30 Lesser Known Facts Every Fan Should Know About Chris Rock

Christopher Julius Rock III, the American comedian and an actor, as voted the fifth-greatest stand-up comedian in a poll conducted by Comedy Central. Here are some interesting facts about the comedian:

1. Rock is a famous comedian, actor, writer, producer and director who mainly deal with family, class relationship and race relations in United States.
2. He is one of the most acclaimed comedians and was listed by comedy central as the fifth greatest stand-up comedian of all time.
3. He is also known for his notorious and controversial remarks. On July 07, 2007, at the London Live Erath concert he was taken off after he called the audience ‘motherfuckers’ and ‘shit.’
4. He is named after his father, Christopher Julius Rock II, a truck driver and a newspaper deliveryman. His mother Rosalie Rock was a teacher and social worker.
5. He was born on February 07, 1965 in Andrews, South Carolina and has three younger brothers, who all follow the same profession.
6. As he was bullied and beaten, he dropped out of James Madison High School of Brooklyn and qualified through General Education Development program.
7. Based on his real life experience, Rock produced a Television series ‘Everybody Hates Rock’ in 2005. The first episode to have the highest rating for a comedy premiere in UPN.
8. Rock is a vocal critic of everyday racism and had admitted it in a talk show. In 2013 when he was pulled over by the police for speeding along with Seinfeld, he said ‘If you weren’t here, I’d be scared. I’m famous –still black.’
9. He started his career as stand-up comedian at the New York comedy club, ‘Catch a Rising Star’ in 1984. The club is known to have shared their platform with famous comedians and singer at the start of their career.
10. He got his first role on the big screen, when Eddie Murphy cast him in his film ‘Beverly Hill Cop II’ in 1987, as parking valet. Although he appeared in the earlier film ‘Krush Groove’ in 1985, it was uncredited.
    
11. He was one of the few new cast members introduced in the most popular sketch comedy series ‘Saturday Night Live’ in 1990, to revive it.
12. In 1993, he wrote and starred in the movie ‘CB4,’ named after ‘Cell Block 4’ in prison where the group was formed. The film grossed a total of $ 18million against its $ 6 million budget.
13. The HBO television special ‘Bring the Pain,’ premiered on June 01, 1996, made Rock one of the most popular comedian in the United States. The ‘Entertainment Weekly’ called it groundbreaking and classic.
14. Rock created a comedy talk show ‘The Chris Rock Show’ on HBO, which featured celebrities and politicians, for five seasons.
15. In 1999, he won three ‘Emmy’ awards and 15 nominations for Outstanding Writing for a Variety or Music Program for his television works.
16. His success as a stand-up artist helped him in a big way to get film offers. He started off as supporting actor increasingly worked behind the camera, both as writer and as a director.
17. He made his directorial debut with the 2003 film ‘Head of State,’ for which he wrote the screenplay and also starred. He got the idea from 1984 U.S Election.
18. He directed the film ‘I think I Love My Wife’ after he was advised by Steven Spielberg to direct his own films. He starred and wrote the screenplay for the film along with Louis C.K.
19. He has lent his voice for the popular animated film ‘Madagascar’ series, as Marty the Zebra and has also released his first documentary, ‘Good Hair’ in 2009.
20. In 2009, he produced a documentary film ‘Good Hair’to focus on the issue of African-American’s perception of their hair. He was inspired to make the movie when his three year old daughter asked, how come I don’t have good hair.
    
21. He has the rare distinction of being in two movies that released on the same day in May 27, 2005, in the United States. The movie ‘Longest Yard’ and ‘Madagascar,’ both stayed at the top two spots at the box office.
22. In 2012 he starred in the film ‘2 Days in New York’ written and directed by Julie Delpy. The role of Mingus, played by Rock was specifically written for him.
23. The 2002 film ‘Bad Company’ an adventure comedy in which Rock plays the character Jack Hayes, a CIA agent is the last movie everfilmed inside the former World Trade Centre. It was originally slotted to be released in 2001.
24. On October 21, 2015, Rock hosted the ’88 Academy Awards’ in which no racial minorities were nominated in any of the categories. He turned down the call for ceremony boycott and spoke of his concern for lack of diversity in AMPAS, with a closing remarks’ Black Lives Matter.’
25. Rock has two daughters Lola Simone and Zahra Savannah out of his marriage with Malaak Compton. The couples were married 1996 and divorced in 2016.
26. He is believed to be descended of Udeme people of northern Cameroon and his great-great-grandfather had taken part in the American Civil War.
27. The idea for the film ‘Top Five’ which was written and directed by Rock was conceived after his friend Kevin Smith, married a journalist. He wrote the screenplay in his trailer during the filming of ‘Grown Ups 2.
28. He has directed music video and also appeared in several videos like ‘Red Hot Chili Peppers’ song ‘Hump de Bump.’
29. He has published a book titled ‘Rock This.’ The national bestseller which deals with everything American and makes you think.
30. He held the world record for having the largest audience of 15,900 people for his performance in London in May 2008 before that was broken in by Mario Barth in July 2008.
    
31. Chris Rock Net Worth: Rock has been a fixture of American culture ever since his debut in the early 90’s. His net worth as of 2017 is $75 million.