Don Cornelius

Don Cornelius
Born	Donald Cortez Cornelius September 27, 1936 (1936-09-27) (age 75) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Ethnicity	African American
Citizenship	American
Occupation	Television host/Producer
Known for	Creator of Soul Train

Donald Cortez "Don" Cornelius (born September 27, 1936 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American television show host and producer who is best known as the creator of the nationally syndicated dance/music franchise Soul Train, which he hosted from 1971-1993. Cornelius sold the show to MadVision Entertainment in 2008.

Career

Cornelius was one of the early employees of WVON.^[1][2]

Originally a journalist inspired by the civil rights movement, Cornelius recognized that in the late 1960s there was no television venue in the United States for soul music, and introduced many African-American musicians to a larger audience as a result of their appearances on Soul Train, a program that was both influential among African-Americans and popular with a wider audience.^[3] As writer, producer, and host of Soul Train, Cornelius was instrumental in offering wider exposure to black musicians like James Brown, Aretha Franklin, and Michael Jackson, as well as creating opportunities for talented dancers that would presage subsequent television dance programs.^[4] Cornelius said "We had a show that kids gravitated to," and Spike Lee described the program as an "urban music time capsule."^[5]

Besides his smooth and deep voice, Cornelius is best known for the catchphrase that he used to close the show: "... and you can bet your last money, it's all gonna be a stone gas, honey! I'm Don Cornelius, and as always in parting, we wish you love, peace and soul!" After Cornelius's departure, it was shortened to "...and as always, we wish you love, peace and soul!" and was used through the most recent new episodes in 2006. Another introductory phrase he often used was: "We got another sound comin' out of Philly that's a sure 'nough dilly".

The Soul Train Music Awards was most recently held on Nov. 24, 2009. The 2008 ceremony was not held due to the WGA strike and the end of Tribune Entertainment complicating the process of finding a new distributor to air the ceremony and line up the stations to air it. The awards show was moved in 2009 to Viacom's Centric cable channel (formerly BET J), which now airs Soul Train in reruns.

Cornelius most recently appeared at the 2009 BET Awards to present The O'Jays with the 2009 BET Lifetime Achievement Award.

In popular culture

In the Corneil and Bernie episode "Don Cornelius," Corneil poses as a "godfather crime-boss guy" named Don Cornelius, but the character is completely unrelated. Cornelius made an appearance in the film Jane Austen's Mafia! as himself.

• Cornelius played record producer Moe Fuzz in 1988's Tapeheads.
• A 1994 Fresh Prince of Bel Air episode included a plot line in which Will is a big fan of Cornelius and owns a Don Cornelius doll, which he claims is an action figure; Cornelius also made a cameo appearance on the show on a fictional 25th Anniversary show of "Soul Train".
• Cornelius is mentioned by rapper Ice Cube in Scarface's song "Hand of the Dead Body". He is also mentioned by RZA's song "Airwaves", the Beastie Boys song "Flute Loop" and De La Soul's song "Pass The Plugs".
• Cornelius was also mentioned in the season 2 episode of Saturday Night Live aired on March 19, 1977, as part of the Saturday Night Live Samurai sketch "Samurai Hit Man". In the sketch, Don Marsala (Dan Aykroyd) hires The Samurai to kill both Don Cornelius and Don Kirshner.
• Keenan Ivory Wayans spoofs Cornelius in an episode of In Living Color with a senior-citizen version of "Soul Train" called "Old Train."

Preceded by None

Host of Soul Train 1971–1993

Succeeded by guest hosts

Notes

1. ^ "Full Text of HR0190". Illinois General Assembly. 2003. http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?GAID=3&SessionID=3&GA=93&DocTypeID=HR&DocNum=190&LegID=6529&SpecSess=&Session=. Retrieved 2008-10-23. 
2. ^ "WVON History". WVON.com. Midway Broadcasting Company. 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-04-30. http://web.archive.org/web/20080430090433/http://www.wvon.com/aboutus/history.php. Retrieved 2008-10-23. 
3. ^ 'Soul Train: The Hippest Trip in America' New York Daily News Feb. 5, 2010
4. ^ After 38 Years, ‘Soul Train’ Gets New Owner, The New York Times, June 17, 2008
5. ^ After 38 Years, ‘Soul Train’ Gets New Owner, The New York Times, June 17, 2008

External links

• Don Cornelius at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Cornelius, Don
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 27, 1936
Place of birth	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Date of death
Place of death