Chris Rock

Christopher Julius Rock (born February 7, 1965) is an American comedian, actor, and filmmaker. He first gained prominence for his stand-up routines in the 1980s in which 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. Rock 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.

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. While at ''SNL'', he appeared in the films ''New Jack City'' (1991) and ''Boomerang'' (1992). In 1993, he appeared in ''CB4'', which he also wrote and produced. He reached mainstream stardom with ''Bring the Pain'' in 1996. 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. 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''. He made his Broadway theater debut in the 2011 Stephen Adly Guirgis play ''The Motherfucker with the Hat''. He has hosted the Academy Awards twice; in 2005 and 2016, and was involved in a highly controversial incident in which he was slapped on stage by Will Smith at the 2022 Awards. Provided by Wikipedia