Career Highlights: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Transformers, Las Vegas: Season 04
First Major Screen Credit: The Picture of Dorian Gray (2002)
Biography
Possessing the sort of ironclad genetics that virtually ensure a career on daytime television if all else fails, actor Josh Duhamel, not surprisingly, earned his breakthrough feature role playing the eponymous lusted-after Hollywood hunk in the 2004 romantic comedy Win a Date With Tad Hamilton! Though subpar grades may have kept the aspiring cavity warrior from pursuing his childhood dreams of earning his keep as a dentist, a move to the West Coast eventually found Duhamel embarking on a career as a fashion model. It didn't take long for the photogenic cover boy to make the leap from still life to moving pictures, and in 1999, the fledgling actor made his small-screen debut in the long-running daytime drama All My Children. Having just come off his role as the titular character in 2002's The Picture of Dorian Gray, Duhamel found the ideal platform on which to to hone his skills with the popular soap opera. Further schooling was no doubt provided when Duhamel appeared opposite Hollywood heavy James Caan in the 2003 television series Las Vegas -- in which he was cast as casino surveillance head "Big Ed" Deline's (Caan) eager young protégé -- and in 2004, Duhamel returned to the big screen in Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! Starring roles in Turistas (2006) and Transformers (2007) soon followed. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Duhamel was born in Minot, North Dakota, the son of Bonnie L., a physical education teacher, and Larry David Duhamel, an advertising salesman.[1][2] His parents divorced during his youth, and although he remains close to both, he grew up with his mother[3] and his younger sisters Ashlee, Mckenzee and Kassidy. Duhamel attended Minot State University and played quarterback for the university's football team.[3] He planned to attend dental school[4] but dropped out one-and-a-half credits shy of his undergraduate degree.[5]
Career
Duhamel has stated, "After college, I followed an ex-girlfriend to northern California, did a bunch of odd jobs." Duhamel had won the title of Male Model of the Year in an IMTA (International Modeling and Talent Association) modeling competition in 1997[6] (the first runner-up was actor Ashton Kutcher).[7]
In 2003, Duhamel landed a prime time role on the NBC show Las Vegas, playing Montecito Casino security agent, Danny McCoy. He succeeded James Caan as president of the Montecito after Caan departed at the end of the fourth season. The series was cancelled in 2008.
Duhamel met, and began dating, Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson in September 2004.[12] Ferguson, a singer for the hip hop group The Black Eyed Peas, appeared on Duhamel's show Las Vegas with her band in an episode titled "Montecito Lancers" (which aired on November 1, 2004). The couple wed on January 10, 2009 at the Church Estates Vineyards in Malibu, California.[13] Duhamel and Ferguson reside in Brentwood, California in a house that they purchased together in 2007.[14][15] In 2005, Duhamel became the co-owner of 10 North Main, a restaurant located in the downtown section of Minot, North Dakota, which features dishes such as elk and pheasant.[16][17]