John Leguizamo

JOHN LEGUIZAMO, a multi-faceted performer and Emmy Award winner, has established a career that defies categorization. With boundless energy and creativity, his work in film, theatre, television, and literature covers a variety of genres, continually threatening to create a few of its own.

In 2011, Leguizamo returned to Broadway with his new solo play “Ghetto Klown,” the next chapter in his hugely popular personal and professional story. Directed by Academy Award® winner Fisher Stevens, “Ghetto Klown” follows in the unabashed, uncensored, and uninhibited tradition of Leguizamo’s “Mambo Mouth,” “Spic-O-Rama,” “Freak,” and “Sexaholix... a Love Story.”

In 2011, Leguizamo also starred in “Fugly,” opposite Rosie Perez and Rhada Mitchell, which he also wrote and produced. “Fugly” stars Leguizamo as a New York comedian whose near death experience forces him to make difficult life choices.

Other recent film credits include “Vanishing on 7 th Street,” “The Lincoln Lawyer,” “Love in Time of Cholera,” “The Happening,” “Righteous Kill,” “The Babysitters,” “The Take” and “Where God Left His Shoes.” In addition, Leguizamo appeared in the films “Miracle at St. Anna,” “Land of the Dead,” “Assault on Precinct 13,” “Sueno,” “Spun,” “Summer of Sam,”“King of the Jungle,” “Spawn,” “William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet,” “Dr. Dolittle,” “Carlito's Way” and “Casualties of War” – and of course “Ice Age,” “Ice Age: The Meltdown” and “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.”

For his performance as a sensitive drag queen in “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar,” Leguizamo garnered a Golden Globe® nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Leguizamo picked up ALMA Award nominations for his roles in “Moulin Rouge” (Best Supporting Actor) and “King of the Jungle” (Best Lead Actor). He was the recipient of the 2002 ALMA Award for Entertainer of the Year.

In the summer of 2007, Leguizamo returned to television in Spike TV's limited series “The Kill Point,” in which he played the leader of a gang of bank robbers that had recently returned from serving in Iraq. Leguizamo appeared as a guest star in twelve episodes of NBC's cornerstone drama “ER” during the 2005/2006 season, and in 2006 did a guest starring arc on the NBC hit “My Name is Earl.”

In 1991, Leguizamo created an off-Broadway sensation as the writer and performer of his one- man show “Mambo Mouth,” in which he portrayed seven different characters. He received Obie®, Outer Critics Circle and Vanguardia awards for his performance.

Leguizamo’s second one-man show, “Spic-O-Rama,” had an extended sold-out run in Chicago at the Goodman and Briar Street theaters before opening in New York. The play received numerous accolades including the Dramatists' Guild Hull-Warriner Award for Best American Play and the Lucille Lortel Outstanding Achievement Award for Best Broadway Performance. Leguizamo received the Theatre World Award for Outstanding New Talent, as well as a Drama Desk Award for Best Solo Performance. “Spic-O-Rama” aired on HBO, receiving four CableACEAwards.

“Freak,” Leguizamo's third one-man show, ended a successful run on Broadway in 1998. Billed as a Semi-Demi-Quasi-Pseudo Autobiography,“Freak” was described as “scathingly funny” by The New York Times. Along with the Tony® Award nominations for Best Play and Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play, Leguizamowon the Drama Desk and the Outer Critic's Circle Awards for Outstanding Solo Performance. A special presentation of “Freak,” directed by Spike Lee, aired on HBO and earned Leguizamo the Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance in a Variety or Music Program, as well as a nomination for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special.

In fall of 2001 Leguizamo returned to Broadway with “Sexaholix...a Love Story.” Directed by Peter Askin, the play is based on the sold-out national tour, “John Leguizamo Live!” Leguizamo was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Solo Performance and the show received a Tony nomination for Best Special Theatrical Performance. “Sexaholix” aired as an HBO Special in spring 2002 and also toured the country. Additional stage credits include “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “La Puta Vida” at the New York Shakespeare Festival and Parting Gestures at INTAR.

Leguizamo is also an accomplished author. He penned his autobiography Pimps, Hos, Playa Hatas, and All the Rest of My Hollywood Friends, which was released by Harper Collins in October 2006. The New York Times called the book “brutally funny,” while USA Today coined Leguizamo as "one of the most exciting talents to come along in some time."

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