Dave Chappelle

Comedy Central's First Annual Commie Awards - Arrivals

Chappelle in 2003, photo by Prphotos.com

Birth Name: David Khari Webber Chappelle

Place of Birth: Washington, D.C., U.S.

Date of Birth: August 24, 1973

Ethnicity: African-American [including Ivorian], one quarter African-Grenadian

Dave Chappelle is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is known for his television series Chapelle’s Show, and for his stand-up comedy act.

Dave is the son of Yvonne K. (Reed) and William David Chapelle III, both professors. His mother is also a Unitarian Universalist minister. Dave’s African ancestry includes Ivorian. Dave is married to Elaine Erfe, with whom he has three children.

All of Dave’s grandparents were black. Dave has occasionally stated that his mother has recent white ancestry. It is not clear if any of Dave’s great-grandparents were white.

Dave’s paternal grandfather was Henry Talmage Chappelle (the son of William David Chappelle and Rosina/Rosena C. Palmer). Henry was born in Tennessee. Dave’s great-grandfather William D. Chappelle was an educationalist, and a bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, who was President of Allen University. He was the son of Henry H. Chappelle and Patsie/Patsy McCrory/McCory. Dave’s great-grandmother Rosina’s father, Robert J. Palmer, who was a merchant and owned land, was a member of the South Carolina Legislature, then majority black, during Reconstruction.

Dave’s paternal grandmother was Leola M. Webber (the daughter of William Webber and Mary Emma Taylor). Leola was born in South Carolina.

Dave’s maternal grandfather was named George Raymond Reed (the son of Samuel Reed). George was born in Washington, D.C.

Dave’s maternal grandmother was named Beatrice Beakes Murray/Murry (the daughter of Moses Butler Beakes). Beatrice was born in Grenada, and was a real estate broker and civil rights activist.

Sources: Genealogies of Dave Chappelle – http://www.wargs.com
https://www.geni.com

7 Responses

  1. archer says:

    Dave Chappelle says in his stand-up “Equanimity and The Bird Revelation”, that his mother is half white. Whether it’s true or not, I don’t know, could be just part of his act.

  2. Multiethnicchick says:

    His mom obviously is mixed. But I would say between 33-40% instead of 50/50. Dave Chappelle is likely as mixed as Chris Rock

  3. Mr. Postman says:

    This article states that Chappelle says his mother is half-white:

    “At the Radio City Music Hall show, he delivers an aside about his own mixed heritage — his mother, Seon, is half-white — as well as his mixed-race family.”

    http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/06/27/325934596/the-elusive-dave-chappelle-re-emerges-but-for-how-long

    • follers says:

      Chappelle’s maternal grandfather was described as African-American in his obituary (at the wargs link), and Chappelle’s maternal grandmother was a Grenada-born civil rights activist.

      • Mr. Postman says:

        On the DVD commentary, during the Clayton Bigsby sketch, Chappelle says that his grandfather was born to a white woman in a white hospital (segregation then). He said his grandfather could have been fully white or half-white but his birth father was unknown.

  4. Manila says:

    Dave’s African-American ancestry includes Ivorian.

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