Jul 22, 1964

Bogotá, Colombia

Leguizamo was born in Bogotá, Colombia. His father, Alberto Leguizamo, was a Colombian Realtor living in Colombia who met and married a young woman by the name of Luz. In 1968 the couple emigrated with their children to the United States and settled down in the Jackson Heights section of Queens in New York City where Leguizamo received his primary and secondary education.

As a student at Murry Bergtraum High School, Leguizamo wrote comedy material and test it out on his classmates. He was vot... ... (read more...) ed "Most Talkative" by his fellow classmates. After graduating from high school, Leguizamo enrolled at New York University where he took theater classes.

Leguizamo married Justine Maurer in 2003. They have two children, daughter Allegra Sky (born 1999) and son Ryder Lee (born 2000).
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Leguizamo started out as a stand-up comic doing the New York nightclub circuit. In 1984, he made his T.V. debut with a small part in Miami Vice. In 1991 he also he wrote and took part in the Off-Broadway production Mambo Mouth, where he played seven different characters. Mambo Mouth won an Obie Award and an Outer Critics Award. He was listed as one of 12 "Promising New Actors of 1991" in "John Willis' Screen Worlds Vol. 43".

In 1993, Leguizamo wrote and participated in Spic-O-Rama, where he made fun of the stereotyping 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", starting his acting career in Hollywood. In 2000, Leguizamo played two genies in the Emmy Award winning miniseries Arabian Nights. Leguizamo 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.

Leguizamo also created, executive produced, wrote for, and starred in the 1995 Latino-oriented variety show called House of Buggin'. The show showcased Leguizamo's well-known ability to assume a wide variety of colorful, energetic characters. The show ran less than a year on Fox.

In 1998, he debuted on Broadway in the production of Freak, which was also turned into an HBO film by director Spike Lee. Leguizamo has produced 10 films, including Piñero and made 13 TV guest appearances.

Later, in 2003, he voice-acted Globox from Rayman 3. The game versions with his voice acting were PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, PC, and Mac.

During the 2005-2006 television season, Leguizamo joined the cast of the show ER, playing Dr. Victor Clemente, a new attending who is keen on introducing the staff of County General to better ways of treating patients and cutting-edge technology. Clemente, however, was plagued with personal problems and was fired from the hospital near the end of the season.

In October 2006, Leguizamo's memoir, Pimps, Hos, Playa Hatas and All the Rest of My Hollywood Friends: A Life, was released. During an interview on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Leguizamo stated that his memoir was very frank about odd experiences involving other celebrities.