John Leguizamo

Birth Name:  John Alberto Leguizamo     

Nickname/ Stage Name: John Leguizamo

Birth Date: July 22, 1964   

Genres: Action, Comedy, Drama

Occupation(s): Actor, Stand-Up Comedian, Producer, Playwright, Screenwriter

Genres: Comedy, Musical Comedy, Satire

Active Years: 1984 till Present

Net Worth: $25 million

 

Personal life

John Leguizamo married actress Yelba Osorio in 1994. They divorced in 1996.

He married Justine Maurer, a costumier on Carlito's Way, in a Catholic-Jewish ceremony on June 28, 2003. He is Catholic and Maurer is Jewish.

The couple has two children, daughter Allegra Sky Leguizamo (born 1999) and son Ryder Lee "Lucas" Leguizamo (born 2000). They live in Manhattan.

Education

He was an undergraduate at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, from which he eventually dropped out in favor of a career in stand-up comedy.

After dropping out of Tisch, Leguizamo enrolled at LIU Post and at HB Studio, where he took theater classes.

In 2018, Leguizamo received an Honorary Degree from Marymount Manhattan College.

 

Career

Leguizamo started his career in 1984 as a stand-up comic on the New York nightclub circuit and made his TV debut in Miami Vice, playing a minor role.

His other early roles are a friend of Madonna's boyfriend in her "Borderline" video (1984), Mixed Blood (1985), Casualties of War (1989), a terrorist in Die Hard 2 (1990), Hangin' with the Homeboys (1991), and the robber in Regarding Henry (1991). 

The actor became famous with a co-starring role in Super Mario Bros. (1993) as Luigi and a supporting role in the crime drama Carlito's Way (1993).

Leguizamo later appeared in the films To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar for which he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.

He also voiced Sid the Sloth in the animated Ice Age film series (2002–2016) and the narrator of the sitcom The Brothers García (2000–2004)

Leguizamo played a supporting role in the Netflix drama miniseries When They See Us (2019) and portrayed the character of Gor Koresh in the Disney + series The Mandalorian.

Awards 

Obie Award1(991)

Outer Critics Circle Award (1991)

Lucille Lortel Award (1993)

Drama Desk Award (1998, 2011)

ALMA Award (1999, 2001, 2002, 2009)

Special Tony Award (2018)

Quotes

"Comics are much smarter than actors. Most comedians come from a hard life and have to struggle a lot. You have to have a lot of skills. When you can hone all of that, and act, you're going to blow the world away."

"I always improvise, you know. That's my thing."

"I love independent films. It's the only place as an actor you're totally allowed to breathe."

Trivia

Was voted "Most Talkative" in high school.

Started writing material for himself in high school, testing it out on classmates.

Was encouraged by his parents to maintain his Spanish, sometimes with bribes. They spoke to him in Spanish, but he usually replied in English.

Movies

Mixed Blood (1985)

Casualties of War (1989)

Poison (1991)

Night Owl (1993)

Romeo + Juliet (1996)

Arabian Nights (2000)

Undefeated (2003)

The Groomsmen (2006)

Big Balls (2010)

Chef (2014)

Nancy (2018)

Critical Thinking (2020)