Chris Rock

During the 1940s, Rock's paternal grandfather moved from South Carolina to New York City to become a taxicab driver and preacher.

Rock was bused to schools in predominantly white neighborhoods of Brooklyn, where he endured bullying and beatings from white students.

As he grew older, the bullying worsened and Rock's parents pulled him out of James Madison High School.

He dropped out of high school altogether, but he later earned a General Educational Development (GED).

Rock then worked various jobs at fast-food restaurants.

Christopher Julius Rock (born February 7, 1965) is an American comedian, actor, and filmmaker.

Rock was born in Andrews, South Carolina on February 7, 1965,.

Shortly after his birth, his parents moved to the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.

A few years later, they relocated and settled in the working class area of Bedford–Stuyvesant.

His mother, Rosalie (née Tingman), was a teacher and social worker for people with developmental disabilities; his father, Julius Rock, was a truck driver and newspaper deliveryman.

Rock first gained prominence for his stand-up routines in the 1980s, where he tackled subjects including race relations, human sexuality, and observational comedy.

His success branched off into productions in film, television, and on-stage, having received multiple accolades including three Grammy Awards for Best Comedy Album, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Golden Globe Award nomination.

He was ranked No. 5 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.

He also ranked No. 5 on Rolling Stone's list of the 50 Best Stand-Up Comics of All Time.

Rock began working as a stand-up comic during 1984 in New York City's Catch a Rising Star.

Upon seeing his act at a nightclub, Eddie Murphy befriended and mentored the aspiring comic.

After years working as a stand-up comedian and appearing in minor film roles including Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), Rock gained prominence as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1990 to 1993.

Murphy gave Rock his first film role and big break in Beverly Hills Cop II (1987).

Julius died in 1988 after ulcer surgery.

Rock Rose up the ranks of the comedy circuit in addition to earning bit roles in the film I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988) and the TV series Miami Vice.

Rock was a cast member of the sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1990 to 1993.

He and other new cast members Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider and David Spade became known as the Bad Boys of SNL.

While at SNL, he appeared in the films New Jack City (1991), Boomerang (1992) and CB4 (1993), which he also wrote and produced.

In 1991, he released his first comedy album, Born Suspect and won acclaim for his role as a crack addict in the film New Jack City.

His tenure on SNL gave Rock national exposure.

With plans to leave Saturday Night Live after the 1992–93 season, Rock was effectively "fired" from the show.

He reached mainstream stardom with Bring the Pain in 1996.

(Rock has hosted SNL three times; in 1996, 2014 and 2020.)

From 1997 to 2000 HBO aired his talk show The Chris Rock Show.

Rock was cast in starring film roles in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), Dogma (1999), The Longest Yard (2005), the Madagascar franchise (2005–2012), I Think I Love My Wife (2007), Grown Ups (2010), Death at a Funeral (2010), Top Five (2014), The Week Of (2018), Spiral (2021), Amsterdam (2022), and Rustin (2023).

He has taken roles on television including Empire, Kevin Can Wait, and Fargo.

Rock continued making specials which include Bigger & Blacker (1999), Never Scared (2004), Kill the Messenger (2008), Tamborine (2018), and Selective Outrage (2023).

He developed, wrote, produced and narrated the sitcom Everybody Hates Chris (2005-2009), which was based on his early life.

He has hosted the Academy Awards twice; in 2005 and 2016, and was slapped on stage by Will Smith at the 2022 Awards.

Rock is the eldest of his parents' seven children (six boys and one girl), and he had an older paternal half-brother, Charles Ledell Rock, who died in 2006 after suffering from alcoholism.

Rock's younger brothers Tony, Kenny, and Jordan are also in the entertainment business.

Rock's family history was profiled on the PBS series African American Lives 2 in 2008.

A DNA test showed that he is of Cameroonian descent, specifically from the Udeme (Ouldémé) people of northern Cameroon.

Rock's great-great-grandfather, Julius Caesar Tingman, was enslaved for 21 years before serving in the American Civil War as part of the United States Colored Troops.

He made his Broadway theater debut in the 2011 Stephen Adly Guirgis play The Motherfucker with the Hat.