Chris Rock is a comedian, actor, writer, director, and producer who has been voted the funniest person in America by Entertainment Weekly. He is well known for the semi-autobiographical TV show Everybody Hates Chris, which he produced.
Chris Rock was born on February 7, 1965, in Andrews, South Carolina, and he grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where he still lives today. He is the oldest of seven children and also has an older step-brother who has spent time in prison. One of his brothers, Tony Rock, is a writer, comedian, and TV actor known for his role in All of Us, which was produced by husband and wife team Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith. Rock's father was a truck driver and his mother was a teacher. Both were very strict and concerned about his education, yet he took little interest in academia and dropped out of high school, not graduating until many years later. Rock always loved making people laugh and was appearing on the comedy circuit in New York City before he was out of his teens. One night, he was fortunate enough to be spotted by Eddie Murphy, who was so impressed that he cast him as a valet in Beverly Hills Cop II, with Judge Reinhold and Brigitte Nielsen. Over the next few years he enjoyed small roles in films such as I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, with Keenan Ivory Wayans and Isaac Hayes; New Jack City, with Wesley Snipes and Ice-T; and Boomerang, with Robin Givens and Halle Berry. He eventually won a place on Saturday Night Live, where he remained for three years; it was this show that made Chris Rock a star.
Although Rock's performances on Saturday Night Live were popular, he got limited exposure and the job didn't last. He moved on to sitcom In Living Colour, appearing with the likes of Jim Carrey and Jamie Foxx, and subsequently reinvented his onscreen exposure with a return to stand-up comedy. Rock always felt that comedians should have something to say, and his comments on race relations in his TV special Bring the Pain attracted a storm of controversy as well as two Emmy Awards. Chris Rock capitalized on this by covering the 1996 presidential elections for Comedy Central and went on to host The Chris Rock Show, establishing himself as a capable interviewer. By this time, he was also starting to win major movie roles in films including Dogma, with Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Linda Fiorentino; Nurse Betty, with Morgan Freeman and Renée Zellweger; and Down to Earth, which he wrote, and which also starred Regina King and Chazz Palminteri. In 2003 he tried his hand at directing as well as starring in Head of State, with Bernie Mac and Dylan Baker.
Rock has expanded his range into print with a book, Rock This!, and has also produced several albums of his comedy routines. In 2000 he hosted the MTV Movie Awards and in 2005 he hosted the Oscars. Rock has won four Emmys, with fifteen further nominations, and also an NAACP Image Award. The year 2005 saw the launch of Everybody Hates Chris, a comedy series based on Rock's schooldays in which he was portrayed by former Sesame Street star Tyler James Williams.
Rock is married to Malaak Compton-Rock, who won a 2002 Mothers and Shakers Award for her work in helping women leaving welfare to make themselves presentable for the world of work. The couple have two children, Lola Simone and Zahra Savannah.
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