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Chris Tucker extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Chris Tucker
Chris Tucker, April 19, 2005
Birth name	Christopher Tucker
Born	August 31, 1971 (1971-08-31) (age 38) Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Years active	1988–present
Genres	Comedy
Influences	Martin Lawrence
Influenced	Dave Chappelle
Website	http://www.christucker.com/

Christopher "Chris" Tucker (born August 31, 1971)¹ is an American actor and comedian, best known for his roles as Smokey in the 1995 film Friday and Detective James Carter in the Rush Hour trilogy.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Personal life 4 Filmography 5 References 6 External links

Early life

Tucker was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Mary Louise (née Bryant) and Norris Tucker.¹ His mother was closely involved in church work, and his father was an independent businessman who owned a janitorial service.²³ Tucker was raised in Decatur, Georgia.

After graduating from Columbia High School, Tucker moved to Los Angeles 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 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.

Despite a flurry of films at the start of his career, Tucker has only made three 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 did not reprise his role of Smokey in Next Friday (2000) because he had become a born-again Christian after filming Money Talks (1997). He chose to do the Rush Hour series instead. He also starred in Michael Jackson's video "You Rock My World." On February 13, 2009, Tucker participated in the NBA All-Star Weekend's Celebrity Game. Other celebrities participating include rapper Master P, NBA Hall of Famer's Clyde Drexler, Dominique Wilkins, wide receiver Terrell Owens, and four Harlem Globetrotters.

Tucker is starring in an upcoming drama film Mr. S: My Life with Frank Sinatra, directed by Brett Ratner, who directed all three Rush Hour films. This will be the first time Tucker has starred outside the Rush Hour series since The Fifth Element in 1997.

Personal life

Chris has a son named Destin Christopher Tucker, who was born in 2000 and lives with his mother in Los Angeles. He owns homes in the luxury community of Bella Colina in Montverde, Florida, located west of Orlando, as well as in a gated community in Tarzana, California, where he raises his children.

Tucker is friends with fellow Rush Hour star Jackie Chan, and was also close friends with the late singer Michael Jackson, introducing and dancing with him at his 30th Anniversary Special, appearing in Jackson's video "You Rock My World" from his 2001 album Invincible as well attending Jackson's memorial service. 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

Tucker participated in a PBS documentary on the genetic makeup of African Americans. He found he has African American, European American, and Native American ancestry.⁸ Through DNA tests (as aired on the 2006 PBS documentary African American Lives), Tucker's paternal ancestry was traced back to the Mbundu ethnic group of Angola and one line of his mother's to the Bamileke of Cameroon.⁹¹⁰¹¹ He also managed to trace his family tree back to the 1830s.¹² Tucker was shown traveling to Angola, the birthplace of his ancestors, with the program's host Henry Louis Gates.¹³

Filmography

Films

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1994	House Party 3	Johnny Booze
1995	Friday	Smokey	Starring role
	Panther	Bodyguard
	Dead Presidents	Skip	Supporting role
1997	Money Talks	Franklin Hatchett	Starring role
	Jackie Brown	Beaumont Livingston	Supporting role
	The Fifth Element	Ruby Rhod	Supporting role
1998	Rush Hour	Detective James Carter	Starring role
2001	Rush Hour 2	Detective James Carter	Starring role
2007	Rush Hour 3	Detective James Carter	Starring role
2009	Mr. S: My Life with Frank Sinatra	George Jacobs

Television

Year	Series	Role	Episodes
1988	The Roseanne Show	Himself	1
1992	Hangin' with Mr. Cooper	Rapper	1
2001	Diary	Himself	1
2006	African American Lives	Himself	4

References

External links

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