Chris Rock was making fun his profession by his late teens. He grew up in New York and started performing on the stand-up comedy circuit there. One night while on stage at the New York Comedy Strip, Rock was introduced to veteran comedian Eddie Murphy. Murphy was impressed and cast Rock in ‘Beverly Hills Cop II’.
The part was not a moment of immediate fame for Rock, but his connection with Eddie Murphy landed him some supporting roles. Eventually he worked his way on to the cast of NBC’s ‘Saturday Night Live’ where he stayed for three years.
In a break from comedy, Rock played a rather innocent crack addict and police informant in ‘New Jack City’, directed by Mario Van Peebles. Rock’s performance was well received and showed a more thoughtful, politically concerned character behind the funny man.
Though he remains a comic, Rock’s scripts confront the tensions and politics of modern American society, especially among the African-American communities. Rock’s big success came with the caustic TV special ‘Bring on the Pain’, for which he won two Emmy awards and a large fanclub. IN 1998 Rock got his own show on HBO, ‘The Chris Rock Show’.
The comic became popular with film casters in the late 90’s, acting in a clutch of films opposite big names such as Mel Gibson and Antony Hopkins. His career as an actor and scriptwriter continues upwards.