A vibrant, toothpick-thin comedian, actor and writer whose stand-up material has often dared to take on the African-American establishment yet found the universality in the American experience, Chris Rock became the favored comic de jour after distinguishing himself on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" from 1990-93. He later headlined two HBO specials and launched his own talk show "The Chris Rock Show" on HBO in 1997.

Born in South Carolina and raised in Brooklyn, Rock began performing in Manhattan comedy clubs as a teenager and was taken under the wings of such comics as Sam Kinison and Eddie