John Leguizamo

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John Leguizamo
Leguizamo, November 2008
Born	John Alberto Leguizamo July 22, 1964 (1964-07-22) (age 44) Bogotá, Colombia
Other name(s)	Johnny Legs
Occupation	Actor, comedian, voice actor, producer
Years active	1984–present
Spouse(s)	Justine Maurer (2003-present) 2 children

John Alberto Leguizamo (born July 22, 1964) is a Colombian-American comedian, actor, voice actor and producer.

Biography

Early life

Leguizamo was born in Bogotá, to a Puerto Rican father, Alberto, and a Colombian mother, Luz Leguizamo.^[1] According to Leguizamo, his paternal grandfather was of Italian descent^[2] and his maternal grandfather was Lebanese.^[3] He has also described himself as being of Amerindian and Mestizo heritage.^[4] Leguizamo's father was once an aspiring film director and studied at Cinecittà but eventually dropped out due to lack of finances.^[5] When Leguizamo was three years old, his family immigrated to the United States^[6] and lived in various neighborhoods of Queens in New York City, including Jackson Heights, Queens.^[7][8] Leguizamo attended the Joseph Pulitzer Middle School (I.S.145) and later the Murry Bergtraum High School. As a student at Murry Bergtraum High School, Leguizamo wrote comedy material and tested it out on his classmates. He was voted "Most Talkative" by his fellow classmates. After graduating from high school, Leguizamo enrolled at Long Island University C.W. Post Campus where he took theater classes.

Career

Leguizamo started out as a stand-up comic doing the New York nightclub circuit. In 1984, he made his T.V. debut with a small part in Miami Vice. His other early roles include: an extra in Madonna's Borderline video (1984), as a friend of Madonna's boyfriend; Mixed Blood (1985); Casualties of War (1989); Die Hard 2 (1990); Hangin' with the Homeboys (1991); the robber in Regarding Henry (1991) and Night Owl (a.k.a. Nite Owl) (1993), which was filmed from 1991-1992. In 1991, he also wrote and took part in the Off-Broadway production Mambo Mouth, where he played seven different characters. Mambo Mouth won an Obie Award and an Outer Critics Award. He was listed as one of 12 "Promising New Actors of 1991" in "John Willis' Screen Worlds Vol. 43".

In 1993, Leguizamo wrote and participated in Spic-O-Rama, where he made fun of the stereotyping of Latinos in the United States. The production won a Drama Desk Award and four Cable ACE Awards. (His 1998 show Freak won him the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show.) Leguizamo also played the role of Luigi in the 1993 movie production Super Mario Brothers, starting his acting career in Hollywood (which was considered a bad start since it was a critical and financial failure and heavily disliked by Leguizamo himself, but it at least boost his career to appear in more successful films the following years). Leguizamo also created, executive produced, wrote for, and starred in the 1995 Latino-oriented variety show called "House of Buggin'". The show showcased Leguizamo's well-known ability to assume a wide variety of colorful, energetic characters. The show ran less than a year on Fox. Other movies included Carlito's Way (1993) as Benny Blanco alongside Al Pacino, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995) as Chi Chi Rodriguez, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Film, Romeo + Juliet (1996) as Tybalt, Prince of Cats, The Fan (1996) as Manny, Executive Decision (1996) as Captain Rat, The Pest in 1997, as con man Pestario "Pest" Vargas, Doctor Dolittle (1998) as Rat #2, Summer of Sam (1999) as Vinny, and Moulin Rouge! (2001) as Toulouse Lautrec.

In 2000, Leguizamo played two genies in the Emmy Award winning miniseries Arabian Nights. Leguizamo has participated in over 53 films, including The Alibi, where he played the role of "Hannibal". In 1998, he debuted on Broadway in the production of Freak, which was also turned into an HBO film by director Spike Lee. Leguizamo has produced 10 films, including Piñero and made 13 TV guest appearances. In 2000, he wrote and participated in Freak, which was basically about his whole life experience with his family, how he had a troubled family, and a messed up life. He voiced Sid the sloth for 2002's Ice Age and has done so in both Ice Age 2: the Meltdown and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. In 2003, he wrote and participated in Sexaholix which basically explained his love life, and how he started a family. Later in 2003, he voice-acted Globox from Rayman 3. The game versions with his voice acting were PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, PC, and Mac.

To promote the 2001 movie Moulin Rouge! that starred Leguizamo as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, he appeared on a celebrity edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? with Kelly Ripa, Kevin Sorbo, Alfre Woodard, Martin Short and Chevy Chase. He appeared as the first celebrity to sit in the hot seat. He made it to $64,000 without using any of his lifelines. He then went for $125,000 (which was Who was the first official U.S. poet laureate? A: Richard Wilbur, B: Robert Frost, C: Robert Penn Warren, D: Joseph Brodsky and used the Phone-a-Friend (who didn't know) and the Ask the Audience. His original thought was the right answer but went with the audience's answer which was Robert Frost. He got the answer wrong losing $32,000 giving his charity $32,000. Later in 2002, on the syndicated version, a question about the movie featured his character and Meredith Vieira mentioned that Leguizamo had played the character.

During the 2005-2006 television season, Leguizamo joined the cast of the show ER, playing the emotionally disturbed Dr. Victor Clemente, a new attending who is keen on introducing the staff of County General to better ways of treating patients and cutting-edge technology. Clemente, however, was plagued with personal problems and was fired from the hospital near the end of the season. Dr. Clemente's departure from the show was a blessing for Leguizamo. He revealed to CraveOnline that he was not happy working on the television program. "I was depressed doing ER," he admitted, "I started gaining weight, I was eating donuts, I started smoking again. I’m eating McDonalds, things that I know when I’m depressed I do. I tried to kill myself internally."^[9]

Edison was a 2006 CBS television pilot about an L.A. detective (John Leguizamo) who relies on impersonations and disguises to solve crimes. Other cast members were Currie Graham and Deidrie Henry, which Kevin Rodney Sullivan is directing from a script by Ron Milbauer and Terri Hughes. Leguizamo and David Hoberman also serve as executive producers.

In October 2006, Leguizamo's memoir, Pimps, Hos, Playa Hatas and All the Rest of My Hollywood Friends: My Life, was released. During an interview on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Leguizamo stated that his memoir was very frank about odd experiences involving other celebrities and co-stars he had worked with. He claimed that working with Arnold Schwarzenegger was one of the most enjoyable experiences he had as an actor. He also said that Arnold's accent let him say things that others would think were sexist or homophobic if said by someone else, that Steven Seagal was an egotist with diva tendencies, and that Leonardo DiCaprio was a "patron of prostitutes."^[10]

In July 2007, Spike TV aired their dramatized series The Kill Point, starring Leguizamo, Donnie Wahlberg and Michael Hyatt. The show was an eight part series revolving around ex war veterans whose bank robbery went wrong, thus ending in a hostage situation. Despite high ratings, The Kill Point was not renewed for a second season.

Personal life

Leguizamo married Justine Maurer in 2003. They have two children, daughter Allegra Sky (born 1999) and son Ryder Lee (born 2000), and live in Venice, California. Commonly referred to, in and around Hollywood circles, as "Johnny Legs". Leguizamo is a practicing Roman Catholic and very close friends with Rosie Perez.

Filmography

• Mixed Blood (1985)
• Casualties of War (1989)
• Street Hunter (1990)
• Revenge (1990)
• Die Hard 2: Die Harder (1990)
• Hangin' with the Homeboys (1991)
• Regarding Henry (1991)
• Poison (film) (1991)
• Whispers in the Dark (1992)
• Night Owl (a.k.a. "Nite Owl") (1993)
• Super Mario Bros. (1993)
• Carlito's Way (1993)
• To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995) (Nomination: Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture)
• A Pyromaniac's Love Story (1995)
• Executive Decision (1996)
• The Fan (1996)
• Romeo + Juliet (1996)
• A Brother's Kiss (1997)
• Spawn (1997)
• The Pest (1997)
• Freak (1998)
• Dr. Dolittle (1998)
• Frogs For Snakes (1998)
• Summer of Sam (1999)
• King of the Jungle (2000)
• Titan A.E. (2000) (voice)
• Arabian Nights (2000) (TV)
• What's The Worst That Could Happen? (2001)
• Moulin Rouge! (2001)
• Spun (2002)
• Empire (2002)
• Point of Origin (2002) (HBO film)
• Collateral Damage (2002)
• Ice Age (2002) (voice)
• Undefeated (2003) (HBO film)
• Sexaholics (2003)
• Crónicas (2004)
• Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)
• The Honeymooners (2005)
• Land of the Dead (2005)
• Sueño (2005)
• ER (2005) (TV series)
• The Alibi (2006)
• Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006) (voice)
• The Groomsmen (2006)
• My Name Is Earl (2006) (TV series)
• The Kill Point (2007) (TV series)
• The Babysitters (2007)
• Love in the Time of Cholera (2007)
• Where God Left His Shoes (2007)
• The Take (2008)
• Paraiso Travel (2008)
• The Happening (2008)
• Righteous Kill (2008)
• Miracle at St. Anna (2008)
• Nothing Like the Holidays (2008)
• Surviving Sid (2008) (voice)
• Rage (2009)
• Gamer (2009)
• The Ministers (2009)
• Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) (voice)

References

See also

Puerto Rico portal

Colombia portal

• List of famous Puerto Ricans
• Colombian American

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: John Leguizamo

• John Leguizamo at the Internet Movie Database
• "Official Broadway Site" Website for the 2008 Broadway Production of American Buffalo starring John Leguizamo, Cedric the Entertainer, and Haley Joel Osment.
• / Q&A Sessions: John Leguizamo on The Happening [nocheLatina.com]