Brooklyn, NY native Christopher Julius “Chris Rock” III was born on February 7, 1965 and began to build his stand-up career by working at New York City’s Catch a Rising Star in the 1980s, earning small parts in movies like Beverly Hills Cop II and I’m Gonna Git You Sucka and landing a featured role on NBC’s late-night comedy juggernaut Saturday Night Live in 1990. Rock went on to write and star in rap mockmentary CB4 before re-inventing himself through a series of HBO comedy specials starting with 1996’s Emmy Award-winning Bring the Pain. Rock later went on to produce the television show Everybody Hates Chris for UPN/CW and star in feature films such as Death at a Funeral, Down to Earth, The Longest Yard and I Think I Love My Wife. To learn more about his life and career, click here.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
November 5, 2024