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Christopher Julius Rock III[1] (born February 7, 1965)[2] is an Emmy and Grammy Award-winning American comedian, actor, and director.
Early lifeRock was born in South Carolina. Shortly after his birth, his parents moved to Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York. A few years later, they moved to the working-class area of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn where they settled.[1] His mother, Rosalie Tingman,[3] was a teacher and social worker with the mentally handicapped, and his father, Julius Rock, was a former truck driver and newspaper deliveryman.[4] Julius died in 1989 after ulcer surgery.[5] He has five younger siblings, Andre, Tony, Brian (a minister), Kenny, Andi, and a half-sibling, Jordan.[3] CareerEarly career
Early to mid-1990'sRock became a cast member of the popular sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live in 1990. He and other new cast members Chris Farley, Adam Sandler and David Spade became known as the Bad Boys of SNL. In 1991, he released his first comedy album Born Suspect and won acclaim for his dramatic role as a crack addict in the film New Jack City. His tenure on SNL gave Rock national exposure, but he was rarely used on the show, save for his recurring Nat X character. A frustrated Rock left the show in 1993 and joined the predominately African-American sketch show In Living Color. But the show was no longer popular and was cancelled months later. Rock then decided to concentrate on a film career. He wrote and starred in the mockumentary CB4 but the film was not a success. Acting jobs became scarce, and Rock abandoned Hollywood to concentrate on stand-up comedy. Recurring Characters on SNL
Celebrity Impersonations on SNL
Stand-up successHe starred in his first HBO comedy special in 1994 titled Big Ass Jokes. But it was his second stand-up special, 1996's Bring the Pain, that reinvented Rock as one of the best comedians in the industry. His routine, which featured commentaries on race in America, stirred up a great deal of controversy. Rock won two Emmy Awards for that special. Adding to his popularity was his much-publicized role as a commentator for Comedy Central's Politically Incorrect during the 1996 Presidential elections. During this time, Rock also provided the voice of "Lil' Penny" in a popular series of Nike commercials featuring NBA star Penny Hardaway. 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 and Entertainment Weekly, respectively. 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.
In 2004, Rock was ranked 5th on the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time list by Comedy Central. He is currently working on his fifth HBO special.[1] Film careerWhile Rock has acted in movies since 1987 (beginning with a small role in Beverly Hills Cop II), 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 and Nurse Betty 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 commercial success, and Rock describes it as "honest" and "very working-class, so people can relate."[7] Comedic styleHis comedy typically involves race relations in the United States, politics, music, romance, and class relationships. Though not directly based on it, many 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 (an Italian-ethnic neighborhood of Brooklyn that 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." Rock is uncomfortable with the idea of being seen as a larger than life figure in standup comedy as opposed to some of his heroes like Bill Cosby, Eddie Murphy or Richard Pryor; when pressed for a statement during an interview with Playboy, he hesitated and finally responded: "I talked about race differently. I'll go that far". Entertainment/WrestlingIn the promotion's early days Chris Rock made an appearance for TNA wrestling in which he was introduced by BG James and was hit with a chair and beaten up by wrestlers including Jeff Jarrett. This event was covered in TNA's "50 greatest moments". Academy Awards hostIn early 2005, Rock hosted the 77th Academy Awards ceremony. The decision to have Rock host the awards was seen by some as a chance to bring an "edge" to the ceremony and to make it more relevant or appealing to younger audiences. During one segment Rock asked "Who is this guy?" in reference to actor Jude Law seemingly appearing in every movie Rock had seen that year and implied Law was a low-rent Tom Cruise. Nearly two hours later, a defensive Sean Penn took the stage to present and said, "In answer to our host's question, Jude Law is one of our finest young actors." (At the time, Penn and Law were shooting All the King's Men.) Music videosRock's first music video was for his song "Your Mother's Got a Big Head" from his album Born Suspect. Rock also made videos for his songs "Champagne" from Roll With the New and "No Sex (In the Champagne Room)" from Bigger & Blacker. Chris Rock also directed and appeared in the music video for the Red Hot Chili Peppers song "Hump de Bump". He also appeared in Johnny Cash's "God's Gonna Cut You Down", one of the few people seen lip-synching the song. Personal lifeRock has been married to Malaak Compton since November 23, 1996. She 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 workforce. The couple have two daughters together, Lola Simone (born June 28, 2002) and Zahra Savannah (born May 22, 2004). In November 2006, the entertainment news website TMZ.com reported that Rock was filing for divorce after nearly ten years of marriage to Malaak.[8] Two weeks later, however, TMZ reported that Rock had not filed divorce papers, and that it appeared that the couple was able to work out their differences and stay together. In response to the reports, Rock released a statement to the press denouncing the reports as "untrue rumors and lies".[9] Rock's brother, Tony Rock, is an actor and comedian. Rock currently resides in Alpine, New Jersey. WorksFilmography
Selected television work
HBO specials
Discography
Books
See also
Footnotes
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