Comedian Chris Rock was born to Rose and Julius Rock on February 7th, 1966, in South Carolina. When he was six, the family moved to the Bedford-Stutvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. Rock was bussed to a nearly all-white school across town, where he experienced racism and endured regular beatings at the hands of white schoolmates. Rock was very shy and respectful. He hated the violence he saw around him, but he managed to defend himself as best he could on occasion.

His earliest aspirations to take the stage were fueled by the classic comedy stylings of Richard Pryor, Sam Kinison, Steve Martin, and Eddie Murphy. In 1983, the young comic wannabe lied about his age to sneak into a comedy review. He was encouraged enough by his success he decided to take his routine to the New York club circuit. Eddie Murphy happened to catch one of the eighteen-year-olds performances, and subsequently helped secure him a place on the bill of the HBO special Uptown Comedy Express. Rock later appeared alongside his mentor in the role of a parking valet in the 1987 smash hit sequel Beverly Hills Cop 11. The duo reunited in two more Murphy films: Boomerang (1992) and Dr. Dolittle (1998) where Rock voiced a guinea pig.

Rock went on to land a spot on Saturday Night Live where he originated such popular characters as militant talk show host Nat X and rapper I’m Chillin’. Rock left the show in 1993, after just 3 seasons with the frustration of feeling like just a “black” character actor on the show, preparing all week for just one appearance in a single skit.

In 1991 Rock made his dramatic debut in Mario Van Peebles street-life feature New Jack City. He gave a deeply affecting performance as a drug addict informant named Pookie. Two years later he was back on the lighter side of things when he stared in, co-wrote, and produced CB4. He also began appearing in the Keenen Ivory Wayan’s hit In Living Color. Unfortunately, the hip crossover show toughed out only a handful more episodes after Rock joined its cast.

Since then he has settled into a steady ascent. He won immense popularity by voicing the puppet Li’l Penny Hardaway on TV commercials for Nike and by in 1-800-COLLECT commercials. He also cut three comedy recordings - Born Suspect (1992), Roll With the New (1997) which won him a Grammy Award, and the 1999 title Bigger & Blacker. He also starred in and produced the award winning cable series The Chris Rock Show and the 1997 double-Emmy-winning comedy special Chris Rock: Bring the Pain! That same year also witnessed the release of his first comedy torne Rock This! Few performers have managed to appeal to so many people without losing their edge, but Rock remains resolutely hip, partly because of his engaging genuineness and innate vulnerability.

Rock still resides in Brooklyn, close to the home of another celebrated Bed-Stuy son, Spike Lee. He is married to Malaak Compton-Rock, who is a publicist that works in event production for charities.