Category:
Richest Celebrities › Richest Comedians
Net Worth:
$200 Thousand
Birthdate:
Dec 7, 1969 - Nov 29, 2011 (41 years old)
Birthplace:
New York City
Gender:
Male
Height:
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Profession:
Nationality:
United States of America
Patrice O’Neal was an extraordinarily talented American comedian who had a net worth of $200,000 at the time of his death in 2011. Patrice O’Neal was known for appearances on TV shows like “Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn” and “Arrested Development.” He was also a frequent guest on “The Opie and Anthony” radio show.
Patrice Lumumba Malcolm O’Neal was born on December 7, 1969, in New York City. He was raised in Boston, Massachusetts, and was often bullied because of his name. His mother named him after the leader of the Congolese independence movement and the Republic of the Congo’s first prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, and African-American human rights activist Malcolm X.
Patrice got his start in comedy while still in his early twenties. He started to make waves after his first appearance on the Apollo Comedy Hour. O’Neal then appeared on “Showcase at the Apollo” and “Friday Night Videos.”
Patrice became a regular on “Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn” on Comedy Central. He moved to LA in the late ’90s in pursuit of a television and film career. Despite his efforts to break into Hollywood, O’Neal was unsuccessful. He moved to New York City in 2002 and soon became a regular guest on “The Opie and Anthony” radio show. Patrice would occasionally step in as the co-host.
By 2006, O’Neal was the host of a relationship advice call-in show called “The Black Dr. Phil” on XM Satellite Radio. Aired periodically on Saturday nights, the show came to an abrupt end due to the station’s budget concerns. The following year, he started his own internet show called “The Patrice O’Neal Show Coming Soon!”
O’Neal did a “One Night Special” for HBO in 2005, and not long after that, he became the host of VH1’s “Web Junk 20.” After a few seasons, Patrice left the show, expressing that the “audience was very different from his own.”
O’Neal’s comedy was often described as off-the-cuff and conversational, and while mature and adult-themed, it was sometimes labeled misogynistic. He cited George Carlin and Richard Pryor as his favorite comedians. Patrice was one to incite heckling and ask audience members to leave the club.
In October 2011, it was revealed that O’Neal, a lifelong diabetic, had suffered a stroke after he woke up one morning and couldn’t move his legs. He was rushed to the hospital to have surgery to remove a blood clot in his head. Patrice lost the ability to speak and then became paralyzed. On November 29th, 2011, O’Neal died from complications stemming from the stroke he suffered back in October. He was 41 years old.
Patrice took to “The Opie and Anthony Show” on April 25, 2008, to openly talk about his previous conviction for statutory rape and the fact that he was legally prohibited from owning a firearm.
At the time of his death, Patrice O’Neal was engaged to actress Vondecarlo Brown.
