Wilmer Valderrama

Wilmer Valderrama
Wilmer Valderrama, November 2007
Born	Wilmer Eduardo Valderrama January 30, 1980 (1980-01-30) Miami, Florida
Occupation	Actor, voice actor, singer, dancer, producer
Years active	1998–present

Wilmer Eduardo Valderrama (born January 30, 1980) is a Venezuelan American actor and television personality, known for the role of Fez in the sitcom That '70s Show, hosting the MTV series Yo Momma, and voicing the character of Manny in the children's show Handy Manny.

Early life

Valderrama was born in Miami, Florida, the son of Sobeida (née Arias) and Balbino A. Valderrama, who owned a farm equipment rental company. He is of Colombian and Venezuelan descent. The family moved to Venezuela when he was three years old, then to Los Angeles when he was thirteen. He has two sisters, Marylin and Stephanie, and a brother named Christian. He also attended Taft High School in Woodland Hills, California.

Career

Television and film career

Valderrama got his start performing in numerous plays, including A Midsummer Night's Dream and Rumors. He made his professional debut in a Spanish-language Pacific Bell commercial. At his drama teacher's suggestion, he got an agent and was immediately cast in the CBS miniseries Four Corners and in Omba Makamba on the Disney Channel. He made his big screen debut starring opposite Freddie Prinze Jr., Brittany Murphy, Matthew Lillard and Jessica Biel in the Warner Brothers film Summer Catch.

Valderrama played Fez on That '70s Show from 1998–2006; he was a junior in high school when the pilot episode was filmed. He also played DJ Keoki in the 2003 film Party Monster alongside Macaulay Culkin, Chloë Sevigny, Wilson Cruz and Seth Green. He produced and hosted the MTV series Yo Momma from 2006 to 2007, and appeared (involuntarily) as many as three times on another MTV mainstay, Punk'd, hosted by fellow That '70s alum Ashton Kutcher.

Valderrama appeared in the Los Angeles Times critic's choice play Blackout, an adaptation of the feature film Drunks, and starred opposite Anjelica Huston and Ben Kingsley in the Actors' Fund of America one-performance only reading of Sunset Boulevard. He filmed the short film La Torcedura in which he played the lead, and appeared in The Darwin Awards, an independent film directed by Finn Taylor, starring Winona Ryder and Joseph Fiennes.

In animation work, Valderrama voiced Rodrigo in Clifford's Really Big Movie, playing alongside John Ritter, Wayne Brady and Jenna Elfman. He also voices the main character, Manny, in Disney Channel's Handy Manny series for preschoolers (He even starred in a minisode featuring his acting counterpart). He had a starring role in El Muerto, an indie film directed by Brian Cox and based on the successful comic book created by Javier Hernandez. In January 2007, Valderrama launched his own men's fashion label called "Calavena".

Currently, he is working on a new sitcom he has created for Nickelodeon, entitled Earth to Pablo. It is about a family that receives a teenage space alien instead of the foreign exchange student they were expecting.

In 2010, Valderrama guest-starred on Disney Channel's series Wizards of Waverly Place playing the role of Theresa Russo's brother, Ernesto. In 2011, he appeared in three episodes of USA Network's Royal Pains as Eric Kassabian, an art dealer.

Music career

On May 11, 2011 he released his song "The Way I Fiesta", which he performed as his alter ego Eduardo Fresco. The video was directed by Akiva Schaffer from the group The Lonely Island. He appeared in the 2009 music video for Wisin y Yandel's song "Imagínate". He also appeared in 2011 video for LMFAO's song "Sexy and I Know It".

Other work

He codirected Omar Cruz' To The Top featuring Frankie J. He also worked with Puerto Rican reggaeton duo Wisin & Yandel's video Imagínate featuring the rapper T-Pain, as well as Colombian singer Fanny Lú's video "Tu No Eres Para Mi", where he portrays her boyfriend.

Personal life

At the conclusion of production of That '70s Show, Valderrama purchased the 1969 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser featured on That '70s Show from Carsey-Werner, the show's production company, for $500 USD.^{[citation needed]}.

Charity work

In 2008 he used his celebrity status to endorse a New York rescue workers detoxification project charity event held at Geisha House on March 27, 2008 in Hollywood.^{[citation needed]}

Filmography

Features

• Summer Catch (2001)
• Party Monster (2003)
• Clifford's Really Big Movie (2004) (voice)
• Beauty Shop (2005)
• The Darwin Awards (2006)
• Zoom (2006)
• Fast Food Nation (2006)
• Unaccompanied Minors (2006)
• El Muerto (2007) (also known as - The Dead One)
• The Condor (2007) (voice)
• Save the Date (2007)
• Columbus Day (2008)
• Days of Wrath (2010)
• The Dry Land (2010)
• A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song (2011)
• Larry Crowne (2011)
• From Prada to Nada (2011)
• The Girl is in Trouble (2011)
• CHiPS (2012)

Short subjects

• La Torcedura (2004)
• Longtime Listener (2006)
• What a Girl Wants (2005)
• Wizards of Waverly Place (2010) Uncle Ernesto
• Una Hora por Favora (2011)

Television work

• Four Corners (1998) (canceled after 4 episodes)
• That '70s Show as Fez (1998–2006)

• MADtv (2002)(Guest Star) (CHiPs 2002, as Erik Estrada)
• Yo Momma (TV series) (2006–2008)
• Handy Manny (2006–present) (voice)
• A Day in a Life of Allan Lund (In Production for 2012)
• What A Girl Wants
• Robot Chicken - Fez
• Punk'd as himself
• Grounded for Life (2002)
• The Sopranos (2006) as himself
• Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (2010)
• Wizards of Waverly Place (2011) (Uncle Ernesto)
• Cleveland Show (2011) (Roberta's boyfriend)
• Royal Pains (2011) (Eric Kassabian)
• Awake (2011) (Detective Efrem Vega)
• Suburgatory (2012) (Yoni)

Music video appearances

• Paula DeAnda – Easy (Paula DeAnda song)
• Omar Cruz Feat. Frankie J – To The Top
• Fanny Lú – Tu No Eres Para Mi
• Wisin & Yandel Feat. T-Pain – Imagínate
• Rob Thomas – Ever the same
• LMFAO - Sexy and I Know It

TV commercials

• Heineken "The Tiger" with Valeska Castillo

See also

• Celebrities who have been Punk'd
• Famous Colombians
• Famous Venezuelans

External links

• Wilmer Valderrama at the Internet Movie Database