Born on July 22, 1964 in Bogotá, Colombia, John Leguizamo is an Emmy Award-winning Colombian-American comedian, actor, and producer. His family emigrated to the United States when he was three years old, and he studied at the Joseph Pulitzer Middle School. He then transferred to the Murry Bergtraum High School, where he wrote comedy material and tested it out on his classmates. He then enrolled at New York University and took theatre classes.
John Leguizamo began his career doing stand-up comedy at various New York nightclubs. He made his television debut in 1984 with a small part in Miami Vice. He starred in Mixed Blood the next year, as well as in Casualties of War in 1989. In 1991, he was given the role of Johnny in Hangin’ with the Homeboys, and had minor roles in Out for Justice and Regarding Henry. That year, he also wrote and took part in the off-Broadway production Mambo Mouth, which won an Obie Award and an Outer Critics Award. John Leguizamo then participated in the television comedy Spic-O-Rama. His Hollywood career began in 1993, when he starred as Luigi in the movie production of Super Mario Brothers. He also worked on the Latino-oriented variety show House of Buggin’.
Leguizamo appeared in a variety of roles, starring in movies like Carlito’s Way, which also starred Al Pacino. He was also in Thanks for Everything, Romeo + Juliet as Tybalt, 1997’s The Pest and 1998’s Dr. DoLittle. In 2001, he portrayed Toulouse Lautrec in the acclaimed Moulin Rouge! He also played two genies in the Emmy Award-winning miniseries Arabian Nights. He starred in 2002’s Collateral Damage and voiced the character Sid in the animated movie Ice Age, reprising this role in the sequel Ice Age 2: The Meltdown. He debuted on Broadway in the production of Freak, also turned into a Spike Lee film for HBO. Leguizamo also produced the film Piñero. In 2005, he joined the cast of the television series ER. This was followed by another series, Spike TV’s The Kill Point, which only lasted one season. He also played the role of Lorenzo Daza in Love in the Time of Cholera and portrayed the character Julian in 2008’s The Happening.