Chris Rock's no-holds-barred approach to comedy -- and his extraordinary work ethic -- have earned him comparisons to Richard Pryor and George Carlin and made him one of the most successful stand-up acts in the world. Brooklyn-raised Rock got his start in New York nightclubs in the late 1980s. He became nationally known thanks to the television comedy shows Saturday Night Live (1989-92) and In Living Color (1993-94), as well as brief appearances in several movies during the '90s (including a dramatic role as a drug addict in the 1991 drama New Jack City). Frequent touring and HBO specials made Rock famous for edgy material on social and political issues, especially racism (Rock, an African-American, has been called an "equal opportunity offender"). A Grammy winner (for the 1999 album Bigger and Blacker and the 2004 album Never Scared), an Emmy winner (for 1997's Bring the Pain) and an author (Rock This in 1997), Chris Rock is also a bit of a movie star, with credits that include CB4 (1993), Bad Company (2001, with Anthony Hopkins) and Head of State (2003, which he also directed). Rock was chosen to host the 2005 Academy Awards show, following in the footsteps of Billy Crystal, Johnny Carson and Bob Hope. He was the executive producer and narrator for Everybody Hates Chris, a TV sitcom loosely based on his childhood years, which ran from 2005-09.

Extra credit: Rock dropped out of high school at age 17 to pursue comedy... The title Everybody Hates Chris was a goof on the name of the then-popular sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. Young Chris Rock was played by Tyler James Williams.