Christopher Julius Rock (born February 7, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and filmmaker. Known for his work in comic film, television and stage, he has received multiple accolades, including three Grammy Awards for best comedy album and four Primetime Emmy Awards as well as a Golden Globe Award nomination. He was ranked No. 5 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time. He also ranked No. 5 on Rolling Stone's list of the 50 Best Stand-Up Comics of All Time. After years working as a stand-up comedian and appearing in minor film roles including Beverly Hills Cop II, Rock gained prominence as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1990 to 1993. While at SNL, he appeared in the films New Jack City, Boomerang and CB4, which he also wrote and produced. He reached mainstream stardom with the critically acclaimed Bring the Pain in 1996, the second of his five HBO comedy specials. His other HBO comedy specials include Bigger & Blacker (1999), Never Scared (2004), Kill the Messenger (2008), and Chris Rock: Tamborine (2018). He developed, wrote, produced and narrated the sitcom Everybody Hates Chris (2005-2009), which was based on his early life. From 1997 to 2000 HBO aired his talk show, The Chris Rock Show, which gained critical acclaim for Rock's interviews with celebrities and politicians. Rock was cast in starring film roles in Nurse Betty (1999), Down to Earth, Pootie Tang (both 2001), Head of State (2003), The Longest Yard (2005), the Madagascar film series (2005–2012), I Think I Love My Wife (2007), Death at a Funeral (2010), Grown Ups (2010), its sequel Grown Ups 2 (2013), Top Five (2014) and Spiral (2021). He is known for his appearances in television including Louie, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Fargo. He made his Broadway theater debut in the 2011 Stephen Adly Guirgis play The Motherfucker with the Hat for which he received Drama League Award for Most Distinguished Performance. He hosted the Academy Awards twice; in 2005 and 2016, and was involved in an incident on stage at the 2022 Awards.