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Christopher Tucker (born August 31, 1972) is an American actor and comedian most widely known for his roles as Smokey in Friday and James Carter in the Rush Hour trilogy.

Biography

Early life

Chris Tucker was born in Atlanta, Georgia the son of Mary, who was involved in church work, and Norris Tucker, who owned a janitorial service.²³ Tucker was raised in Decatur, Georgia.

After graduating from Columbia High School,¹ he moved to Los Angeles in order to pursue a career in comedy and movies.

Career

Tucker's first major movie role was alongside rapper Ice Cube in the 1995 film Friday. He also starred with Charlie Sheen in 1997's Money Talks and alongside Bruce Willis in The Fifth Element in the same year. He later starred in the 1998 martial arts action comedy Rush Hour and its sequels, Rush Hour 2 and Rush Hour 3, in which he played James Carter, an abrasive, wise-cracking detective. Realizing the success of the first Rush Hour film, Tucker held out from studio bosses until they paid his price tag of $20 million for Rush Hour 2;⁴ the film became an enormous success. The other star, Jackie Chan, received $15 million and gross points.

Tucker's last two films were Rush Hour and its sequel. His latest appearance was the third film in the franchise, which was released on August 10, 2007. Despite a flurry at the start of his career, he has only made three film appearances since 1998, all as Detective James Carter. Tucker's career trajectory is unusual in that, while he has made such a relatively small number of films, he has already become a member of the unofficial "20 million per film" club, joining such actors as Brad Pitt, Denzel Washington, Tom Cruise and Will Smith. Tucker signed a two movie contract with New Line Cinema for 40 million dollars to star in Rush Hour 3 and another unnamed film. He is also to receive 20% of the gross against his salary from the 3rd Rush Hour film.⁵

Tucker continues to perform stand-up comedy. He also appears occasionally at charity concerts and functions and is dedicated to helping bring attention to African poverty and hunger issues in the U.S.

Personal life

Tucker is real life friends with fellow star Jackie Chan, as well as singer Michael Jackson, and appeared in Jackson's video "You Rock My World" (2001) and on the intro of the track on the album Invincible. He also appeared at the beginning of the music video for "California Love" by Tupac Shakur. A friend of Bill Clinton, Tucker has travelled with the former President overseas, though he endorsed Barack Obama rather than Hillary Clinton in the 2008 primaries.⁶⁷

He also has a son named Destin Christopher Tucker, who was born in 2000 and lives with his mother in Los Angeles. He currently resides in the luxury community of Bella Colina in Montverde, FL, located west of Orlando. He also lives in a gated community in Tarzana, California where he raises his children.

A PBS documentary on the genetic makeup of African Americans shows Tucker is of African American, European American, and Native American descent.⁸

Through DNA tests (as aired on the 2006 PBS documentary African American Lives), his paternal ancestry was traced back to the Mbundu ethnic group of Angola and his mother's to Cameroon;⁹¹⁰¹¹ Tucker has also managed to trace his family tree back to the 1830s.¹² Tucker traveled to Angola and Cameroon, the birthplace of his ancestors, with the program's host, Henry Louis Gates.¹³

Filmography

References

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Chris Tucker

External links

• Chris Tucker at the Internet Movie Database
• Chris Tucker Official Site