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Actor and comedian Chris Tucker came to fame playing Detective James Carter in the Rush Hour film series.
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Play NowChris Tucker. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 11:49, May 18, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/chris-tucker-21129749.
Chris Tucker. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/chris-tucker-21129749 [Accessed 18 May 2013].
"Chris Tucker." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 18 2013, 11:49 http://www.biography.com/people/chris-tucker-21129749.
"Chris Tucker," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/chris-tucker-21129749 [accessed May 18, 2013].
"Chris Tucker," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/chris-tucker-21129749 (accessed May 18, 2013).
Chris Tucker [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 18] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/chris-tucker-21129749.
Chris Tucker, http://www.biography.com/people/chris-tucker-21129749 (last visited May 18, 2013).
Chris Tucker. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/chris-tucker-21129749. Accessed May 18, 2013.
Synopsis
Chris Tucker was born in Decatur, Georgia, in 1972. He first made a name for himself with his regular standup performances on Def Comedy Jam. After a string of smaller film roles, Tucker vaulted to fame and wealth with the Rush Hour series, starring alongside Jackie Chan. In 2012, after a five-year hiatus, he returned to the big screen in Silver Linings Playbook.
Quotes
"Making people laugh is giving, and it's healing, too, when people can go up to the movies and forget about their problems. It's a good thing. That's why I want to work."
Early Years
The youngest son of Mary Louise and Norris Tucker, Christopher Tucker was born on August 31, 1972, in Decatur, Georgia. One of six children, Tucker learned early on the power of humor to draw attention to himself both at home and at school.
Tucker's father ran a janitorial business, and to earn money during high school, Tucker worked for his dad at a local Burger King. As he mopped bathroom floors, Tucker had big dreams for himself.
Following his high school graduation, Tucker, who'd already begun dabbling in stand-up comedy, moved to Los Angeles. "I moved at an early age because I figured I'd have nothing to lose, and if it didn't work out I could just move back," he later explained.
The long hours that Tucker put into carving out a name for himself at various L.A. comedy clubs soon paid off: He began making regular standup spots on Def Comedy Jam, and that role led to several appearances on the ABC sitcom Hangin' With Mr. Cooper. He made his film debut in 1994 with a bit role in House Party 3.
Commercial Success
Chris Tucker's big break came in 1995, when he landed a small role as Smokey, a talkative pothead, in the film Friday, starring Ice Cube. The movie delivered big box office returns and put the young Tucker on the radar screen of its fans. In 1997, Tucker's fame took another big leap with his role as Ruby Rhod in The Fifth Element, a science-fiction thriller starring Bruce Willis. That same year, he played Beaumont Livingston in the Quentin Tarantino-directed Jackie Brown.
But it was Tucker's role as Detective James Carter in the cop-comedy blockbuser Rush Hour (1998), alongside Jackie Chan, that propelled him to A-list celebrity status. Over the next decade, two sequels were made and released. For Rush Hour 3 (2007), Tucker negotiated an astounding $25 million contract, the highest base salary in film history. But while previous installments of the Rush Hour series had delivered a combined box office take of more than $600 million, Rush Hour 3—reportedly costing more than $140 million to make—failed to deliver like its predecessors.
Fall and Rise
Rush Hour 3's disappointment forced Tucker to re-evaluate his career and movie choices. Offers came, but Tucker turned them down. It was a full five years before Tucker would appear on the big screen again.
"The break wasn't planned—it just happened that way," Tucker told The New York Times in 2012. "I waited a long time and the right things weren't coming to me—the roles I was offered weren't that challenging—so I started trying to develop a bunch of projects for myself."
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