Chris Rock (born February 7, 1965) is an African-American comedian and actor born in Georgetown, South Carolina.

He grew up, however in Bedford-Stuyvesant, in Brooklyn, New York. He was a cast member of the popular sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1990-1993. His 1996 standup 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 this rise to stardom. In addition to acting, Rock has had various stand-up comedy specials aired on HBO, following "Bring the Pain " with "" in 1999 and most recently, "Never Scared " in 2004. HBO also aired his talk show, The Chris Rock Show . His comedy typically involves race relations in the United States, although he does a fair share of material on women. He's starred in films since 1986.

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 in the end, his comedy ruffled few feathers among the audience and commentators.

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)
• The Immortals (1995)
• Panther (1995)
• 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) (currently in pre-production)
• The Longest Yard (2005) (currently in post-production)
• 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

External link