Chris Rock

Christopher Julius Rock III (born February 7, 1965) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, television producer, film producer and director.

<p>Rock was born in Andrews, South Carolina. Shortly after his birth, his parents moved to Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York. A few years later, they relocated and settled in the working-class area of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.</p> <p>His mother, Rosalie, was a teacher and social worker with the mentally handicapped; his father, Julius Rock, was a former truck driver and newspaper deliveryman. Both his parents are Christian. Julius died in 1988 after ulcer surgery.</p>

Rock has five younger siblings, Andre, Tony, Brian, Kenny, Andi, and a half-sibling, Jordan. His brothers Tony and Kenny are also in the entertainment business. Rock has said that he was influenced by the performing style of his paternal grandfather, Allen Rock, a preacher.

Rock's subject matter typically involves family, politics, romance, music, class relationships, and race relations in the United States. Though not strictly autobiographical, much of his comic standpoint seem rooted in his teenage experience; his strict parents, concerned about the inadequacies of the local school system, arranged to have the adolescent Rock bused to a nearly all-white high school in Bensonhurst. In his memoir "Rock This," the comedian recalls, "My parents assumed I'd get a better education in a better neighborhood. What I actually got was a worse education in a worse neighborhood. And a whole bunch of ass-whippings." The discontinuity between expectation and experience—between what you arrive expecting and what you leave understanding—is one basis of Rock's comic style, and seems to have come to him young.

Rock began doing stand-up comedy in 1985 in New York City's Catch a Rising Star. Rock's first music video was for his song "Your Mother's Got a Big Head" from his album Born Suspect. Rock also made videos for his songs "Champagne" from Roll With the New and "No Sex (In the Champagne Room)" from Bigger & Blacker. Chris Rock also directed and appeared in the music video for the Red Hot Chili Peppers song "Hump de Bump". Rock appeared in the Big Daddy Kane music video "Smooth Operator" as a guy getting his hair cut. He also appeared in Johnny Cash's "God's Gonna Cut You Down", one of the many celebrities seen lip-synching the song.

At the London Live Earth concert on July 7, 2007, which was broadcast live on the BBC. Before introducing the Red Hot Chili Peppers Rock called the crowd "motherfuckers". Due to the broadcast being at 5:45pm Rock was immediately cut off, and the BBC made several apologies for his use of the word "motherfucker".

Rock has been married to Malaak Compton since November 23, 1996. She is the founder and executive director of StyleWorks, a non-profit, full-service salon that provides free services for women leaving welfare and entering the workforce. They have 2 daughters together, Lola Simone, born June 28 2002 and Zahra Savannah born 22 May 2004. Chris Rock has one son from his first marriage, Nazeeri Jafar (born February 8, 1984).

In November 2006, the entertainment news website TMZ.com reported that Rock was filing for divorce after nearly ten years of marriage to Malaak. Two weeks later, however, TMZ reported that Rock had not filed divorce papers, and that it appeared that the couple had been able to work out their differences and stay together. In response to the reports, Rock released a statement to the press denouncing them as "untrue rumors and lies".

In 2007, freelance journalist and former actress Kali Bowyer filed a paternity suit against Chris Rock, claiming he was the father of her son, and in need of hospitalization. DNA testing proved that Rock was not the child's father.

Rock currently resides in Alpine, New Jersey. On his UK tour, Chris stated, "I live in New Jersey and My house is worth $3 million" USD, and that Mary J Blige, Jay-Z and Denzel Washington all live in his neighborhood.

In 2008 Rock's family history was profiled on the PBS series African American Lives 2. A DNA test shows that he is descended from the Udeme people of northern Cameroon.