show that featured live performances from some of hip-hop's finest, including De la Soul, Leaders of the New School, and, of course, MC Hammer. All of which was inspiration for Chunky A, Hall's portly rapping alter ego. Chunky A released one album, Large and in Charge, in 1991. Met with the painful silence that every comedian fears, Chunky A quickly faded, followed shortly thereafter by the career of Arsenio Hall. ~ Wade Kergan, All Music Guide
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Actor: Arsenio Hall
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Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Feb 12, 1955 in Cleveland, Ohio
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '80s-2000s
  • Major Genres: Comedy, Romance
  • Career Highlights: Coming to America, Coming to America, Coming to America
  • First Major Screen Credit: Coming to America (1988)

Biography

The son of a Cleveland Baptist minister, African American entertainer Arsenio Hall would often escape his bleak inner-city surroundings by imagining that he was a talk show host like his idol, Johnny Carson. He emulated Carson to the point that he briefly became an amateur magician in junior high school. His friends and teachers laughed at Arsenio's comic patter, but advised him to forget his dream -- because everyone knew that no black man would ever host a talk show. An excellent student, Hall was accepted at Ohio University in Athens, where he originally intended to study law, but at the last moment followed his heart and switched to the communications department. He later transferred to Kent State, working his way through school with gigs at local comedy clubs. After a long upward climb, Hall was hired as the opening act for such entertainers as Dionne Warwick and Nancy Wilson, then moved to Hollywood, where he was befriended by superstar Eddie Murphy. The two comedians co-starred in the 1987 comedy Coming to America, where Hall was permitted to display his versatility in a wide variety of quickie characterizations (one of which, a flamboyant minister, was ostensibly based on his own father). Comedienne Joan Rivers was also fond of Arsenio, and secured him several guest spots on her Fox network gabfest, The Late Show. When Rivers was axed by Fox in 1987, Hall took over as Late Show host. This led to his most prestigious assignment to date: The Arsenio Hall Show, a latenight entry syndicated by Paramount television, which premiered in January of 1989. With his unbounded energy, his ingratiating smile, his trademarked "Whoop Whoop Whoop" and his willingness to book guests that were deemed "chancy" by others (e.g. rap and soul artists), Hall quickly rose to the top of the ratings heap. In June of 1990, TV Guide singled out Arsenio Hall as the magazine's first "TV Person of the Year." Unlike the play-safe Johnny Carson, Hall courted controversy as often as possible, usually by attacking racism -- sparing no one, not even other black entertainers. Hall's program peaked in popularity in 1991, then seemed to run out of gas. When NBC made its announcement early in 1992 that Jay Leno would be replacing Johnny Carson as host of the Tonight Show, Hall reacted with inexplicable hostility, railing against Leno (who had always regarded Hall as a friend) and declaring that The Arsenio Hall Show would "whip Jay's ass." While Leno's ratings trailed against his CBS rival David Letterman, his program easily trounced the flagging Arsenio Hall. In 1994, after five years, Arsenio Hall and Paramount Television parted company, and Hall kept a low profile, all but disappearing from public view. In March of 1997, Hall emerged from his self-imposed exile to star, opposite Vivica Fox, in the ABC sitcom Arsenio as Michael Atwood, a cable network sportscaster in Atlanta. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Wikipedia: Arsenio Hall
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Arsenio Hall

Hall at the 1989 Emmy Awards
Born February 12, 1956 (1956-02-12) (age 53)
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Occupation Actor, comedian
Years active 1982-present
Official website

Arsenio Hall (born February 12, 1956) is an American actor, comedian, and former talk show host. He is best known for his talk show, The Arsenio Hall Show, which ran between 1989 and 1994. He is also well known for his roles in the films Coming to America and Harlem Nights. Hall is single and has never been married. He has one son.

Contents

Biography

Early years

Hall was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Anne and Fred Hall, a Baptist minister.[1] Hall performed as a magician when he was a child. He attended Warrensville Heights High School in Warrensville Heights, Ohio. After he graduated, he attended Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, where he was on the speech team with future actress (and the voice of Bart Simpson) Nancy Cartwright and future news anchor Leon Harris. He then transferred to Kent State University. He later moved to Los Angeles, California, to pursue a career in stand-up comedy. During this time, he became good friends with Eddie Murphy. Hall was the original voice of Winston Zeddemore in the cartoon The Real Ghostbusters from 1986–1987. In 1988, he co-starred in the comedy film Coming to America with Murphy. In 1984, he was also the announcer/sidekick for Alan Thicke during the ill-fated talk show Thicke of the Night.

Talk shows

In 1986, the Fox network introduced The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers, created to directly challenge The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. After a moderate start, ratings for the show soon sagged. Behind-the-scenes relations between Rivers and network executives at Fox quickly eroded and Rivers left the show in 1987. Renamed The Late Show, it featured several hosts including Ross Shafer, Suzanne Somers, Richard Belzer, and Robert Townsend [disambiguation needed] before it was cancelled in 1988. Hall was chosen to host the show in the fall of 1987, and proved to be immensely popular.[2]

From January 2, 1989 until May 27, 1994, he hosted a syndicated late-night talk show, The Arsenio Hall Show. The show was known for the audience's shouting "Hoop Schwoop Schwoop!" while pumping their fists — a chant that was used by fans of the Cleveland Browns football team. He also had a rivalry with Jay Leno after he was named host of The Tonight Show, during which Hall said that he would "kick Jay's ass" in the ratings game.[3] The two have since patched up their differences and Hall has made numerous appearances on The Tonight Show. He is also remembered for having had his hair cut into a Hi-top fade during this period, leading him to adopt the monikers (by his own choosing) "Ol' Triangle Head" or "Flathead".

Perhaps the show's most noted guest star was then-Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Bill Clinton, who performed a rendition of Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel on the saxophone during his appearance in June 1992.

Hall used his fame during this period to help fight worldwide prejudice against HIV & AIDS, after his close friend Magic Johnson contracted the disease. Hall and Johnson filmed a PSA about the disease that aired in the early 1990s.

Current work

Since The Arsenio Hall Show ended, Hall has made only infrequent appearances on television (including a short-lived 1997 sitcom called Arsenio) before starring in Martial Law with Sammo Hung from 1999–2000 and hosting the revival of Star Search in 2003.

Hall made a cameo appearance as himself in Chappelle's Show in March 2004, when Dave was imagining "what Arsenio is doing right now" in a dinner scene. It showed Hall at a wine party eating some cheese and saying, "Damn! That's some good-ass cheese!" After which, Hall started punching and slapping people for not telling him about the apparently delicious cheese. Paul Mooney also joked about Hall in his "Negrodamus" sketch: when asked "Will Arsenio Hall ever get another show?" Mooney responds "Yes. Arsenio Hall will host another show. It will be called Good Morning Black America, and it will be broadcast at noon throughout the country."

As of 2008, Hall is a guest co-host on Wednesday evenings on the The Tim Conway Jr. Show on KLSX 97.1 FM radio, which airs in the greater Los Angeles area and streams live online for fans around the world.[4] Hall also hosted MyNetworkTV's comedic clip show The World's Funniest Moments and TV One's 100 Greatest Black Power Moves.[5]

Hall was considered to be the host of the syndicated version of Deal or No Deal and filmed a pilot (there were six taped). However, when the syndicated series began on September 8, 2008, Howie Mandel (the host of the primetime version of Deal or No Deal and the Canadian version) was shown as host.

Hall appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on May 1, 2009, and stated that his age listed on Wikipedia was one year older than his real age (53). He joked that he wanted this fixed because at his age, any chance to be a year younger should be taken.[6]

Hall continues to host the myNetworkTV show The World’s Funniest Moments (premiered 7/15/2009), an America's Funniest Home Videos style show reviewing funny clips from the internet and viewers.

Filmography

Discography

In 1989, Hall released an album on MCA, Large and In Charge, under the moniker "Chunky A". Chunky A was supposed to be Hall's overweight "little brother". The album had one minor hit "Owww!" and featured guest rappers Ice-T and KRS-One and guest musicians Cameo.

  • Large and In Charge, 1989, MCA, ASIN B000008EAV

References

  1. ^ "Arsenio Hall Biography". filmreference. 2008. http://www.filmreference.com/film/15/Arsenio-Hall.html. Retrieved 2008-07-06. 
  2. ^ "Arsenio Hall". Noted Guys. http://notedguys.com/arsenio-hall/. 
  3. ^ "Celebrity Quotes". Entertainment Weekly. 24 February 1995. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,296183,00.html. Retrieved 2008-07-17. 
  4. ^ "Tim Conway and Friends". KLSX 97.1. 2008. http://www.971freefm.com/pages/1925907.php. Retrieved 2008-07-17. 
  5. ^ Arsenio Hall Is Back with Two New Shows. November 9, 2008. Retrieved on November 12, 2008.
  6. ^ "The Tonight Show". The Tonight Show. NBC. 2009-05-01.

Further reading

External links

Preceded by
Downtown Julie Brown		 MTV Video Music Awards host
1988-1991		 Succeeded by
Dana Carvey

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Actor. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Arsenio Hall".  Read more

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