Patrice O'Neal

Patrice Lumumba Malcolm O'Neal (December 7, 1969 – November 29, 2011) was an American comedian and actor. He was known for his stand-up comedy career and his regular guest appearances on the talk show Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn and the radio show Opie and Anthony. O'Neal began performing stand-up in 1992 and developed an act based on conversations with the audience, deconstructive analysis, and occasionally confrontational points of view. From 2006 to 2008, he presented The Black Phillip Show on XM Satellite Radio. His only stand-up comedy special, Elephant in the Room (2011), was released nine months before his death at the age of 41 from a stroke caused by type 2 diabetes. A posthumous follow-up, Mr. P (2012), was released as audio only. Early life Patrice Malcolm O'Neal was born in New York City on December 7, 1969. He was named by his mother after Patrice Lumumba, leader of the Congolese independence movement and the Republic of the Congo's first prime minister, and the African-American human rights activist Malcolm X. He was bullied at school over his name, but later said that it taught him "how to be a man". He and his sister, Zinder, were raised by their mother in Boston's largely Black working class Roxbury neighborhood. O'Neal never had a relationship with his father, although he was aware of his identity. O'Neal attended West Roxbury High School, during which he took up football and ended his playing career with three varsity letter awards and winning a state championship in his senior year. He turned down a sports scholarship at Northeastern University in Boston, which included a housing grant, in favor of studying performing arts at the university with a major in theater studies. His interest in comedy had grown by this time, and he took up work as a bouncer at the Comedy Connection in Boston. He also sold food to guests at the Boston Garden arena.