Chris Rock

Christopher Julius Rock (born February 7, 1965) is an American comedian, actor and filmmaker. Originally a stand-up comedian in the 1980s, Rock often performed sets on race relations, human sexuality, and observational comedy. After minor film and television appearances in Beverly Hills Cop II and Miami Vice in 1987, Rock was cast as a member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1990 to 1993. There, he garnered national recognition as one of the "Bad Boys of SNL", alongside cast members Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider, and David Spade.

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 live-action sitcom Everybody Hates Chris (2005–2009) and animated sitcom Everybody Still Hates Chris (2024-) which were both 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 assaulted by Will Smith at the 2022 Awards.

Rock's 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.