The Life and Times of Arsenio Hall
See the media icon's journey.
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The Hostest With the Mostest - You heard it here first! Arsenio Hall will host the 2016 BET Honors. With such a big and iconic personality serving as the MC, it's only right that we run down his journey over the years.(Photo: Harper Public Relations)
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An Early Start - The comedian got an early start in his career in entertainment, making a few appearances on Soul Train and moving on to become the announcer/sidekick to Alan Thicke on the talk show Thicke of the Night. Die hard fans will remember that he was also the original voice of Winston Zeddemore in the cartoon The Real Ghostbusters from a year in 1986.(Photo: Ron Wolfson /Landov)
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Coming to America - The world, especially the Black community, gained a whole new respect for the comedian after seeing his performance in the 1988 film Coming to America, where he starred alongside Eddie Murphy, as Semmi.(Photo: Paramount Pictures)
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The Arsenio Hall Show (1989) - With all of that personality, it was only right that Arsenio Hall receive his own talk show, so the folks over at Paramount made it happen and in 1989, The Arsenio Hall Show was born. It became a breakout hit on late-night TV, and birthed the now iconic "Roo, roo, roo!" chant. The show ran for five years, ending in 1994.(Photo: Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage)
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Arsenio on TV - The comedian took a stab at the TV circuit in another form: sitcoms. In 1997, he had a leading role in the short-lived television series Arsenio which also starred Vivica A. Fox. The show ended after seven episodes.(Photo: Christopher Polk/Getty Images)
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Like Father, Like Son - Hall has one son, Arsenio Cheron Hall, Jr., born in 1999. The comedian took a lot of time off to raise him.(Photo: REUTERS/Danny Moloshok /Landov)
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Star Search (2003) - With the first installment of The Arsenio Hall Show over, the comedian took his hosting duties elsewhere to the popular talent competition Star Search. While hosting the show from 2003 - 2004, he popularized the catchphrase "Hit me with the digits!"(Photo: CBS/Landov)
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Celebrity Apprentice (2012) - Hall joined the reality TV world as a contestant on the popular reality series Celebrity Apprentice in 2012, representing his charity, the Magic Johnson Foundation. While on the show, he butt heads with former Danity Kane member Aubrey O'Day, but befriended just about every other contestant on the show. He ended up winning the entier show, and was awarded $250,000 for his charity.(Photo: Mitchell Haaseth/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank)
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The Arsenio Hall Show (2013) - After the original installment of The Arsenio Hall Show ended, the comedian never entertained the idea again until 2013, when he revivied the show. Though it was canceled after just one season, it was highly embraced by several celebrities and saw the host back in his original element.(Photo: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)