Early years

Arsenio was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Fred and Anne Hall. His father is a Baptist minister. Hall performed as a magician when he was a child. He graduated from Warrensville Heights High School in Warrensville Heights, Ohio in 1973, after he briefly attended John F. Kennedy High School. After he graduated, he attended Ohio University, where he was on the speech team with Nancy Cartwright and Leon Harris. He then transferred to and graduated from Kent State University in 1977.

Career

Hall later moved to Chicago, and then Los Angeles, to pursue a career in comedy, making a couple of appearances on Soul Train. In 1984, he was the announcer/sidekick for Alan Thicke during the short-lived talk show Thicke of the Night (a role for which he has on occasion noted his confusion with Monty Hall). Arsenio 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 Eddie Murphy.

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 sagged. Behind-the-scenes relations between Rivers and network executives at Fox quickly eroded, and Rivers left in 1987. The series was subsequently renamed The Late Show, and featured several hosts, including Ross Shafer, Suzanne Somers, Richard Belzer and Robert Townsend before it was cancelled in 1988. Hall was also chosen to host the show in the fall of 1987, and his stint proved to be immensely popular, developing a cult following which eventually led to Hall landing his own show in syndication.

From January 2, 1989 until May 27, 1994, he had a Paramount contract to host a nationwide syndicated late night talk show, The Arsenio Hall Show. The show became a breakout, late-night success, especially rating high among the coveted younger demographic and known for its audience's distinctive alternative to applause: chanting "Roo, Roo, Roo!," while pumping their fists. The practice soon became such a ritual that by 1991 had become a "pop culture stamp of approval" — one that Hall said had become "so popular it's getting on people's nerves." The gesture made it into films of the time: the title character played by Julia Roberts did it in a polo scene in Pretty Woman (1990), and characters played by Penny Marshall and Michael J. Fox did it in The Hard Way. In Disney's Aladdin (1992), the Genie character voiced by Robin Williams performs the gesture while mimicking the physical appearance of Hall. This popular gesture can also be found in the 1993 Mel Brooks' comedy, Robin Hood: Men in Tights. It was also seen in the movie Passenger 57, in which an old woman confuses the character played by Wesley Snipes with Arsenio Hall. After saving the day, the passengers on the hijacked plane do the gesture toward the protagonist.

He also had a rivalry with Jay Leno, after the latter was named host of The Tonight Show, during which time Hall said that he would "kick Jay's ass" in ratings.

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

Other television and radio work

Between 1988-1991, Hall hosted the MTV Video Music Awards. Over the years, he has appeared as a guest on numerous talk shows, in special features, as a voice actor, on game shows and other award shows. Since The Arsenio Hall Show ended, Hall had a leading role on television shows such as the short-lived sitcom Arsenio (1997) and Martial Law with Sammo Hung (1999-2000), as well as hosted the revival of Star Search (2003-2004). While hosting Star Search, he popularized the catchphrase "Hit me with the digits!".

Hall appeared as himself in Chappelle's Show in March 2004, when Chappelle was imagining "what Arsenio is doing right now" in a dinner scene. Hall has guest co-hosted Wednesday evenings on The Tim Conway Jr. Show on KLSX 97.1 FM radio. Hall also hosted MyNetworkTV's comedic web video show The World's Funniest Moments and TV One's 100 Greatest Black Power Moves. Hall also appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher in May 2012, in a discussion commemorating the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

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, by the time the syndicated series began on September 8, 2008, Howie Mandel was chosen as the host.

He also appeared regularly on The Jay Leno Show, and was a guest on Lopez Tonight. George Lopez credits Arsenio for being the reason he had a late night show; Lopez appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show more times than any other comedian. Lopez requested Hall be a co-host on Lopez Tonight (November 25, 2009) since he regarded Hall as his inspiration and the first "late night party show host". Hall has filled-in as guest host for NBC's Access Hollywood Live (2011) and CNN's evening talk/interview program Piers Morgan Tonight in 2012.

In 2012, Hall was a contestant on the fifth edition of The Celebrity Apprentice, which began airing February 19, 2012. Hall represented his charity, the Magic Johnson Foundation, which is dedicated to advancing economic and social equality by engaging minorities in every aspect of their communities; increasing academic and innovative achievement; and raising HIV/AIDS awareness, treatment and prevention. While Hall clashed with Aubrey O'Day, he befriended a majority of the cast. On May 20, 2012, in the live season finale, Hall was chosen as the Celebrity Apprentice winner, being "hired" by billionaire real estate investor Donald Trump over the other celebrity finalist, singer Clay Aiken. For winning The Celebrity Apprentice, Hall won the $250,000 grand prize for his charity, in addition to any money he won for his charity for tasks he and his team won when he was a team leader on the show.

A revival of Hall's syndicated late-night talk show, The Arsenio Hall Show, premiered September 9, 2013 on Tribune owned stations and other networks via CBS Television Distribution. It was cancelled after one season due to low ratings. The last taping of the new Arsenio Hall Show aired May 30, 2014.

Personal life

In 1997, after being out of the public eye for three years, Hall took an interview to dispel rumors regarding what had driven him off stage stating, "I went on the Internet and read I was in detox at Betty Ford, I got on line under a fake name and typed in, `I know Arsenio better than anyone else and he's not in detox, you idiots!

Hall has one son, born in 1999. Since his birth, Hall mostly took time off to raise his son before resuming The Arsenio Hall Show in 2013. Hall had an interest in returning to the business eventually, but his decision wasn't confirmed until he appeared on Lopez Tonight in 2009 (although he initially considered a weekend show because he didn't want to compete in ratings against his friend George Lopez).

On May 5, 2016, Hall filed a $5 million defamation lawsuit against Sinéad O'Connor after she claimed he was fueling Prince's drug habit.

Recognition

• 1988 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture (Coming to America)
• 1989 American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture (Coming to America)
• Hall received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Central State University, Wilberforce, Ohio, Spring 1992.

Filmography

Film

List of film performances

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Amazon Women on the Moon	Apartment Victim
1988	Coming to America	Semmi/Extremely Ugly Girl/Morris/Reverend Brown
1989	Harlem Nights	Crying Man
1989	Paula Abdul: Straight Up	Himself	(Video)
1992	Time Out: The Truth About HIV, AIDS, and You	Himself - Host	(Video)
1994	Blankman	Himself
2005	The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie	Himself
2005	The Proud Family Movie	Dr. Carver/Bobby Proud	(Voice)
2006	Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy!	Captain Crothers	(Voice)
2007	Heckler	Himself
2008	Igor	Carl Cristall	(Voice)
2009	Black Dynamite	Tasty Freeze
2011	The Vote-Off	Himself	(Short)

Television

List of television performances

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981, 1989	Soul Train	Himself	2 episodes
1982	Madame's Place	Himself
1982	Elvira's Movie Macabre	Dr. Mustapha Abdul Raheem Jamaal X Muhammad/Tyrone
1983	The 1/2 Hour Comedy Hour	Himself - Host
1983-1984	Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour	Himself
1983-1984	Thicke of the Night	Actor / Himself (1984)
1985	The Motown Revue Starring Smokey Robinson	Actor / Regular
1985	New Love, American Style	Actor
1986	The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Cleavon
1986-1987	The Real Ghostbusters	Winston Zeddemore
1987	Uptown Comedy Express	Himself
1987	Comedy Club	Himself
1987-1988	The Late Show	Himself - Host
1988	Solid Gold	Himself
1989	Comic Relief III	Himself
1989-1994	The Arsenio Hall Show	Himself - Host
1989, 1992	Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee	Himself	2 episodes
1989	The Phil Donahue Show	Himself
1990	Doogie Howser, M.D.	Himself
1990	Cheers	Himself
1991	The Howard Stern Show	Himself
1992	Ebony/Jet Showcase	Himself
1992	The Jackie Thomas Show	Himself
1993	Blossom	Himself
1994	Living Single	Himself
1996-2012	The Tonight Show with Jay Leno	Himself	Multiple appearances
1996-2008	Biography	Himself	5 episodes
1997	The Rosie O'Donnell Show	Himself
1997	Arsenio	Michael Atwood
1997	Behind the Music	Himself
1997	The Chris Rock Show	Himself
1997	Muppets Tonight	Himself
1998	Intimate Portrait	Himself - Narrator
1998	The Magic Hour	Himself
1998-2000	Martial Law	Terrell Parker
2000	The Norm Show	Joe
2001	E! True Hollywood Story	Himself
2002-2003	Hollywood Squares	Himself
2003-2004	Star Search	Himself - Host
2003	Real Time with Bill Maher	Himself
2003	Tinseltown TV	Himself
2004	CBS Cares	Himself
2004	The Wayne Brady Show	Himself
2004	Tavis Smiley	Himself
2004	The Sharon Osbourne Show	Himself
2004	Chappelle's Show	Himself
2008-2009	The World's Funniest Moments	Himself - Host
2008	Pioneers of Television (PBS)	Himself	2 episodes
2009-2010	The Jay Leno Show	Himself - Correspondent
2009	Brothers	Himself
2009	Up Close with Carrie Keagan	Himself
2009	Made in Hollywood	Himself
2010, 2012	Late Night with Jimmy Fallon	Himself - Alternate Reality Host	2 episodes
2010, 2012	Chelsea Lately	Himself (2010) / Soundtrack (2012)
2010	Tosh.0	Himself
2011	Lopez Tonight	Himself
2011	Access Hollywood Live	Himself - Guest Host
2012	Inside Edition	Himself
2012	The Celebrity Apprentice 5	Himself	Winner of competition
2012	Piers Morgan Tonight	Himself - Guest Host
2012	American Masters	Himself
2012	The Wendy Williams Show	Himself
2013-2014	The Arsenio Hall Show	Himself - Host
2015	Real Husbands of Hollywood	Himself - Guest star

Discography

As "Chunky A"

• Large and in Charge (1989)

Charities

Arsenio Hall supports the following charitable cause: AIDS.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]