Chris Rock Biography
The early life of Christopher Julius Rock III was difficult but he found a way to make humour from the tough situations and it is this attitude that has made him a star. His predominantly stand-up comedy career has received international acclaim and ratings place him among the top ten most talented comedians of the 21st century. He goes by the stage name Chris Rock and his 27 year career began in 1984.
Rock was born on February 7 1965 in Andrews, South Carolina, USA. He was raised by parents Rosalie Tingman and Julius Rock in a poor family that lived in a low class neighbourhood. During this time young Rock had to live in miserable conditions since earnings from his parents’ manual jobs could not provide adequate care. Fortunes changed for the family and soon enough Rock moved to a middle class neighbourhood that was shared by whites.
What this meant is that he had to go to the same school as the rest of the kids from white families. Being one of the only black children in school made Rock easily noticeable and the attention he got was not positive. Often he was bullied for his skin colour and racist remarks towards him became an everyday thing. Things got so bad that Rock was moved by his parents to another high school but at the time the teenager was not willing to continue with his education. Quitting school meant that Rock had to get odd jobs to survive on and while he worked as a waiter he spent time off performing stand-up comedy.
During one of his acts Rock was spotted by legendary comedian Eddie Murphy and from the relationship between the two, Rock was able to land a job at the Saturday Night Live show. This was in the early 90’s and rock stayed on in the show until 1993. On leaving to seek new ventures, he tried several stints in acting but lack of jobs drove him back to stand-up comedy. In 1993 Rock appeared on the show In Living Colour but his success there was short lived. After he went on to write a film that was titled Mokumentary CB4, this did not perform well in box offices.
After a string of failures Rock made a comeback in 1994 with the film Big Ass Jokes. This was then followed by acts in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Martin Valentino, Homicide: Life on the Street, Bring the Pain, Politically Incorrect, King of the Hill, The Chris Rock Show, Never Scared, Everybody Hates Chris, Kill the Messenger, Nurse Betty, Down to Earth, and AI: Artificial Intelligence.
Following film roles by Rock in the 2000’s were in Osmosis Jones, Jay and Silent, Bad Company, Madagascar, The Longest Yard, I Think I Love My Wife, Bee Movie, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, and Good Hair. Most recent acts by the comedian were in 2010 and he was seen in two films titled Death at a Funeral and Grown Ups.
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