Chris Rock

Born: 7 February 1966, Where: Andrews, South Carolina, USA

The former stand-up and Eddie Murphy protege has gone on from playing a valet in Beverly Hills Cop II to the lead in Down To Earth.

The son of a truck driver and the eldest of seven children, he grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where he was president of the school chess team.

By his late teens he was performing as a stand-up and caught the eye of Hollywood star Eddie Murphy, who cast him in a minor role in Beverly Hills Cop II in 1987.

Rock also appeared on TV in the Uptown Comedy Express but it was Saturday Night Live that provided his big break when he lampooned Michael Jackson.

He also created comic characters like the militant talk show host Nat X and the rapper I'm Chillin.

In 1991, he impressed on the big screen as naive drug dealer Pookie in Mario Van Peebles' New Jack City.

Feeling stuck and pigeon-holed in only black roles, Rock left SNL in 1993 and made his first TV special - Big Ass Jokes - the following year.

He went on to executive produce, write and star in his second special - Chris Rock: Bring The Pain - in 1996, which won two Emmys.

On the big screen, he appeared in the derided Sgt Bilko but his stock rose with the voice of Rodney in Dr Dolittle and as a hotheaded detective in Lethal Weapon 4.

In 1999, he impressed as a cynical apostle of Jesus in Dogma and played a fantasy hitman alongside Renee Zellweger in Nurse Betty.

He contributed writing to 2001's supernatural comedy Down to Earth (which he also starred in) and provided the voice of a comedian in Spielberg's A.I. Artificial Intelligence.

Subsequent appearances include Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and Paparazzi as a pizza delivery man.

In 2005, he starred alongside Adam Sandler in the remake of the 1974 sports comedy The Longest Yard and provided the voice of Marty in Madagascar.