Rock made his directorial debut with “Head of State,” which opened #1 at the box office. Rock starred as an unlikely Washington, D.C. alderman chosen to be a presidential nominee, while Bernie Mac portrayed Rock’s older brother, who becomes his running mate.

In 2005, Rock starred in both “The Longest Yard,” with Adam Sandler, a remake of the 1974 classic, and the box office hit “Madagascar,” featuring the voices of Sacha Baron Cohen, Ben Stiller, Andy Richter, Jada Pinkett Smith and David Schwimmer.

This year, Rock reprised his role as director – as well as producer and star – with the romantic comedy he penned, “I Think I Love My Wife.” The film centers around a married man (Rock) who finds his will and morals tested when he’s visited by the ex-mistress of an old friend.

Previously, Rock starred in the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced “Bad Company,” opposite Anthony Hopkins; the romantic comedy “Down to Earth,” co-directed by Paul and Chris Weitz and co-written by Rock; and the dark comedy “Nurse Betty,” directed by Neil LaBute, in which Rock co-starred with Morgan Freeman and Renée Zellweger.

Rock’s feature film debut was in “Beverly Hills Cop II” with Eddie Murphy. He went on to write, create, star in and produce the 1993 rap comedy “CB4,” a satire of the world of hardcore rap, which opened #1 at the box office. Other film credits include “Boomerang,” with Eddie Murphy; “Panther,” a drama spotlighting the lives of the ‘60s activist group the Black Panthers, directed by Mario Van Peebles; “New Jack City,” with Wesley Snipes (a film marking Rock’s dramatic debut as a desperate crack addict); and “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka,” with Keenen Ivory Wayans. The summer of 1998 saw Rock co-star in two $100-million-plus grossing films: “Lethal Weapon 4” and “Dr. Dolittle.” Rock also starred in Kevin Smith’s “Dogma,” which also featured Ben Affleck, Salma Hayek and Matt Damon.

In September of 2005, “Everybody Hates Chris,” the Rock-inspired sitcom about a black kid in a mostly white school in 1980s Brooklyn, debuted on UPN. Since then, it has been named one of Entertainment Weekly’s “top new series,” making it the most-watched comedy in UPN’s history. Rock is the co-creator and narrator of the show. In 2006, the show earned both a Golden Globe nomination for Best Television Series Musical or Comedy and a Writers Guild Award nomination for Best New Series. Rock previously served as an executive producer of the hit sitcom “The Hughleys,” which aired on the UPN Network.

After gaining early success as a stand-up comedian, Rock joined the cast of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” in 1989. In 1993, Rock taped his first HBO special, “Chris Rock: Big Ass Jokes,” which was honored with a CableAce Award. Rock served as the sole 1996 presidential campaign correspondent for the acclaimed “Politically Incorrect,” then on Comedy Central, and received an Emmy nomination for a shared writing credit in the category of Outstanding Writing for a Variety or Music Program for the show.

Rock’s true emergence can be traced to his next HBO special, “Bring the Pain,” which was honored with two Emmy Awards for Best Writing and Outstanding Special in 1997. “Bring the Pain” was released as a home video, as well as a Grammy Award-winning CD.

Rock went on to host the acclaimed “Chris Rock Show,” which began airing on HBO in 1997. Rock and his popular talk show were honored with several Emmy nominations for writing and host and received an Emmy Award for Best Writing in 1999.

His next HBO stand-up special, “Bigger & Blacker,” taped on the stage of Harlem’s fabled Apollo Theatre, earned three Emmy nominations for Rock, while the CD went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Spoken or Comedy Album. Rock’s most recent HBO special, “Never Scared,” aired in April 2004 and was nominated for two Emmys, with its CD also earning the Grammy for Best Comedy Album.

In 2003, Rock embarked on his North American stand-up tour entitled the “Black Ambition Tour,” which ran in 64 cities with over 80 shows through March of 2004.

Rock hosted “The 77th Annual Academy Awards” in 2005, as well as the “MTV Video Music Awards” in 2003. Rock’s debut book, Rock This, spent time on both The New York Times and Wall Street Journal best seller lists.