John Leguizamo

John Leguizamo
Leguizamo outside the Broadway production of American Buffalo, November 21, 2008
Birth name	Jonathan Alberto Leguizamo
Born	July 22, 1964 (1964-07-22) Bogotá, Colombia
Medium	Stand-up, film, television
Nationality	Colombian-American
Years active	1984–present
Genres	Improvisational comedy, character comedy, physical comedy, satire, observational comedy, musical comedy
Subject(s)	Latino American culture, childhood, self-deprecation, family, friends, sex, marriage, parenting, race relations, racism, human sexuality, everyday life
Spouse	Yelba Osorio (1994–96; divorced) Justine Maurer (2003–present; 2 children)
Domestic partner(s)	Carolyn McDermott (1986–91)
Notable works and roles	Freak Super Mario Bros. Carlito's Way Spawn Moulin Rouge! ER Ice Age Land of the Dead Romeo + Juliet

Leguizamo at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival.

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

Early life

John Leguizamo was born in Bogotá, Colombia, to Alberto and Luz Leguizamo, According to Leguizamo, his paternal grandfather was of Italian descent and his maternal grandfather was Lebanese. Leguizamo 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. He later credited growing up as one of the first Latino children in his Jackson Heights neighborhood as formative in his acting ability: "It was tough. There were lots of fights. I would walk through a park and be attacked, and I had to defend myself all the time. But this helped me to become funny so that I wouldn’t get hit." Leguizamo attended the Joseph Pulitzer Middle School (I.S.145) and later the Murry Bergtraum High School. As a student at Murry Bergtraum, 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, he began his theater career as an undergraduate at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in which he eventually dropped out to seek a stand-up comedy career. Post NYU Leguizamo enrolled at Long Island University C.W. Post Campus where he took theater classes.

Career

Early career

Leguizamo started out as a stand-up comic doing the New York nightclub circuit. In 1984, he made his television debut with a small part in Miami Vice. His other early roles include: an extra in Madonna's Borderline video (1984) playing 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 1989–1991.

Film

In 1992, he starred in "Whispers in the Dark" as John Castillo. In 1993 Leguizamo was offered the lead part as Luigi in the superhero film Super Mario Bros., based on the Mario video game franchise. Despite being considered a critical and financial failure universally, the film started his acting career in Hollywood and became one of his memorable roles. It also provided a boost to his career, allowing him to appear in better comedic roles in the following years, which helped the film reached its cult film status among his fans. That same year, he had a prominent role in Brian De Palma's Carlito's Way as Carlito Brigante's (Al Pacino) nemesis, "Benny Blanco from the Bronx," which also boosted his career in serious roles.

Leguizamo also starred in Romeo + Juliet as Tybalt Capulet, as Violator in Spawn, Cholo in Land of the Dead and Pestario 'Pest' Vargas in The Pest. In 1995, he starred as drag queen Chi-Chi Rodriguez in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar and in the 1996 action film Executive Decision as Captain Rat. In 2002, he starred in the movie Empire.

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: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. The game versions of the films used his voice were used for PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, PC, and Mac. In 2003, he voice-acted Globox from Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc. Leguizamo portrayed Paul in the Brad Anderson thriller film Vanishing on 7th Street.

Television

In 1995 Leguizamo created, produced, wrote, and starred in the 1995 Latino-oriented variety show called House of Buggin' on Fox Television. Some audiences saw this as the Latino version of In Living Color. 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 2005–06 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.

In 2010, Leguizamo also guest starred on The Electric Company as himself, rhyming about commas and quotation marks.

Broadway and theater

John Leguizamo at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival.

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. Both Mambo Mouth and Spic-O-Rama were later filmed for presentation on HBO.

In 1998, he debuted on Broadway in the production of Freak, which was basically about his whole life experience with his family, how he had a troubled family, and a messed up life. In 2000, it was turned into an HBO film by director Spike Lee. The show won him the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show.

In 2002, he wrote and performed in Sexaholix... A Love Story which explained his love life and how he started his own family.

In June 2010, Leguizamo wrote and participated in Klass Klown, a semi-autobiographical one-man show based on his memoir Pimps, Hos, Playa Hatas, and All the Rest of My Hollywood Friends: My Life.

In November 2010, Leguizamo performed in Ghetto Klown at the Canadian Stage's Berkeley Street Theatre in Toronto, Canada.

The show opened on Broadway in March 2011 at the Lyceum Theatre, after Leguizamo performed an 'unplugged' version of the show under the title John Leguizamo Warms Up at Chicago's Royal George Theatre in February. The show, an in-depth look at Leguizamo's professional career as it intercepted with his personal life, opened to critical raves and was extended through July 10th, 2011. A CD, produced through the legendary Fania Records was distributed along with the show's release, adding a musical and more personal element to the show. The show's official webpage can be viewed here Ghetto Klown on Broadway. Leguizamo received the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Solo Performance and the 2011 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance for his work in the show.

In September 2011 Leguizamo will begin an international tour of "Ghetto Klown" in Los Angeles at the Montalban Theatre.

On Record

John Leguizamo LIVE (2001) on RCA Records. The Live CD features the best of Leguizamo's stage routines at the time. Leguizamo gives his audience a primer on the history and culture of Latinos in America. The story starts with the dubious tale of the mating of an Inca princess with a Spanish conquistador, thus creating the original dysfunctional Latin family with Leguizamo providing all the voices

The CD includes a musical intermission, with two salsa/hip-hop tunes, "The Night Before Christmas" and "Gotta Get Some".

The Mac-and-PC compatible enhanced CD includes footage from John on tour at various US locations and two interactive games; "Spanish Fly Pick-Up Line", which lets the person at the keyboard click to choose an appropriate response to a number cheesy pickup lines, delivered by an animated version of Leguizamo, and "Six Degrees of Leguizamo", a drag-and-drop brain-teaser modeled on the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" phenomena. The number of correct answer sequences to this game attest to the Leguizamo's prolific career.

Personal life

Leguizamo married Justine Maurer on June 28, 2003 in a Catholic-Jewish ceremony. They have two children, daughter Allegra Sky (born October 23, 1999) and son Ryder Lee (born December 5, 2000), and live in Manhattan.

In an interview with Playboy Magazine, Leguizamo notably described how, despite wife Justine being Jewish, he was determined not to adhere to the Jewish tradition of circumcision for boys when they had children. He said: "We talked about it, and I said there's no way they're going to be circumcised, and she was totally cool with it. It's a beautiful thing."

In 2008, he received the Rita Moreno HOLA Award for Excellence from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA).

He was a recipient of the 2011 Made in NY Award from the City of New York. Other recipients included actor Matt Damon, location-based social network foursquare and director Sidney Lumet.

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 stated that working with Arnold Schwarzenegger on Collateral Damage 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, Kurt Russell continuously called him a "faggot", 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.

Nationality

On June 10, 2011, Alberto Leguizamo, John's father, declared in an interview published in a New York Hispanic newspaper El Diaro Newspaper, that he (the father) was not Puerto Rican, that he is Colombian and therefore his son (John) was not half Puerto Rican as he has always stated. John Leguizamo had always declared that he was Puerto Rican on his father's side which was one of the reasons that he was selected as the Puerto Rican Day Parade Global Ambassador of the Arts. In response to his father's allegations, Leguizamo stated that his grandfather was of Puerto Rican descent. A spokesman for the National Puerto Rican Day Parade has stated that Leguizamo would not be stripped of his ambassadorship. Leguizamo marched in the parade on June 12, 2011.

Filmography

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
	Die Hard 2	Burke
1991	Poison	Chanchi
	Hangin' with the Homeboys	Johnny
	Out for Justice	Boy in Alley
	Regarding Henry	Liquor Store Gunman
	N.Y.P.D. Mounted	Unknown Role	TV Movie
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! Julie Newmar	Chi-Chi	Nomination: Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
1996	Executive Decision	Rat
	The Fan	Manny
	Romeo + Juliet	Tybalt Capulet
1997	The Pest	Pestario "Pest" Vargas
	A Brother's Kiss	Lefty
	Spawn	Violator
1998	Frogs for Snakes	Zip
	Body Count	Chino
	Dr. Dolittle	Rat	Voice
1999	Joe the King	Jorge
	Summer of Sam	Vinny
2000	Arabian Nights	Genie	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	Voice
	Point of Origin	Keith Lang	TV Movie
	Spun	Spider Mike
2003	Undefeated	Lex Vargas
2004	Crónicas	Manolo Bonilla
2005	Assault on Precinct 13	Beck
	The Honeymooners	Dodge
	Land of the Dead	Cholo DeMora
	Sueño	Antonio
2006	A.K.A.	Sean Edison	TV Movie
	The Alibi	Hannibal
	Ice Age: The Meltdown	Sid	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	Voice
	Gamer	Freek
2010	Repo Men	Asbury	Uncredited
	Vanishing on 7th Street	Paul
	Big Balls	Unknown Role	Direct-to-Video / Short Film
2011	One for the Money	Jimmy Alpha
	Fugly!	Jesse
	The Lincoln Lawyer	Val Valenzuela
2012	Waco	TBA	(In production)
	Ice Age: Continental Drift	Sid	Voice
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986–1989	Miami Vice	Ivan Calderone	3 episodes
2000–2003	The Brothers Garcia	Narrator	5 episodes
2002	Sesame Street	Himself	1 episode
2004	Dora the Explorer	Silly Mail Bird	1 episode
2005–2006	ER	Dr. Victor Clemente
2006	My Name Is Earl	Uncle Diego	2 episodes
2007	The Kill Point	Mr. Wolf	8 episodes
2011	Angry Birds	Boomerang Bird	Voice
Broadway
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Mambo Mouth	Various
1993	Spic-O-Rama	Various
1998	Freak	Himself	Won: Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show
2002	Sexaholix... A Love Story	Himself
2008	American Buffalo	Walter Cole
2011	Ghetto Klown	Himself
Video games
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc	Globox	Voice
2006	Ice Age: The Meltdown	Sid	Voice
2009	Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs	Sid	Voice
Web Series
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	The Annoying Orange	Jumping Bean	Guest Voice

See also

• Colombian American
• List of famous Colombians
• List of hispanophones

External links

• John Leguizamo at the Internet Movie Database
• John Leguizamo at the Internet Broadway Database
• Official site for John Leguizamo's Ghetto Klown
• Facebook page for Ghetto Klown
• Q&A Sessions: John Leguizamo on The Happening at nocheLatina.com
• Vanishing on 7th Street Facebook Page