Activist, philosopher, anti-drug crusader, comedian, author, actor recording artist, and nutritionist Dick Gregory began performing comedy in the mid-1950s while serving in the army. In the hopes of performing comedy professionally, he moved to Chicago, where he became part of a new generation of black comedians that broke the minstrel tradition, including Nipsey Russell, Bill Cosby, and Godfrey Cambridge. Dick entered the national comedy scene in 1961 when, at Hugh Hefner’s direct request, Chicago’s Playboy Club booked him as a replacement for “Professor” Irwin Corey. By 1962 Dick had become a nationally known headline performer, selling out nightclubs, making numerous national television appearances, and recording popular comedy albums. Dick has performed for President Bill Clinton, run for President himself, launched a hunger strike in Iran for the release of hostages, battled cancer without the use of traditional chemotherapy, written two autobiographies, and is “looking forward to writing the third and fourth volumes as well.”
