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Overview (4) |
Mini Bio (1) |
Family (4) |
Trade Mark (3) |
Trivia (39) |
Personal Quotes (70) |
Salary (3)
Overview (4)
| Born | in Andrews, South Carolina, USA |
| Birth Name | Christopher Julius Rock III |
| Nickname | Chrissy |
| Height | 5' 10" (1.78 m) |
Mini Bio (1)
Christopher Julius Rock was born in Andrews, South Carolina and raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York. He is the son of Rosalie (Tingman), a teacher and social worker for the mentally handicapped, and Julius Rock, a truck driver and newspaper deliveryman, whose own father was a preacher.
Rock has been in stand-up comedy for several decades. He made his big screen debut in Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) and spent three years on the cast of Saturday Night Live (1975). He does commercials for 1-800 Collect and Nike and covered the presidential campaign for the show Politically Incorrect (1993). He lives in Alpine, New Jersey.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Matt Dicker
Family (4)
| Spouse | Malaak Compton (23 November 1996 - 23 August 2016) (divorced) (2 children) |
| Children |
Lola Simone Rock
Zahra Savannah Rock |
| Parents |
Julius Rock
Rosalie Rock |
| Relatives | Tony Rock (sibling) |
Trade Mark (3)
High-pitched voice
Jokes about racism and black stereotypes
Catchphrase: "Yeah, I said it!"
Trivia (39)
Discovered by Eddie Murphy.
Has written a book, "Rock This!" (1997), and released four comedy albums.
March 12, 2003: Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Was voted the funniest person in America by Entertainment Weekly.
His wife, Malaak Compton, was featured in Redbook magazine as one of the winners of the 2002 Mothers & Shakers Awards. Malaak is the founder and executive director of StyleWorks, a nonprofit, full-service salon that provides free services for women leaving welfare and entering the work force.
Chosen as #5 in Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time. [April 2004]
Has two daughters: Lola Simone Rock (born June 28, 2002) and Zahra Savannah Rock (born May 22, 2004).
Enjoys a wide range of music such as Jay-Z, Red Hot Chili Peppers, DMX, Boy George, Elvis Costello, Eminem and Smashing Pumpkins.
In 1993, Paramount offered him the role of Lamont Sanford in a purposed film update of Sanford and Son (1972). He called the idea "insane" and, because of his affection for the late Redd Foxx, lobbied to have the production halted. It was.
Hosted The 77th Annual Academy Awards (2005) on February 27, 2005, and, despite concerns over the content of his monologue, he mostly kept this clean.
Has the rare distinction of being in two movies that opened on the same day in the United States: The Longest Yard (2005) and Madagascar (2005) (May 27, 2005). Both of them stayed at the two top spots at the box office the following weeks, knocking down the last installment of the Star Wars saga, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005). Both became members of the $100 million club.
Points to Eddie Murphy as his role model and inspiration for taking up comedy and acting.
Is a huge fan of the sitcom Seinfeld (1989) and has been known to make references to the series in many of his stand-up routines.
Good friends with the late Chris Farley.
During his monologue at The 77th Annual Academy Awards (2005), he quipped, "If you want Russell Crowe, and all you can get is Colin Farrell, wait!" Coincidentally, Oliver Stone pursued Crowe for the title role of Alexander (2004), yet ended up casting Farrell in the role instead. The film turned out to be one of the most critically panned movies that year.
Was considered for the role of Huggy Bear Brown in Starsky & Hutch (2004), which went to Snoop Dogg.
Is a huge fan of Woody Allen.
Attended the opening of Oprah Winfrey's school in South Africa.
Began his first-ever tour of Britain in January 2008.
Supported Senator Barack Obama's bid to win the Democratic nomination for the 2008 presidential election.
His older half-brother, Charles Rock, died in February 2006.
Formerly held the world record for having the largest audience during a live-comedy performance when he performed in front of 15,900 people in London in May 2008. The record was broken by Mario Barth in July 2008.
Has called singer Sade "the most beautiful woman in the world.".
Currently resides in Alpine, New Jersey.
Comedian Sherrod Small is his cousin and close friend.
Raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York City.
Both his father and grandfather were preachers.
He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on March 12, 2003.
He dedicated Chris Rock: Never Scared (2004), the recording of a stand-up performance he did at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., to the memory of three people: his father, Julius Rock; Monteria Ivey, comic radio personality and announcer for The Chris Rock Show (1997); and Stan Sandler, father of his friend Adam Sandler.
Was in a relationship with actress Megalyn Echikunwoke from February 2016 to March 2020.
Signed a $40 million contract with Netflix to stream two new live stand-up comedy specials. [October 2016]
He was nominated for the 2018 New Jersey Hall of Fame in the Performing Arts category.
Born on exactly the same date as Jason Gedrick.
Despite having a pool in his home, he didn't learn to swim until he was fifty-five years old.
(March 27, 2022) It was just prior to Oscar host Chris introducing the "Best Documentary Feature" nominees that Will Smith walked up to him and slapped him in the face because of a joke Chris had made about Jada Pinkett Smith's hair. However, this was not the first time Chris had poked fun at Jada. When she refused to attend the awards ceremonies in 2016, host Chris quipped: "Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna's panties - I wasn't invited".
Personal Quotes (70)
Don't exercise much. It's not really funny. Jim Carrey looks like he's in pretty good shape, but traditionally, funny guys have never been buff. Why do people do yoga? It clears their minds. I embrace the clutter in my head. I like it. What funny guy's got it all together?
I love music. Music is the soundtrack to the crappy movie that is my life.
It's my real name. My mother's name is Rose Rock. It was the worst name as a kid to have. They called me Piece of the Rock, Plymouth Rock, Joe Rockid, and Flintstones. Now they call me Mister Rock.
A man is basically as faithful as his options.
I'm never proper or careful, but I never curse in front of my mother, either.
How do I say this without sounding like an egomaniac? I don't know a comedian that sells more seats than me in the red states and blue states, so I don't see where I have to change that much.
I like the tradition of the Oscars. I like that some of the greatest comedians ever have hosted the show.
Hollywood's just not funny. You walk around and think 'Where's the funny at?' It's not there - all there is is a bunch of directors and actors walking around. I like going into a diner and meeting real people. Funny is where the real people are.
I never wanted to churn it out. Comedians tend to work all the time. They never put it down like musicians who might make an album then take three or four years off to recharge their batteries. Comedians tend to work straight through and they get stale because of that. Even when I didn't have a lot of money I never ever did it unless I had something new to say.
People want comedians to be funny. I mean I love Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) but it ain't a better performance than in Dumb and Dumber (1994). I can do serious roles sometimes in other people's movies but not in one of my own. I don't wanna ask my fans to come and not laugh at me: "Hey! Come on, let's go see Chris Rock not be funny!".
America is the most powerful country in the world and I think every intelligent country should be concerned about what's going on here. I've got no beef with Brits objecting to our election outcome. I applaud that. I'll tell you right now, Americans don't care about what's going on in other countries.
I always say about my daughters, they save me from my miserable self. They take me out, you know, a comedian, you could live in your head a lot. And you're writing and you're doubting. But when I'm with my kids and my family, it's all about them.
Now that I have children, I realize taking care of my children is more fun than anything in the whole world.
I don't write jokes first. I write down topics. I think of what I want to talk about, and then I write the jokes -- they don't write me... And even if you don't think it's funny, you won't think it's boring. You might disagree, but you'll listen. And maybe even laugh as you disagree.
You know, just right place right time, lucked up. Thank God for animation. I can turn down a lot of movies now.
I'm a nerd. I'm a little guy... the last guy you'd expect in a romantic movie.
Guys play characters that won't grow up and something catastrophic happens and they have to grow up to save the day -- that's pretty much what today's comedy is about,
The best part is just having a partner. There is no real worst part. I'm not going to say there's a worst part. I mean I'm a comedian - comedians like to work alone. So maybe I'm not the ideal guy to be married to, in that sense.
I've been married for 10 years and, you know, it's hard, you spruce it up and you go places. How do you spruce up anything? Artificially. You go places and do things.
I love having somebody there - that companion thing. You know who you're going to eat with, who you're going to see a movie with.
I'm more patient. I'm less of a recluse. I've been on TV for a long freaking time, and it can definitely isolate you. You get to where you only have things in common with people in the business, and kids open you up to a new world. You have something in common with just about everybody. I think I'm a better artist. Everything I've done since I've had kids is better than the stuff I did before I had kids.
I'm happy if everybody else is. I'm a big brother, the oldest. If you're happy and I'm not, I'm cool with that. If I'm happy and you're not, I'm sad.
I used to watch my father go to work every day and come home and be so beat. We had seven kids. I always wondered what he really wanted to do. Now that I'm older and have my own kids, I realize there's nothing better than to work for your kids. I'm sure he got more gratification from his work than I do. My father was feeding his kids every week, paying the heating bills. If he didn't work, then it didn't get done. There's a tremendous amount of gratification from that. And a tremendous amount of pressure, too.
If you live with a single parent, you don't see compromise. You witness a grown person living in a world where they do what they want to do. When you are raised by two parents, you are constantly watching compromise take place. Just by observing that, it made me a better person.
All people naturally hate. My kid bites people now. I didn't teach my kid to bite anybody. Kids say mean stuff. Only through love do we get this evil out of them. Only through love and structure and discipline do they not hate. The kids that hate didn't learn anything, that's the problem.
I always say there's no more little girls, just boys with (breasts). Girls act like boys nowadays. Teenage girls, they go after boys. They're predatory just like boys. My goal is to keep my girls, girls.
I'm like the Hulk on stage. It's way over the top. That's Bizarro Chris. Sometimes I get off stage and go "What did I say?!" I'll watch one of my [stand-up] specials a year later and go "Eww, that was mean".
I love my life, but I don't think I'm any happier than my younger brother Andre, who drives a garbage truck.
It's weird with stand-up comedy. It doesn't really translate worldwide. I want to figure out how do I make it worldwide. Do a special in Africa. Can't beat that. Pull that off, then I will have done something.
I'm a rap comedian the same way Bill Cosby is a jazz comedian, Cosby's laid back. I'm like, bang, bang bang, right into it.
I just remember that whenever I got really mad or passionate, like in an argument, people would laugh, and I'd be dead serious. It would happen a lot. So it was like "Gee, I've got something here.".
The material comes from whenever you realize that you and someone else have something in common. So any conversation you've had more than once, anything you see happening to you that you see happening to a friend, you go, "Hmmm, that's a situation I can make funny.".
I was raised to believe that you had to do things better than white people in order to succeed. The old black shows were better than the white shows. The Jeffersons (1975) was a lot better. Good Times (1974) was way funnier. Sanford and Son (1972). Now, though, everyone thinks we're equal, so we submit the same shit that everyone else submits. And then we get mad when they won't air it. You got to go back to the old attitude of it has to be twice as good.
I like talking about subjects that aren't funny in the first place and making them funny. So anything down and depressing is something I'll talk about.
Women would rule the world - if only they'd stop bitchin' about each other.
I don't think my comedy is that political. It's more social. But whatever. When you make comedy and you do stand-up, you work alone. Movies have to go under so much scrutiny. A stand-up special is a vision, and a movie is a consensus in a lot of ways.
It's no different. It's not like I ever cursed around my mother or anything. I never had a hard time turning it on and off. It's like you enter another country - sometimes you're in a cursing country and then you're in a kid's country.
At home, [we play] a lot of Disney stuff -- _Raven [Raven-Symoné],High School Musical (2006) soundtrack. My kids love Beyoncé, but there are a few songs I can't let them listen to -- they're so materialistic! They're all about chinchilla coats and BBS Slims [cell phone]. I'd rather have them listening to a protest song!
I think if I were to get as big as I could get, it does change your mind-state. I think like the little man. I think like the underdog. I don't want to change that.
There's no interference in stand-up. It's all the things it's hard to get in film: I get to have a wife, I get to have kids. I get to be sexual. I get to grow. I get to be a man.
I shouldn't be able at this late date to go into a club and be better than guys who are there every night. Nobody really wants to be a stand-up, they want to get on TV. Everybody wants to be Seinfeld (1989), nobody wants to be Jerry Seinfeld.
You want to track Hollywood careers, look in the real estate section. You see a guy buy a house that costs $6 million, and you can literally start counting the days until he starts doing crappy movies.
[on _Head of State (2003)_ ()] I was directing it for the wrong reasons, maybe out of fear.
It's the worst script I've ever gotten. The rap group was called Nubian Nation Pussy Patrol! I'd have been happier getting an envelope full of anthrax. - on receiving the script for Marci X (2003).
Nobody's good. I hate it. I truly hate it. I mean, there's a lot of guys doing stuff I admire, but stand-up-wise I feel very alone. I really miss [Bill] Hicks. I wish I could have put him on my show. And I really miss Sam [Kinison] a lot. Richard [Pryor]'s sick... It's like you get here and then, oh wait a minute, there's nobody here any more. I feel like the guy who finally got into Studio 54, three years too late, "Duh, where are all the famous people?".
The only reaction that frightens me is people not laughing. It's extraordinary to me when you get a laugh. That you can go in front of a bunch of people you never met before, you can say some stuff and they all laugh in unison - that's amazing. It's a miracle.
[on the success of Chris Rock: Bring the Pain (1996)] I thought, hopefully this will be better than other HBO specials, and I'll get whatever rewards come with that. Maybe somebody will want me to do a sitcom - if I'm lucky. Next thing they were talking about it on C-Span, and I'm like, Huh? My only goal was to do a show that was good enough that when I played a club, I wouldn't have to promote it on radio.
I think what kind of person you are during success is who you are. It's easy to be nice in failure and when you're broke - then you really need a lot of help from people. But after you win some money, that's the person you really are, because now you can be mean to people. You can act like an asshole. I've seen people trip out again and again. A lot of times this behavior, when you're up, will determine if you get another shot someday, because things in this business always go down. I want them to say, "He was a nice guy during the whole process. He never did the entourage thing." Because that ain't funny. It's annoying.
[on being a black student in a predominately white school] My life was Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995). I would get beat up every day, called "nigger" and spit on. You get used to it. I couldn't fight back, I was so outnumbered, so I would just stand there and take it. The worst part is that, after a while, your spirit is broken. I'd go to my parents and say, "Take me out of here." But they thought it was a better school. I guess it toughened me up.
For me, anything goes when I pick up a mike. I'm not trying to hurt people - I try not to get too personal - but I look at myself as a reporter. If you can report on anything that has to do with pop culture, then why can't I make jokes about it? Yes, it hurts. But I figure that laughter sometimes starts from pain. You might wince, but then I know that I'm doing my job. The only thing I can do wrong is not be funny.
I pride myself on being the guy who can do Def Comedy Jam (1992) and Charlie Rose (1991). And do well on both.
[on being compared to Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy] I'm much closer to Mort Sahl and George Carlin and Sam Kinison... It is what it is.
[on Charles S. Dutton's criticism of Martin (1992)] Is Charles Dutton funny? Huh? At the end of the day, no. He's not. Charles Dutton is not as funny as Martin Lawrence. Now, I got nothing against Charles Dutton... but let's be truthful here. If Roc (1991) was funny, it would be on the air... But Charles Dutton is always preaching. How can you say someone has a negative image? You're A Murderer!
Every comedian has a moment in his life when he realizes he's a little bit different from everyone else. It's like being the only guy in a movie who sees the ghost. The ghost talks to you and you talk to him. Then you turn to your friend and say, "Hey. Do you see that ghost?" And he says, "What ghost?"
[on his short-lived job at Red Lobster] The thing about Red Lobster is that if you work there, you can't afford to eat there. You're making minimum wage. A shrimp costs minimum wage. I cleaned up after the kids. Kids don't eat. I used to zero in on a kid. 'Don't touch that scallop. Please don't touch that scallop.'
Nobody's about saving anymore. No one cares about a rainy day anymore. Nobody saves up enough for even an umbrella for a rainy day. It's sad. It really is a new form of slavery. We used to work to be able to afford material things. Now we work FOR these things. They're the boss. That house you can't afford, that car that's out of your price range, that cellphone that drains your bank account - that's your boss.
Dude, people love Grown Ups (2010). I don't care what the critics say. Who won the Academy Award this year? The Artist (2011)? Hey, "The Artist" was great. "Grown Ups" is better than "The Artist", and it's better than "The Artist" 'cause the audience says so. No film critic's going to say it, but "Madagascar 3" is better than "The Artist," and it's better because it makes people feel better. That's ultimately what it boils down to. Carrot Top's better than Mort Sahl. Is he a better writer? Are we going to jot down Carrot Top's prose 100 years from now? I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is, Carrot Top makes people feel better than Mort Sahl ever made people feel.
[on Louis C.K.'s late success] I feel like I'm James Brown, and Jimi Hendrix was in my band. He was just some kid I used to beat up, and now he's back, and he's Jimi Hendrix. Is he better than me? I don't know, maybe. He used to write for so many people. "I'm going to L.A. and take some pitch meetings, write some shows." Dude, write for yourself, I would constantly tell him. And some people are funny older than they are younger. Rodney Dangerfield was that. Redd Foxx was that - had careers as young people but when they got older, it was, like this guy's hysterical. And Louie, at 44, it's the sweet spot for him.
You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance, Germany doesn't want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in America are named 'Bush', 'Dick' and 'Colon'.
I was bused to a school in Gerritsen Beach in Brooklyn in 1972. I was one of the first black kids in the history of the school. There were parents with signs: NIGGER GO HOME. For all intents and purposes, the United States had been practicing apartheid until '68. I was spit on every day. I had water balloons with piss thrown at me. I was fucking Carrie (1976).
I used to have horrible cars that would always end up broken down on the highway. When I tried to flag someone down, nobody stopped. But if I pushed my own car, other drivers would get out and push with me. If you want help, help yourself - people like to see that.
[on the Saturday Night Live (1975) sketch that got Chris Farley noticed] 'Chippendales' was a weird sketch. I always hated it. The joke of it is, basically, 'We can't hire you because you're fat.' There's no turn there. There's no comic twist to it. It's just fucking mean. A more mentally together Chris Farley wouldn't have done it, but Chris wanted so much to be liked. As funny as that sketch was and as many accolades as he got for it, it's one of the things that killed him. It really is. Something happened right then.
Does having a wife and kids change your life? Yes. but only in the best way. It gives you weight and authority. It also makes you closer to the audience because the audience is married and has kids. People without kids know nothing about kids. Jokes about your kids are always better than jokes about your brother's kids. Married guys know more about women than single guys. Single guys have girlfriends. Girlfriends are always auditioning, always on their best behavior. Wives are like Supreme Court justices - they do whatever the fuck they want.
[hosting the 2005 Academy Awards] Black movies don't have real names. They get names Iike 'Barbershop'. That's not a name. That's just a location. Barbershop. Cookout. Car Wash. You know, Laundromat's coming soon. And after that, Check-Cashing Place.
I probably, I might be the only black comedian in the country who hasn't gay-bashed. Ever. Like ever, ever!
to the black students: you are black when you're black and in show business if you're not making history you're not making anything you're really not, your making history at every step every forward movement is history everything Eddie Murphy did was history the stuff Will Smith is doing right now is history I have been blessed with opportunities to do things that men so much better than me and so much smarter than me that never got the chance to do, to everybody else, show business is a hard job if it was easy everybody would be doing it and no one is entitled to any of it I'm a pee on to what David Geffen can do or Jeffrey Katzenberg can do, when you're in show business Spielberg, Geffen, Bruckheimer and maybe four other people everybody's else is auditioning for the rest of their lives, I am auditioning I got a movie coming out right now and when that movie comes out I am officially unemployed and it don't mean nothing until I got something else coming out
[on hosting the Oscars] I didn't want to do it at first, they offered it to me a few times. I thought the risk was too big next to the rewards, but it was a conscious decision to have a big year. I also wanted to get some offers and stop writing movies, we ended up getting a high rating and it was fast show. There's no more pressure in show business than that first seven minutes of monologue, that is it, your whole life is on the line.
Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna's panties. I wasn't invited. [on Jada Pinkett Smith's refusal to attend the 88th Academy Awards / Dolby Theatre, February 28, 2016]
Dr. King and those guys were amazing. But they knew nothing about money. They didn't ask for anything. At the end of the day, the things we got - it was just, hey, can you guys be humane? All we got was, like, humanity. If they had it to do all over again, in hindsight, there would be some attention paid to the financial disparity of all the years of - let's not even count slavery, let's just count Jim Crow
[on his notorious exchange with Will Smith] Anyone who says 'words hurt' has never been punched in the face.
Salary (3)
| Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) | $600 |
| New Jack City (1991) | $11,000 |
| Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) | $2,000,000 |
