Chris Rock

Chris Rock

Date of birth: 07-02-1966
Born in South Carolina, but raised in Brooklyn, Chris Rockstarted hanging out on the New York comedy club circuit when he was still an adolescent.

He was performing at the New York Comedy Strip in about 1984, when Eddie Murphy caught his act and identified him as an rising star, even though he was still a teenager. Murphy cast Rock in Beverly Hills Cop II, in a small role as a parking valet, but it helped him land a couple more minor supporting roles, and eventually a spot on NBC's Saturday Night Live, which he was on from 1990 to 1993. During his SNL stint, Rock also sometimes guest-starred in Keenan Ivory Wayans' sketch series In Living Color.

In 1991, Rock landed his first dramatic screen role, as a naive crack addict-cum-informant in Mario Van Peebles' New Jack City. Other early film roles have included a hot-headed law enforcement agent in 1998's Lethal Weapon 4 , a bitter an apostle of Jesus in Kevin Smith's 1999 film Dogma, and an obnoxious foul-mouthed hitman in Neil La Bute's controversial black comedy Nurse Betty in 2000.

Rock recorded his first HBO special, Big Ass Jokes, in 1996. But he established himself as a major stand-up force with his second special Bring the Pain in 1996, which earned him two Emmy awards and substantially widened his appeal. The same year, he received a third Emmy for his work as a writer and correspondent for Comedy Central's Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher.

In 1997, HBO signed Rock for an edgy sketch series, The Chris Rock Show, that ran until 2000. During that run, Rock published his autobiography Rock This! (in 1998) and recorded his third HBO special, Bigger & Blacker (in 1999). His four special, Never Scared, debuted in 2004.

In 2001, Rock wrote and starred in the film Down to Earth, a remake of 1941's Here Comes Mr. Jordan, and again in Pootie Tang, a spin-off from The Chris Rock Show. He also directed, co-wrote and starred in 2003's Head of State as an unlikely presidential candidate for the Democratic party. In 2007, Rock added producer to the credits as he wrote, directed and starred in the sex comedy I Think I Love My Wife, a remake of Eric Rohmer's Chloe in the Afternoon!. Rock has also lent his voice to one of the characters in Steven Spielberg's A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, and Marty the Zebra in Madagascar (2005) and its 2008 sequel.

Although his film outings have never really matched his stand-up for success and critical acclaim, his TV profile was boosted by the semi-autobiographical sitcom, Everybody Hates Chris, that debuted in September 2005. Written and produced by Rock, who also provides a voiceover, Tyler James Williams plays a younger version of the comedian, during his schooldays in the early Eighties.

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Netflix to air Kevin Hart and Chris Rock documentary

Behind the scenes of the friends' stand-up tour

Netflix is to air a behind-the-scenes documentary about Kevin Hart and Chris Rock’s joint stand-up shows.

Headliners Only – which drops on December 12 – follows the two comics as they prepare for a week of four sold-out shows in New York in summer 2022.

The streamer says the film will see the two stand-ups ‘share first-hand accounts of the struggles and triumphs they faced before their respective colossal successes, placing their bond and brotherhood on full display.’

‘This is a story about two separate journeys that somehow align and end up at the same intersection at the top,’ Hart says in a teaser, which has been released today. 

And when the dates were initially announced, he said: ‘I cannot think of a better way to celebrate the return of live comedy than to co-headline a show with my brother Chris Rock. This is a major moment in comedy and one for the history books.’

While performing at Madison Square Garden Hart even bought his friend a real-life goat, to signify his ‘greatest of all-time’ GOAT status.

The animal was named Will Smith – in honour of the actor who infamously slapped Rock at the Oscars ceremony just months before the tour started.

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Published: 19 Oct 2023

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