Chris Rock

File:Chris rock.jpg

Chris Rock

Chris Rock (born February 7, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian and actor born in Georgetown, South Carolina. He grew up in Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, New York and attended Stuyvesant High School, where he was president of the chess team and the Black Students League.

He was a cast member of the popular sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1990–1993. His 1996 stand-up special Bring the Pain established him as one of the hottest comedians in Hollywood. The controversy around his 1997 routine "Niggas vs Black People" helped his rise to stardom. In addition to acting, Rock has had three HBO comedy specials: Bring the Pain in 1996, Chris Rock: Bigger and Blacker in 1999, and most recently, Never Scared in 2004. HBO also airs his talk show, The Chris Rock Show. Rock has starred in films since 1986.

His comedy typically involves race relations in the United States, although he devotes a large portion of his material to women. Though not directly based on it, a lot of his comedic views are rooted in his teen years; his very strict parents, concerned about the neighborhood schools had him bused to an almost all-white high school in Bensonhurst (a white-ethnic neighborhood of Brooklyn that ironically was known at the time for poor race relations). Rock claims to have been arrested four times, once for vehicular assault on a youth who had robbed him, and three times for traffic violations, including driving without a license and "driving too slow". In the fall of 2005, UPN is going to premiere a comedy series called Everybody Hates Chris that is based on Rock's high school days.

In 2005, Rock hosted the 77th Academy Awards. The decision to have Rock host the awards was seen by some to bring an 'edge' to the ceremony, and to make it more relevant or appealing to younger audiences. Some were worried that Rock's outspoken and often crude humour would tarnish the staid image of the awards, but aside from a tense moment involving Sean Penn his comedy ruffled few feathers, likely due in part to the limitations of Rock's contribution to the writing team.

Rock has been married to Malaak Compton-Rock since November 23, 1996. Malaak is the founder and executive director of StyleWorks, a non-profit, full-service salon that provides free services for women leaving welfare and entering the work force. The couple have two children together, Lola Simone (born June 28, 2002) and Zahra Savannah (born May 22, 2004).

On September 9, 2005 Chris Rock said "George Bush hates midgets" before saying his script during a telethon similar to the Kanye West situation.

Filmography

• Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)
• Comedy's Dirtiest Dozen (1988)
• I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988)
• Who Is Chris Rock? (1989) (short subject)
• New Jack City (1991)
• Boomerang (1992)
• CB4 (1993) (also co-producer)

• Sgt. Bilko (1996)
• Beverly Hills Ninja (1997)
• Doctor Dolittle (1998) (voice)
• Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)
• Torrance Rices (1999) (short subject)
• Dogma (1999)
• Nurse Betty (2000)
• Down to Earth (2001)
• AI: Artificial Intelligence (2001) (voice only)
• Pootie Tang (2001) (also producer)
• Osmosis Jones (2001) (voice)
• Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
• Bad Company (2002)
• Comedian (2002) (documentary)
• Pauly Shore Is Dead (2003)
• Head of State (2003) (also director and producer)
• Oh, What a Lovely Tea Party (2004) (documentary)
• The N-Word (2004) (documentary)
• Paparazzi (2004) (Cameo)
• The Aristocrats (2005) (documentary)
• Madagascar (2005) (voice)
• The Longest Yard (2005)
• Sick Day (2005) (currently announced start of production)

Discography

• Born Suspect 1991 Atlantic
• Roll With the New 1997 DreamWorks
• Bigger & Blacker 1999 DreamWorks
• Never Scared 2005 Geffen

See also

• Chris Tucker, another similar character

External links

• Chris Rock's Official Site
• Chris Rock at IMDb