PATRICE O'NEAL

Patrice O'Neal was born on December 7, 1969, and grew up in Roxbury, Boston, according to the Bay State Banner; the Boston Globe's obituary called him a Dorchester native.

Before comedy he worked dozens of street jobs, which he ran through himself in a 1998 interview with the Globe: sausages from a cart on Ruggles Street, flowers on Blue Hill Avenue, and popcorn and peanuts at the Boston Garden.

His first night on a stage was in October 1992, at an open mic at Estelle's in Boston, according to the Bay State Banner. In the account he gave the Boston Globe in 1998, the chance came out of an argument: he was working the door at a venue when a professional comic dared him to try it himself.

Boston was a stand-up nursery then. When Patrice started, according to the announcement of Comedy Central's documentary about his life, Bill Burr, Gary Gulman, Dane Cook and Nick DiPaolo were also making their mark in the city. With Burr he shared a friendship the press places in the early 1990s.

From Boston's clubs he moved on to New York's and to festivals such as Just for Laughs in Montreal.

In 2002 he became a regular panelist on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, the Comedy Central show that aired from December 2002 to November 2004 and through which, according to the Television Academy, he became known on television.

He was also a frequent guest on the radio show Opie & Anthony from 2002 and, from 2006 to 2008, had his own relationship-advice show on XM Satellite Radio.

His Comedy Central Presents half-hour aired on April 11, 2003, and his HBO One Night Stand special on October 7, 2005.

On television he appeared in Chappelle's Show, Arrested Development, The Jury and The Office — as Lonny, in three episodes between 2005 and 2007 — was a guest of David Letterman and Conan O'Brien, and hosted Web Junk 20 on VH1. The Television Academy also records his film work, in titles such as 25th Hour, Head of State, In the Cut, Scary Movie 4 and Furry Vengeance.

Comedy Central premiered Elephant in the Room on February 19, 2011, and released the DVD three days later. It is his only full-length special: 77 minutes on the DVD, against 42 for the television broadcast.

His comedy was adult and head-on: he talked about race, sex and relationships without softening the tone, and much of his live work leaned on interaction with the audience.

On September 19, 2011, he appeared on the Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen, his last television appearance; the Boston Globe described his set as a highlight of the night.

On October 19 he suffered a stroke. He died on November 29, 2011, at 41, from complications of that stroke; he was diabetic, according to news reports.

Everything that follows was released after his death. Mr. P (February 2012) debuted at number one on Billboard's comedy albums chart and at number 35 on the Billboard 200, according to The Comic's Comic. Unreleased (2013) and The Lost Files: Circa 2005 (2015) carry the imprint of Gladys & Dude Productions, the company that, per his official site, represents his name and likeness and is run by Von Decarlo and Georgia O'Neal.

In 2021 Comedy Central premiered Killing Is Easy, the documentary directed by Michael Bonfiglio and produced by All Things Comedy, with Bill Burr among the executive producers. According to his official site, filming began in 2015, during the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal.