Rock, Chris

▪ 2000

      In 1999 American comedian-actor Chris Rock was on a roll—he gave a tell-it-like-it-is performance as host of the MTV Video Music Awards, appeared in the films Dogma and Nurse Betty, starred in his third HBO comedy special, “Chris Rock: Bigger and Blacker,” received an Emmy Award nomination for his HBO weekly series The Chris Rock Show, served as executive producer for the popular ABC television sitcom The Hughleys, and went on the road for a 28-city comedy tour. Many observers regarded him as the funniest active comedian, with a unique talent for finding the humour in the everyday realities of life.

      Rock was born on Feb. 7, 1966, in the small town of Georgetown, S.C., but grew up in the impoverished Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, N.Y. After dropping out of high school at 17 (he later received a high-school-equivalency diploma), Rock played small clubs in the New York area, where he was discovered by comedian-actor Eddie Murphy. After landing parts in Murphy's film Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) and director Keenan Ivory Wayans's I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988), Rock got his big break by earning a spot in 1990 as a cast member of NBC's Saturday Night Live. He left the show in 1993 to join Fox Network's In Living Color, which was taken off the air shortly thereafter. After starring in and writing the script for the film CB4 (1993), covering the 1996 presidential campaign for ABC's Politically Incorrect, and appearing in the first of his three HBO comedy specials, “Chris Rock: Big Ass Jokes” (1994), which won the 1994 Cable Ace Award, Rock found his popularity as an actor and comedian beginning to fade.

      In an effort to reignite his career, Rock went on the road in 1996, playing small, mostly black comedy clubs. There he honed his comedic repertoire, touching on subjects that were often considered taboo, such as race relations, drug addiction, and black poverty, all the while revealing the humorous aspects of some of the more serious, painful truths of the black experience. Bolstered by the positive reaction he received while touring, Rock once again appeared in an HBO special, “Chris Rock: Bring the Pain” (1997), which won two Emmy Awards and brought Rock widespread fame and critical acclaim. Riding the crest of his newfound popularity, Rock went on to star in The Chris Rock Show, write a book that reached the New York Times best-seller list—Rock This! (1997)—costar in the film Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), and provide the voice for Rodney the guinea pig in another Murphy film, Dr. Dolittle (1998).

Erin Stapleton-Corcoran

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▪ American comedian and actor

born Feb. 7, 1966, Georgetown, S.C., U.S.

      American comedian whose popular stand-up routine—which often addressed “racial” matters —led to a successful film career.

      Rock grew up in the impoverished Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, N.Y. After dropping out of high school at 17 (he later received a high-school-equivalency diploma), Rock played small clubs in the New York area, where he was discovered by comedian-actor Eddie Murphy (Murphy, Eddie). After landing parts in Murphy's film Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) and director Keenan Ivory Wayans's I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988), Rock got his big break by earning a spot in 1990 as a cast member of Saturday Night Live. He left the show in 1993 to join Fox Network's In Living Color, which was taken off the air shortly thereafter. After starring in and writing the script for the film CB4 (1993), he covered the 1996 presidential campaign for ABC's Politically Incorrect. Rock then appeared in the first of his Home Box Office (HBO) comedy specials, Big Ass Jokes (1994), which won the 1994 Cable Ace Award. Soon after, however, Rock found his popularity as an actor and comedian beginning to fade.

      In an effort to reignite his career, Rock went on the road in 1996, playing small clubs. There he honed his comedic repertoire, touching on subjects that were often considered taboo, such as race relations, drug addiction, and black poverty, all the while revealing the humorous aspects of some of the more serious, painful truths of the black experience. Bolstered by the positive reaction he received while touring, Rock once again appeared in an HBO special, Bring the Pain (1997), which won two Emmy Awards and brought Rock widespread fame and critical acclaim. Riding the crest of his newfound popularity, Rock went on to star in the television series The Chris Rock Show (1997–2000), write the best-selling book Rock This! (1997), costar in the film Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), and provide the voice for Rodney the guinea pig in another Murphy movie, Dr. Dolittle (1998).

      In 1999 Rock starred in his third HBO comedy special, Bigger and Blacker, and then appeared in a series of films, including Nurse Betty (2000) and Down to Earth (2001). In 2001 he provided the voice of the title character in the animated movie Osmosis Jones. He later starred opposite Anthony Hopkins (Hopkins, Sir Anthony) in the thriller Bad Company (2002). In 2003 Rock made his directorial debut with Head of State, which centred on a presidential election. After the popular HBO comedy special Never Scared (2004), he cocreated a television series based on his childhood, Everybody Hates Chris. The show premiered in 2005 and was a critical and commercial success. Rock also hosted the Academy Awards (Academy Award) ceremony that year. His later films include The Longest Yard (2005), in which he costarred with Adam Sandler, and the animated movies Madagascar (2005) and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008). In 2007 he directed and starred in I Think I Love My Wife.

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