John Leguizamo

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Date of Birth : Jul 22nd 1964

Leguizamo’s colorful characterisation of the sensitive drag queen Chi Chi Rodriguez in the comedy To Wong Foo; Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar – perhaps his most memorable work – garnered him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor. More recently, Leguizamo was lauded by the New York Times for his “raging, smartingly visceral performance” in the Spike Lee directed film Summer of Sam. Some of his other diverse and notable film credits include The Fan, Revenge, Executive Decision, Regarding Henry, Romeo and Juliet and Super Mario Brothers. Leguizamo also lends his voice in the recently released Titan AE starring Matt Damon.

The multifaceted Leguizamo also has a flourishing television career. He starred most recently in the ABC miniseries, Arabian Nights, where he played the dual role of the wildly amusing Ring Genie and the menacing Lamp Genie. But his role as both creator and star of Fox’s Emmy Award-winning Latino comedy/variety sketch series House of Buggin’ established him as a force in Hollywood and set a new precedent for English-language Latino programming. Again exercising his talents as both actor and writer, Leguizamo went on to write and star in HBO’s Freak. Based on his critically lauded stage play Freak’s electrifying account of a boy growing up in Spanish Harlem earned him an Emmy award for Outstanding Performance in a Variety or Music Program.

Leguizamo’s success with Freak was a culmination of his already impressive history within the theater. Labeled a Broadway sensation, he dazzled audiences with his innovative performances in the Off-Broadway shows Mambo Mouth and Spic-O-Rama both of which enjoyed critical and commercial success. Among his numerous awards for his stage performances are the prestigious Theatre World Award for Outstanding New Talent and the critic’s Drama Desk Award for Best Solo Performance.