Chris Tucker is a stand-up comedian and actor also known for his charity work. He is famous for his loud, high-pitched voice and wacky humor.
Christopher Tucker was born on August 31, 1972, in Atlanta, Georgia. His father, Norris, ran a cleaning service and his mother, Mary, was already busy looking after his three older brothers and two older sisters. As a child, he loved comedy, especially that from Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor, and his talent was noted by his schoolteachers, who encouraged him to try performing onstage. After graduating, Tucker moved to Los Angeles to try his luck on the city's comedy club circuit. There he made enough of an impression to win a place in an episode of Roseanne, and subsequently, a regular slot on Def Comedy Jam, where he performed alongside the likes of Russell Simmons, Joe Torry, and Chris Rock. This led to his first film appearance, in House Party 3, with Christopher Reid and Khandi Alexander, though he continued to sustain himself with television work for some time and has vowed that he will never give up the stand-up comedy he loves, no matter how successful his acting career might become.
Tucker's career got a boost in 1995 when he appeared alongside rapper Ice Cube in Friday, which soon became a cult favorite. He followed it up with a straight role in Albert and Alan Hughes' Dead Presidents. Two years later, Tucker enjoyed a starring role in Money Talks with Larry Hankin and Charlie Sheen, and also a smaller but still dramatic role in Luc Besson's The Fifth Element, with Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, and Gary Oldman, wearing a striking costume designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier. It was this latter role that really made Tucker a star. He capitalized on it with the Rush Hour films, in which he starred alongside Jackie Chan. The first of these was such a success that Tucker held out for twenty million dollars before agreeing to the second, making him one of the highest paid black actors in Hollywood. Notably, he also made an appearance in the Quentin Tarantino film Jackie Brown, with Pam Grier, Samuel L Jackson, Michael Keaton, and Robert De Niro. He has also appeared in a music video for Mariah Carey.
Tucker lives with his girlfriend, casting assistant Azja Pryor, and son, Destin Christopher Tucker. Pryor was an important witness in the recent trial of Michael Jackson, and Tucker himself spoke in the singer's defense. He had previously appeared onstage with Jackson, imitating his dance moves. Tucker's own brushes with the law have been limited to a charge of reckless driving, to which he plead guilty, saying that he had been in a rush because he was late for church.
Besides his film and comedy careers, Tucker is known as an advocate of charitable causes, specifically aiming to increase American awareness of social and economic problems in Africa. In 2001 he toured Uganda and Ethiopia with Bono and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill to raise the profile of development issues, and the following year he accompanied Colin Powell to a South African conference on sustainable development. He continues to appear in charity concerts to raise funds for development and famine crisis charities.
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