John Leguizamo

John Leguizamo
Leguizamo at the 2014 Miami International Film Festival presentation of the film Open Windows
Born	John Alberto Leguizamo (1964-07-22) July 22, 1964 (age 52) Bogotá, Colombia
Residence	Manhattan, New York
Occupation	Actor, voice actor, film producer, stand-up comedian, playwright, screenwriter
Years active	1984–present
Spouse(s)	Yelba Osorio (m. 1994; div. 1996) Justine Maurer (m. 2003)
Children	2

John Alberto Leguizamo (/ˌlɛɡwɪˈzɑːmoʊ/; born July 22, 1964) is a Colombian American actor, voice actor, film producer, stand-up comedian, playwright and screenwriter. As of 2009, Leguizamo has appeared in over 75 films, produced over 10 films, starred on Broadway in several productions (winning several awards), made over a dozen television appearances, and has produced or starred in many other television shows.

Leguizamo was born in Bogota, Colombia, to Alberto and Luz Leguizamo. Leguizamo's father was once an aspiring film director and studied at Cinecittà, but eventually dropped out due to lack of finances.

According to Leguizamo, his paternal grandfather was of Puerto Rican and Italian descent, and his maternal grandmother was Lebanese. Leguizamo has also described himself as being of Amerindian/Mestizo heritage.

On June 10, 2011, Leguizamo's father Alberto declared in an interview published in a New York Hispanic newspaper, El Diario, that he is Colombian and not Puerto Rican, and therefore his son John was not half Puerto Rican as he has always stated. Leguizamo had always declared that he was Puerto Rican on his father's side, which was one of the reasons he was selected as the Puerto Rican Day Parade Global Ambassador of the Arts. In response to his father's allegations, Leguizamo stated that his grandfather was of Puerto Rican descent. A spokesman for the National Puerto Rican Day Parade has stated that Leguizamo would not be stripped of his ambassadorship. Leguizamo marched in the parade on June 12, 2011.