John Leguizamo

John Leguizamo
Leguizamo, November 2008
Born	John Alberto Leguizamo
Other names	Johnny Legs
Occupation(s)	Actor, comedian, voice actor, producer
Years active	1984–present
Spouse	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 Bogota, to a Puerto Rican father, Alberto, and a Colombian mother, Luz Leguizamo. According to Leguizamo, his paternal grandfather was of Italian descent and his maternal grandfather was Lebanese. He has also described himself as being of Amerindian and Mestizo heritage. Leguizamo's father was once an aspiring film director and studied at Cinecittà but eventually dropped out due to lack of finances. When Leguizamo was four years old, his family emigrated to the United States and lived in various neighborhoods of Queens in New York City, including Jackson Heights. 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.

Early 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.

Film

In 1993 Leguizamo was offered the lead part as Luigi in the film Super Mario Brothers. Although it started his acting career in Hollywood, it was universally considered a critical and financial failure, and was even heavily disliked by Leguizamo himself.

(In 2000, Leguizamo played two genies in the Emmy Award winning miniseries Arabian Nights.)

To promote the 2001 movie Moulin Rouge!, 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. Appearing as the first celebrity to sit in the hot seat, he eventually tried for $125,000, but got the answer wrong. (Later in 2002, on the syndicated version, a question about the movie featured his character and Meredith Vieira mentioned that Leguizamo had played Lautrec and had been on the show.)

In 2002 he voiced Sid the Sloth for the film Ice Age, eventually repeating it for the sequels Ice Age: The Meltdown and Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. In 2003, he voice-acted Globox from Rayman 3. The game versions of the films used his voice were used for PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, PC, and Mac.

Television

In 1995 Leguizamo was given the unique opportunity to create, executive produce, write, and star in the 1995 Latino-oriented variety show called House of Buggin' on Fox Television. The show showcased Leguizamo's well-known ability to assume a wide variety of colorful, energetic characters, but due to poor ratings the show ran less than one season.

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 McDonald's, things that I know when I’m depressed I do. I tried to kill myself internally."

In 2005 he guest starred on Dora the Explorer as Captain Pirate Piggy. In 2006 Leguizamo starred in the television pilot for Edison, a 2006 CBS drama about an Los Angeles detective (played by Leguizamo) who relied on impersonations and disguises to solve crimes. Other cast members included Currie Graham and Deidrie Henry. Kevin Rodney Sullivan directed from a script by Ron Milbauer and Terri Hughes. Leguizamo and David Hoberman also served as executive producers.

In July 2007, Spike TV aired their drama 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.

Broadway

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.

In 1998, he debuted on Broadway in the production of Freak, which was also turned into an HBO film by director Spike Lee. The show won him the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show.

In 2000, he co-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.

In 2003, he wrote and participated in Sexaholix which explained his love life and how he started his own family.

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.

Memoirs

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."

As of 2009 Leguizamo has produced over 10 films (including the film Piñero), starred or co-starred in over 75 films, starred on Broadway in several productions winning several awards, made over a dozen TV guest appearances and has helped produce or star in many other similar television shows.

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1985	Mixed Blood	Macetero	Film Debut
1989	Casualties of War	PFC. Antonio Diaz
1990	Street Hunter	Angel
	Gentille alouette	Ortiz
	Revenge	Ignacio, Amador's Cousin
	Die Hard 2	Burke
1991	Poison	Chanchi
	Hangin' with the Homeboys	Johnny
	Out for Justice	Boy in Alley
	Regarding Henry	Liquor Store Gunman
1992	Puerto Rican Mambo (Not A Musicial)	Guess my nationality guy
	Whispers in the Dark	John Castillo
	Time Expired	Ruby
1993	Night Owl	Angel
	Super Mario Bros.	Luigi Mario
	Carlito's Way	Benny Blanco
1995	A Pyromaniac's Love Story	Sergio
	To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything!	Chi-Chi	Nomination: Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
1996	Executive Decision	Captain Rat
	The Fan	Manny
	Romeo + Juliet	Tybalt
1997	The Pest	Pestario "Pest" Vargas
	A Brother's Kiss	Lefty
	Spawn	Clown/Violator
1998	Frogs for Snakes	Zip
	Body Count	Chino
	Dr. Dolittle	Rat #2
1999	Joe the King	Jorge
	Summer of Sam	Vinny
2000	Arabian Knights	Genie of the Lamp/Genie of the Ring	TV Movie
	Titan A.E.	Gune	Voice
	King of the Jungle	Seymour
2001	Moulin Rouge!	Toulouse-Lautrec
	What's the Worst That Could Happen?	Berger
2002	Empire	Victor Rosa
	Collateral Damage	Felix Ramirez
	ZigZag	Dean Singer
	Ice Age	Sid the Sloth	Voice
	Point of Origin	Keith Lang	TV Movie
	Spud	Spider Mike
2003	Undefeated	Lex Vargas
2004	Crónicas	Manolo Bonilla
2005	Assault on Precinct 13	Beck
	The Honeymooners	Dodge
	Land of the Dead	Cholo
	Sueño	Antonio
2006	A.K.A.	Sean Edison	TV Movie
	The Alibi	Hannibal
	Ice Age: The Meltdown	Sid the Sloth	Voice
	The Groomsmen	T.C.
2007	Where God Left His Shoes	Frank Diaz
	The Babysitters	Michael Beltran
	The Take	Felix De La Pena
	Love in the Time of Cholera	Lorenzo Daza
2008	Paraiso Travel	Roger Pena
	The Happening	Julian
	Miracle at St. Anna	Enrico
	Righteous Kill	Det. Simon Perez
	Nothing Like the Holidays	Mauricio Rodriguez
	Surviving Sid	Sid	Direct-to-Video
2009	The Ministers	Dante/Perfecto Mendoza
	Rage	Jed
	Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs	Sid the Sloth	Voice
	Gamer	Freek
	Celestina	Anibal	{pre-production)
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986-1989	Miami Vice	Angelo Alvarez	2 episodes
2000-2003	The Brothers Garcia	Narrator	5 episodes
2004	Dora the Explorer	Silly Mail Bird	1 episode
2005-2006	ER	Dr. Victor Clemente
2006	My Name Is Earl	Diego, Catalina's Uncle	2 episodes
2007	The Kill Point	Mr. Wolf	8 episodes
Broadway
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Mambo Mouth	Various
1993	Spic-O-Rama	Unknown role
1998	Freak	Himself
2003	Sexaholix	Himself
Video games
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc	Globox	Voice
2006	Ice Age 2: The Meltdown	Sid the Sloth	Voice
2009	Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs	Sid the Sloth	Voice

See also

• Colombian American
• List of famous Puerto Ricans

External links

• John Leguizamo at IMDb
• "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]