John Leguizamo
John Leguizamo (born July 22, 1964) in Bogota, Colombia), is a Colombian-Puerto Rican comedian, actor and producer working in the Hollywood, film industry.
John was born in Bogotá, Colombia. His father, Alberto Leguizamo was a Puerto Rican Realtor living in Colombia who meet and married a young Colombian girl by the name of Luz. In 1968 the couple immigrated with their children to the United States and settled down in the Jackson Heights section of Queens in New York City. John received his primary and secondary education in Queens. As a student in high school, John would write comical material and test it out on his classmates. He was voted "Most Talkative" by his fellow classmates. After graduating from high school, John enrolled in the New York University where he took theater classes.
John started out as a stand-up comic doing the New York nightclub circuit. In 1984, he made made his T.V. debut with a small part in Miami Vice. In 1985, John landed a small uncredited part, making his movie debut, in "Mixed Blood" and in 1989 he also had a small part in "Casualties of War". In 1991, John participated in "Hanging with the Homeboys". That same year, he wrote and participated in the Off-Broadway production "Mambo Mouth", where he played seven different characters. Mambo Mouth won an Obie Award and an Outer Critics Awards. He was listed as one of 12 "Promisising New Actors of 1991" in "John Willis' Screen Worlds Vol. 43".
In 1993, John wrote and participated in "Spic-O-Rama", where he makes fun of the sterotyping of Latinos in the U.S.. The production won a Drama Desk Award and four Cable ACE Awards. The 1993 movie production "Super Mario Brothers" where he played the role of "Luigi Mario", is considered to be the film which skyrocketed his acting career in Hollywood. Since then, other movies followed such as: "Carlito's Way" (1993) as "Benny Blanco" alongside Al Pacino, "Romeo and Juliet" (1996) as "Tybalt", "The Fan" (1996) as "Manny", "Executive Decision" (1996) as "Captain Rat", "Doctor Dolittle" (1998) as "Rat #2", "Summer of Sam" (1999) and "Moulin Rouge" as "Toulouse Lautrec". John has participated in over 53 films, including "The Alibi" where he will play the role of "Hannibal" and which is in the post-production stages as of 2005.
In 1998, he debuted in Broadway in the production of "Freak", which was also turned into an HBO film by director Spike Lee. John has produced 10 films, including Piñero and made over 13 T.V. Guest Appearences.
Selected filmography
- Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)
- Empire (2002)
- Collateral Damage (2002)
- Moulin Rouge! (2001)
- The Pest (1997)
- Romeo and Juliet (1996)
- To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995)
- Super Mario Bros. (1993)