Chris Rock Biography

Home Page | Biography | Trivia | Filmography | Photos Gallery | Desktop Wallpapers | Quotes

Though he was born in South Carolina, Chris Rock grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Rock discovered comedy early in life, and was performing in the New York standup comedy circuit by his late teens. It wasn’t until a performance at the New York Comedy Strip that Rock’s dream became tangible.

That night, a then 18-year-old, Rock was introduced to veteran comedian Eddie Murphy, who was impressed enough to cast him in 1987′s Beverly Hills Cop II. While it was no breakout performance, the role and newfound connection with Eddie Murphy helped Rock land a couple of small supporting roles, and eventually a spot on NBC’s long-running Saturday Night Live.

Rock stayed with SNL for the better part of three years, and periodically guest-starred in fellow comedian Keenan Ivory Wayans’ In Living Color. In 1991, he took a break from comedy in favor of a more dramatic role — indeed, Rock’s performance as a surprisingly innocent crack addict-cum-informant in Mario Van Peebles’ New Jack City attracted no small amount of favorable attention. Perhaps the role in New Jack City is indicative of Rock’s driving force (i.e., the politics of modern society and issues within African-American communities throughout the United States). 

Though his delivery is certainly of a comedic nature, many of his favorite topics are quite serious, and it was Rock’s ability to confront these issues so accurately that launched his career during the late ’90s. While his 1993 screenwriting debut received only lukewarm reviews, Rock became a household name after his scathing HBO comedy special Bring the Pain (1996), earning him two Emmy awards and a significantly larger fan base.

The same year, he received a third Emmy for his work as a writer and correspondent for Comedy Central’s Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher. Before long, Rock received a fourth Emmy as well as the NAACP Image Award for his work on HBO’s The Chris Rock Show, which aired throughout 1998 and 1999.

Rock’s film career would continue to grow throughout the late ’90s, and the young comic won particular notice for his role as a hot-headed law enforcement agent in 1998′s Lethal Weapon 4 opposite Danny Glover and Mel Gibson, and later for Kevin Smith’s Dogma(1999), in which he played a rather bitter apostle of Jesus. He also published a book titled Rock This! with much success. Though Dogma received mixed reviews, 1999 was no lukewarm year for Rock — HBO came through once again, and Chris hit it big with Bigger & Blacker, his second televised comedy special, which took on topics ranging from gun-control to Bill Clinton and proper parenting techniques. In 2000, he played a fantasy hitman alongside Renיe Zellweger in Nurse Betty.

In 2001, Rock put his screenwriting abilities to the test in Down to Earth, a remake of 1941′s Here Comes Mr. Jordan, and again in Pootie Tang, a feature spin-off of one of the characters from The Chris Rock Show. Though Pootie Tang fared much better as a three-minute sketch, the film’s razor-sharp pop cultural references begat a spot alongside I’m Gonna Git You Sucka and Hollywood Shuffle.

In 2001, Rock lent his vocal chords to Steven Spielberg’s A.I.: Artificial Intelligence and Osmosis Jones, and rejoined Kevin Smith for a tiny role in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. In 2002, Rock was one of several comedians featured in Christian Charles’ documentary Comedian, and in the same year starred opposite Oscar-winner Anthony Hopkins as a CIA spy in Bad Company.

Rock directed and starred in 2003′s Head of State as an unlikely presidential candidate for the Democratic party and is slated to star opposite Ben Stiller in Eric Darnell’s Madagascar (2005).

Rock later had two more HBO comedy specials: Bigger & Blacker in 1999, and Never Scared in 2004. Articles relating to both specials called Rock “the funniest man in America” in Time[24] and Entertainment Weekly. HBO also aired his talk show, The Chris Rock Show, which gained critical acclaim for Rock’s interviews with celebrities and politicians. The show won an Emmy for writing. His television work has won him a total of three Emmy Awards and 15 nominations. By the end of the decade, Rock was established as one of the preeminent stand-up comedians and comic minds of his generation.

During this time, Rock also translated his comedy into print form in the book Rock This! and released the Grammy Award-winning comedy albums, Roll with the New, Bigger & Blacker and Never Scared. Rock’s fifth HBO special, Kill the Messenger, premiered on September 27, 2008, and won him another Emmy for outstanding writing for a variety or music program.

It was not until the success of his stand-up act in the late 1990s that Rock began receiving major parts in films. These include roles in Dogma, Beverly Hills Ninja, Lethal Weapon 4, Nurse Betty, The Longest Yard, Bad Company, and a starring role in Down to Earth. Rock has also increasingly worked behind the camera, both as a writer and director of Head of State and I Think I Love My Wife. In the fall of 2005, the UPN television network premiered a comedy series called Everybody Hates Chris, based on Rock’s school days, of which he is the executive producer and narrator. The show has garnered both critical and ratings success. The series was nominated for a 2006 Golden Globe for Best TV Series (Musical or Comedy), a 2006 People’s Choice Award for Favorite New Television Comedy, and two 2006 Emmy Awards for costuming and cinematography.

In 2007, freelance journalist and former actress Kali Bowyer filed a paternity suit against Chris Rock, claiming he was the father of her son, and in need of hospitalization. DNA testing proved that Rock was not the child’s father. Rock currently resides in Alpine, New Jersey. In 2008, Rock’s family history was profiled on the PBS series African American Lives 2. A DNA test showed that he is descended from the Udeme people of northern Cameroon and that he is 20% Caucasian.