Ice Age is a 2002 American computer-animated adventure comedy film created by Blue Sky Studios and released by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Carlos Saldanha and Chris Wedge from a story by Michael J. Wilson. The story follows three Paleolithical mammals attempting to return a lost human baby to its parents. The film stars Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, and Goran Visnjic.

The film was met with mostly positive reviews and was a box office success, starting a series with three sequels, Ice Age: The Meltdown, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and Ice Age: Continental Drift.

Plot[link]

The film begins with a saber-toothed squirrel (known as Scrat) who is trying to find somewhere to store his prized acorn. Eventually, as he tries to stomp it into the ground, he causes a large crack in the ground that extends for miles and miles and sets off a large avalanche. He barely escapes, but finds himself stepped on by a herd of prehistoric animals. The animals are trying to avoid the ice age by migrating south. Sid, a clumsy Megalonyx sloth left behind by his family, is attacked by two Brontops whom he angered. Sid is soon saved by Manfred ("Manny"), an agitated mammoth who fights them off. Not wanting to be alone and unprotected, Sid follows Manny. Meanwhile, Soto, the leader of a Smilodon pride wants revenge on a group of humans by eating the chief's baby son, Roshan, alive. Soto leads a raid on the human camp, during which Roshan's mother is separated from the rest and jumps down a waterfall when cornered by Soto's lieutenant, Diego. For his failure, Diego is sent to find and retrieve the baby.

Sid and Manny spot Roshan and his mother near the lake, having survived her plunge. The mother only has enough strength to trust her baby to Manny before she disappears. After much persuasion by Sid, they decide to return Roshan (nicknamed "Pinky") but when they reach the human settlement, they find it deserted. They meet up with Diego, who convinces the pair to let him help by tracking the humans. The four travel on, with Diego secretly leading them to his pack for an ambush. While having small adventures on their way, they reach a cave where Sid and Diego learn about Manny's past and his previous interactions with the humans, in which his wife and son were killed, leaving Manny a cynical loner. At one time the group passes a flying saucer frozen in the ice, while Sid comes upon a display showing the evolution of sloths.

At the end of the film, Diego, Manny and Sid battle Soto's pack and a short fight ensues. As Soto closes in for the kill on Manny, Diego leaps and stops Soto, who wounds Diego in the process. Manny, in vengeance, knocks Soto into a rock wall, causing several sharp icicles to fall on Soto, killing him. Manny and Sid manage to return the baby to his tribe, and Diego rejoins them, as the group begins to head off to warmer climates.

Scrat subplot[link]

There is also a subplot where Scrat the squirrel makes many comical attempts to bury his beloved acorn. His misfortunes include getting chased by an enormous glacier, being struck by lightning, attempting to thaw out the acorn by using a fire, but roasting it too long, causing it to turn into a large popcorn kernel, and finally getting frozen an icecub along with his much sought after nut. In the epilogue, 20,000 years later (the present), Scrat is frozen in an ice cube that washes up on the shore of a tropical island. The sun slowly melts the cube, bringing Scrat back to life but the acorn, which is just out of his reach, ends up being washed away by the tide. Scrat then explodes out of the ice cube in anger and hits his head repetitively on a tree, which drops a coconut. Believing it to be a giant acorn, Scrat's anger immediately turns to glee at this new find. He tries to pack it into the ground as he did previously with his other acorns, but in the process causes a large crack in the ground that makes its way up the side of a volcano and causes it to erupt, mirroring the opening scene when Scrat causes a break in the ice with an acorn.

Cast[link]

The characters are all prehistoric animals. The animals can talk to and understand each other and are voiced by a variety of famous actors. Like many films of prehistoric life, the rules of time periods apply very loosely, as many of the species shown in the film never actually lived in the same time periods or the same geographic regions.

• Manfred "Manny", a woolly mammoth, is voiced by Ray Romano
• Sid, a giant ground sloth, is voiced by John Leguizamo
• Diego, a Smilodon, is voiced by Denis Leary
• Soto, a Smilodon, is voiced by Goran Visnjic
• Zeke, a Smilodon, is voiced by Jack Black
• Oscar, a Smilodon, is voiced by Diedrich Bader
• Lenny, a Smilodon, voiced by Alan Tudyk
• Scrat, a fictional "saber-toothed" squirrel, is voiced by Chris Wedge
• Carl, a Brontops, is voiced by Cedric the Entertainer
• Frank, a Brontops, is voiced by Stephen Root
• Rachel, a female sloth, is voiced by Jane Krakowski
• Jennifer, a female sloth, is voiced by Lorri Bagley

Reception[link]

Critical reception[link]

Ice Age was released into theaters on March 15, 2002 and got a 77% approval rating on the film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, out of 164 reviews.^[1] Similar site Metacritic had a score of 60% out of 31 reviews.^[2]

The film was nominated for AFI's 10 Top 10 in the "Animation" genre.^[3]

Box office[link]

The film had a $46.3 million opening weekend, a large number not usually seen until the summer season, and way ahead of Fox's most optimistic projection of about $30 million. Ice Age broke the record for a March opening (first surpassed in 2006 by its sequel, Ice Age: The Meltdown) and was the then-third-best opening ever for an animated feature—after Monsters Inc. ($62.6 million) and Toy Story 2 ($57.4 million).^[4] Ice Age finished its domestic box office run with $176,387,405 million and grossed $383,257,136 million worldwide, being the 9th highest gross of 2002 in North America and the 8th best worldwide at the time.^[5]

Production and development[link]

The film was originally to be directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, and produced in traditional animation by Fox Animation Studios, but the rise of CGI animation and the failure of Titan A.E. destroyed Fox's traditional animation division; hence, Bluth and Goldman transferred their duties for Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha from Fox's CGI division Blue Sky.

Video game[link]

A video game tie-in was published by Ubisoft for the Game Boy Advance, and received poor reviews.^[6][7]

Sequels[link]

• Ice Age: The Meltdown was released on March 31, 2006. The film focuses on the melting of a dam (due to, as Sid puts it at the end of the first film, Global warming) and the impending flood.
• Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs was released on July 1, 2009. The film focuses on dinosaurs being discovered underground.
• Ice Age: Continental Drift will be released in July 13, 2012. The film will focus on the continental drift on Earth.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Ice Age

• Official website
• Ice Age at AllRovi
• Ice Age at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Ice Age at the Internet Movie Database
• Ice Age at Rotten Tomatoes
• Ice Age at Metacritic
• Ice Age at Box Office Mojo

Ray Romano
Ray Romano at the Night of Comedy 9 benefit to support the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation (CAAF) in Beverly Hills, California on April 30, 2011. Photography taken by Angela Georgia.
Birth name	Raymond Albert Romano
Born	(1957-12-21) December 21, 1957 (age 54) Queens, New York, U.S.
Medium	Film, stand-up, television
Nationality	American
Years active	1989–present
Genres	Observational comedy, satire
Subject(s)	Everyday life, marriage, parenting, family, friends, self-deprecation
Influences	Bob Newhart[1]
Spouse	Anna Romano (1987–present)
Notable works and roles	Raymond Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond Manfred "Manny" in Ice Age film series Joe Tranelli in Men of a Certain Age
Website	RayRomano.com
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Comedy Series 2003 Everybody Loves Raymond 2005 Everybody Loves Raymond Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series 2002 Everybody Loves Raymond
Screen Actors Guild Awards
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series 2003 Everybody Loves Raymond
American Comedy Awards
Funniest Male Performer in a Television Series (Leading Role) 2000 Everybody Loves Raymond

Raymond Albert Romano (born December 21, 1957) is an American actor, writer and stand-up comedian, best known for his roles on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond and in the Ice Age film series. He recently starred in the TNT comedy-drama Men of a Certain Age.

Early life[link]

Romano was born in Queens, New York, to Italian American parents: Lucie, a piano teacher, and Albert Romano (1925–March 2010), a real estate agent and an engineer.^[2] He grew up in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens.^[3] He has a brother named Richard A. Romano. Romano attended elementary and middle school at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs in Forest Hills. After transferring from Archbishop Molloy High School, Romano graduated from Hillcrest High School in 1975.^[4] He was in the same high school class as Fran Drescher and later appeared on Drescher's sitcom, The Nanny, as an old classmate. Before getting into show business, Romano briefly attended Queens College, in Flushing, New York, where he studied accounting. Romano quit after gaining only 15 credits in three years, but he would later return, however, making it to the Dean's List for three years.

Career[link]

His early comedy career started when he competed in the Johnnie Walker Comedy Search in 1989. His career included many outlets, such as Comedy Central, where he had been a recurring guest voice on the show Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist. He also was a contestant on Star Search in the stand-up comedy category. He originally was cast to play Joe (originally named Rick) on the American television sitcom NewsRadio, but was fired and replaced by Joe Rogan. He then appeared on Late Show with David Letterman doing his stand up routine which formed his ties with CBS. Shortly thereafter, he became the star of his own show, Everybody Loves Raymond on CBS, that featured a cast and format more suitable to Romano's brand of humor.

Romano and his comedian friend, Kevin James, starred in the salesman comedy, Grilled, as two guys of the same profession who are both very desperate to land a big sale. Romano was featured on a 2000 episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, on which he won US$125,000 for the NYPD's D.A.R.E. Unit. His older brother, Richard Romano (born in 1956), is a sergeant with the NYPD, and he has a younger brother, Robert Romano (born 1965).

In 2001 Romano was named one of E!'s top twenty entertainers of the year. That same year he was featured with his brother (a teacher at a school in Long Island) on a New York Police Department recruiting poster. In 2004 he became the highest-paid television actor in history for his role of Raymond on CBS's Everybody Loves Raymond. It was later revealed on E! that he had broken another record by his show having the highest revenue at US$3.9 billion.

On December 13, 2003, Romano was featured as a special guest star, sending a birthday card to Bob Barker in his eightieth-birthday bash on the twenty-seventh "Million Dollar Spectacular" special of the long-running daytime CBS series The Price Is Right.

Romano was the subject of the documentary film, 95 Miles to Go. The film documents Romano's road-trip for a series of rides across the south of the United States. The film was released in theaters on April 7, 2010, by ThinkFilm.^[5] In August 2006 Romano was interviewed in front of a live audience at UCLA by fellow stand-up veteran, David Steinberg, for an episode of Sit Down Comedy with David Steinberg. The program first aired on the TV Land network in March 2007.

Romano returned to television with a new dramedy for TNT in 2008, Men of a Certain Age, which he co-created with former Everybody Loves Raymond writer, Mike Royce. It co-starred Scott Bakula and Andre Braugher.

Romano made an appearance in the seventh season of NBC show The Office as Merv Bronte, an anxious job applicant interviewing for the job left vacant by Michael Scott.

Romano made an appearance in the third season premiere of ABC sitcom The Middle as Nicky, a friend of Mike, who ruined his and Frankie's honeymoon. Romano was the second actor from Everybody Loves Raymond to be reunited with Patricia Heaton on The Middle. Doris Roberts (who played his mom Marie on Everybody Loves Raymond) guest starred in three episodes in the second season as Ms. Rinsky, Brick Heck's third grade teacher, who dislikes Frankie.

Personal life[link]

Romano at the 2010 World Series of Poker main event

Romano married his wife, Anna, on October 11, 1987. They met while working at a bank together. They have four children: one daughter, Alexandra (born 1990), and three sons: twins Matthew and Gregory (born 1993), and Joseph Raymond (born February 16, 1998). He is not related to King of Queens actor Larry Romano.

Romano's on-screen daughter for Everybody Loves Raymond was named after his real-life daughter. Also, in the series pilot, Ray and Debra's twin boys were named after Gregory and Matthew, Romano's real twin sons, but Romano felt it was too weird to have all his TV kids have the same names as his real kids, so they changed the twins' names to Geoffrey and Michael on screen.

Romano's family has made various appearances in the show. Romano's real-life daughter Alexandra "Ally" Romano made several appearances on Everybody Loves Raymond as Molly, the best friend of his on-screen daughter, Ally, and the daughter of Ray Barone's arch-nemesis, Peggy the Cookie Lady. Romano's father, Albert Romano, has made various appearances as "Albert", one of Frank Barone's lodge buddies in various episodes such as "Debra at the Lodge", and "Boys' Therapy". Romano's brother, Richard Romano, has appeared in the episodes "Golf For It", "Just a Formality" and "The Toaster".

Romano competed in the 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 World Series of Poker.

In early 2010 Romano starred in the second season of The Golf Channel's original series The Haney Project in which Tiger Woods' former coach, Hank Haney, attempts to improve the golf games of different celebrities and athletes. Charles Barkley starred in the first season. Romano's goals are to finish the show being able to break 80.^[6] Romano took time off from the show to be with his father, Albert Romano, who died in March 2010. The show resumed on May 24. Romano is also a regular competitor in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am; where he finished fifth in 2012 with partner, Australian professional Steven Bowditch. It was the first time Romano had qualified for the final round after failing to do so on 11 successive occasions, previously.

In February 2012 Romano revealed that his wife, Anna, had successfully battled stage one breast cancer in 2010. Romano told People magazine that "the reason we're going public is to share our experience, yeah, but to have an effect. Our goal is to help people."^[7]

Filmography[link]

Writing credits[link]

[edit] Everybody Loves Raymond

In addition to his roles as star and producer of Everybody Loves Raymond, Romano also co-wrote the following episodes:

Season One

• "Why Are We Here?" (with Tom Paris)

Season Two

• "Golf" (with Tom Caltabiano and Kevin James)
• "The Wedding" (with Philip Rosenthal)

Season Three

• "Ray Home Alone" (with Tucker Cawley)
• "How They Met" (with Philip Rosenthal)

Season Four

• "Debra's Workout" (with Tom Caltabiano and Mike Royce)
• "Bad Moon Rising" (with Philip Rosenthal)

Season Five

• "Super Bowl" (with Mike Royce)

Season Six

• "Jealous Robert" (with Tom Caltabiano)
• "Talk to Your Daughter" (with Tucker Cawley)
• "The First Time" (with Tom Caltabiano and Mike Royce)

Season Seven

• "She's the One" (with Philip Rosenthal)
• "The Bachelor Party" (with Mike Royce and Tom Caltabiano)

Season Nine

• "Angry Sex" (with Lew Schneider and Mike Scully)
• "The Finale" (with Philip Rosenthal, Tucker Cawley, Lew Schneider, Steve Skrovan, Jeremy Stevens, Mike Royce, Aaron Shure, Tom Caltabiano and Leslie Caveny)

[edit] Men of a Certain Age

Season One

• "Pilot" (with Mike Royce)
• "Let It Go" (with Mike Royce)
• "Back in the Shit" (teleplay) with Mike Royce

Season Two

• "If I Could, I Surely Would" (with Mike Royce)

Awards[link]

Bibliography[link]

• (1999) Everything and a Kite (non-fiction)
• (2005) Raymie, Dickie and the Bean (children's)
• (2004) Everybody Loves Raymond: Our Family Album

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ray Romano

• Official website
• Ray Romano at the Internet Movie Database

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2011)

Leguizamo at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival.

Jonathan Alberto "John" Leguizamo (born July 22, 1964) is a Colombian-American actor, producer, voice artist, and comedian.

Early life[link]

John Leguizamo was born in Bogotá, Colombia, to Alberto and Luz Leguizamo, According to Leguizamo, his paternal grandfather was of Puerto Rican and Italian descent^[1] and his maternal grandfather was Lebanese.^[2] Leguizamo has also described himself as being of Amerindian and Mestizo heritage.^[3][4] Leguizamo's father was once an aspiring film director and studied at Cinecittà, but eventually dropped out due to lack of finances.^[5] When Leguizamo was four years old, his family emigrated to the United States^[6] and lived in various neighborhoods of Queens in New York City, including Jackson Heights.^[3][7] He later credited growing up as one of the first Latino children in his Jackson Heights neighborhood as formative in his acting ability: "It was tough. There were lots of fights. I would walk through a park and be attacked, and I had to defend myself all the time. But this helped me to become funny so that I wouldn’t get hit."^[8] Leguizamo attended the Joseph Pulitzer Middle School (I.S.145) and later the Murry Bergtraum High School. As a student at Murry Bergtraum, Leguizamo wrote comedy material and tested it out on his classmates. He was voted "Most Talkative" by his fellow classmates. After graduating from high school, he began his theater career as an undergraduate at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in which he eventually dropped out to seek a stand-up comedy career. Post NYU Leguizamo enrolled at Long Island University C.W. Post Campus where he took theater classes.

Career[link]

Early career[link]

Leguizamo started out as a stand-up comic doing the New York nightclub circuit. In 1984, he made his television debut with a small part in Miami Vice. His other early roles include: an extra in Madonna's Borderline video (1984) playing a friend of Madonna's boyfriend; Mixed Blood (1985); Casualties of War (1989); a terrorist in Die Hard 2 (1990); Hangin' with the Homeboys (1991); the robber in Regarding Henry (1991) and Night Owl (a.k.a. Nite Owl) (1993), which was filmed from 1989–1991.

Film[link]

In 1992, he starred in "Whispers in the Dark" as John Castillo. In 1993 Leguizamo was offered the lead part as Luigi in the superhero film Super Mario Bros., based on the Mario video game franchise. Despite being considered a critical and financial failure universally, the film started his acting career in Hollywood and became one of his memorable roles. It also provided a boost to his career, allowing him to appear in better comedic roles in the following years, which helped the film reached its cult film status among his fans. That same year, he had a prominent role in Brian De Palma's Carlito's Way as Carlito Brigante's (Al Pacino) nemesis, "Benny Blanco from the Bronx," which also boosted his career in serious roles.

Leguizamo also starred in Romeo + Juliet as Tybalt Capulet, as Violator in Spawn, Cholo in Land of the Dead and Pestario 'Pest' Vargas in The Pest. In 1995, he starred as drag queen Chi-Chi Rodriguez in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar and in the 1996 action film Executive Decision as Captain Rat. In 2002, he starred in the movie Empire.

In 2000, Leguizamo played two genies in the Emmy Award winning miniseries Arabian Nights.

To promote the 2001 movie Moulin Rouge!, he appeared on a celebrity edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? with Kelly Ripa, Kevin Sorbo, Alfre Woodard, Martin Short and Chevy Chase. Appearing as the first celebrity to sit in the hot seat, he eventually tried for $125,000, but got the answer wrong. Later in 2002, on the syndicated version, a question about the movie featured his character and Meredith Vieira mentioned that Leguizamo had played Lautrec and had been on the show.

In 2002 he voiced Sid the Sloth for the film Ice Age, reprising the role for the sequels Ice Age: The Meltdown, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and Ice Age: Continental Drift. The game versions of the films also used his voice. In 2003, he voice-acted Globox from Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc. Leguizamo portrayed Paul in the Brad Anderson thriller film Vanishing on 7th Street.^[9]

Television[link]

In 1995 Leguizamo created, produced, wrote, and starred in the 1995 Latino-oriented variety show called House of Buggin' on Fox Television. Some audiences saw this as the Latino version of In Living Color. The show showcased Leguizamo's well-known ability to assume a wide variety of colorful, energetic characters, but due to poor ratings the show ran less than one season.

During the 2005–06 television season, Leguizamo joined the cast of the show ER, playing the emotionally disturbed 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. Dr. Clemente's departure from the show was a blessing for Leguizamo. He revealed to CraveOnline that he was not happy working on the television program. "I was depressed doing ER," he admitted, "I started gaining weight, I was eating donuts, I started smoking again. I’m eating McDonald's, things that I know when I’m depressed I do. I tried to kill myself internally."^[10]

In 2005, he guest starred on Dora the Explorer as Captain Pirate Piggy. In 2006, Leguizamo starred in the television pilot for Edison, a 2006 CBS drama about an Los Angeles detective (played by Leguizamo) who relied on impersonations and disguises to solve crimes. Other cast members included Currie Graham and Deidrie Henry. Kevin Rodney Sullivan directed from a script by Ron Milbauer and Terri Hughes. Leguizamo and David Hoberman also served as executive producers.

In July 2007, Spike TV aired their drama series The Kill Point, starring Leguizamo, Donnie Wahlberg and Michael Hyatt. The show was an eight-part series revolving around ex-war veterans whose bank robbery went wrong, thus ending in a hostage situation. Despite high ratings, The Kill Point was not renewed for a second season.

In 2010, Leguizamo also guest starred on The Electric Company as himself, rhyming about commas and quotation marks.

In 2012, Leguizamo was cast as Derek Trotter in the American remake of the British BBC sitcom, Only Fools and Horses.

Broadway and theater[link]

John Leguizamo at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival.

In 1991, he also 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 United States. The production won a Drama Desk Award and four Cable ACE Awards. Both Mambo Mouth and Spic-O-Rama were later filmed for presentation on HBO.

In 1998, he debuted on Broadway in the production of Freak, which was basically about his whole life experience with his family, how he had a troubled family, and a messed up life. In 2000, it was turned into an HBO film by director Spike Lee. The show won him the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show.

In 2002, he wrote and performed in Sexaholix... A Love Story which explained his love life and how he started his own family.

In June 2010, Leguizamo wrote and participated in Klass Klown, a semi-autobiographical one-man show based on his memoir Pimps, Hos, Playa Hatas, and All the Rest of My Hollywood Friends: My Life.^[11]

In November 2010, Leguizamo performed in Ghetto Klown at the Canadian Stage's Berkeley Street Theatre in Toronto, Canada.

The show opened on Broadway in March 2011 at the Lyceum Theatre, after Leguizamo performed an 'unplugged' version of the show under the title John Leguizamo Warms Up at Chicago's Royal George Theatre in February.^[12] The show, an in-depth look at Leguizamo's professional career as it intercepted with his personal life, opened to critical raves and was extended through July 10th, 2011. A CD, produced through the legendary Fania Records was distributed along with the show's release, adding a musical and more personal element to the show. The show's official webpage can be viewed here Ghetto Klown on Broadway. Leguizamo received the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Solo Performance^[13] and the 2011 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance for his work in the show.^[14]

In September 2011 Leguizamo will begin an international tour of "Ghetto Klown" in Los Angeles at the Montalban Theatre.^[15]

On Record[link]

John Leguizamo LIVE (2001) on RCA Records. The Live CD features the best of Leguizamo's stage routines at the time. Leguizamo gives his audience a primer on the history and culture of Latinos in America. The story starts with the dubious tale of the mating of an Inca princess with a Spanish conquistador, thus creating the original dysfunctional Latin family with Leguizamo providing all the voices

The CD includes a musical intermission, with two salsa/hip-hop tunes, "The Night Before Christmas" and "Gotta Get Some".

The Mac-and-PC compatible enhanced CD includes footage from John on tour at various US locations and two interactive games; "Spanish Fly Pick-Up Line", which lets the person at the keyboard click to choose an appropriate response to a number cheesy pickup lines, delivered by an animated version of Leguizamo, and "Six Degrees of Leguizamo", a drag-and-drop brain-teaser modeled on the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" phenomena. The number of correct answer sequences to this game attest to the Leguizamo's prolific career.

Personal life[link]

Leguizamo married Justine Maurer on June 28, 2003, in a Catholic-Jewish ceremony.^[16] They have two children, daughter Allegra Sky (born October 23, 1999) and son Ryder Lee (born December 5, 2000), and live in Manhattan. Leguizamo has said how, despite his wife being Jewish, the couple did not adhere to the Jewish tradition of circumcision for boys when they had children. He said in one interview: "We talked about it and I said there's no way [he's] going to be circumcised, and she was totally cool with it. I think to the modern world, it's not medically necessary at all."^[17]

In 2008, Leguizamo received the Rita Moreno HOLA Award for Excellence from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA).

He was a recipient of the 2011 Made in NY Award from the City of New York.^[18] Other recipients included actor Matt Damon, location-based social network foursquare and director Sidney Lumet.^[19]

Memoirs[link]

In October 2006, Leguizamo's memoir, Pimps, Hos, Playa Hatas and All the Rest of My Hollywood Friends: My 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 and co-stars he had worked with. He stated that working with Arnold Schwarzenegger on Collateral Damage was one of the most enjoyable experiences he had as an actor. He also said that Arnold's accent let him say things that others would think were sexist or homophobic if said by someone else, that Steven Seagal was an egotist with diva tendencies, Kurt Russell continuously called him a "faggot", and that Leonardo DiCaprio was a "patron of prostitutes."^[20]

As of 2009, Leguizamo has produced over 10 films (including the film Piñero), starred or co-starred in over 75 films, starred on Broadway in several productions winning several awards, made over a dozen TV guest appearances and has helped produce or star in many other similar television shows.

Controversy[link]

On June 10, 2011, Alberto Leguizamo, John's father, declared in an interview published in a New York Hispanic newspaper El Diaro Newspaper, that he (the father) was not Puerto Rican, that he is Colombian and therefore his son (John) was not half Puerto Rican as he has always stated.^[21] John Leguizamo had always declared that he was Puerto Rican on his father's side which was one of the reasons that 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.^[21] 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.^[22]

Filmography[link]

See also[link]

Colombia portal

• Colombian American
• List of notable Colombians
• List of hispanophones

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: John Leguizamo

• John Leguizamo at the Internet Movie Database
• John Leguizamo at the Internet Broadway Database
• Official site for John Leguizamo's Ghetto Klown
• Facebook page for Ghetto Klown
• Q&A Sessions: John Leguizamo on The Happening at nocheLatina.com
• Vanishing on 7th Street Facebook Page

Denis Leary
Leary in June 2010
Birth name	Denis Colin Leary
Born	(1957-08-18) August 18, 1957 (age 54) Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.
Medium	Stand up, Television, Film
Years active	1987–present
Genres	Observational comedy, Black comedy, Insult comedy, Satire, Musical comedy
Subject(s)	American culture, Current events, Politics, Recreational drug use, Drinking culture
Influences	Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Bill Hicks, Michael Gough, Sam Kinison
Spouse	Ann Lembeck (1989–present; 2 children)[1]
Notable works and roles	No Cure for Cancer Lock 'n Load Gus in The Ref Michael McCann in The Thomas Crown Affair Diego in Ice Age Tommy Gavin in Rescue Me Bill in The Sandlot

Denis Colin Leary (born August 18, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, writer and director. Leary is known for his biting, fast paced comedic style and chain smoking. He is the star and co-creator of the television show Rescue Me, which ended its seventh and final season on September 7, 2011.

Early life[link]

Leary was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, the son of Irish Catholic^[2] immigrants. His mother, Nora (née Sullivan), was a maid, and his father, John Leary, was an auto mechanic.^[3][4] As both of his parents are from Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland,^[5][6] Leary holds both Irish and U.S. citizenship.^[7] Through marriage, Leary is a third cousin of talk show host Conan O'Brien.^[8][9] He attended Saint Peter-Marian High School, in Worcester.^[10]

Leary is a graduate of Emerson College,^[11] in Boston. While at Emerson, he met fellow comic Mario Cantone, whom to this day Leary considers his closest friend. Comedian Steven Wright and actress Gina Gershon also attended Emerson at the same time as Leary.^{[citation needed]} At the school, he founded the Emerson Comedy Workshop, a troupe that continues on-campus as of 2011.^[12] After graduating with the Emerson Class of 1979, he took a job at the school teaching comedy writing classes and maintained the job for five years.^[13] Leary received an honorary doctorate and spoke briefly at his alma mater's undergraduate commencement ceremony on May 16, 2005;^[14] he is thus credited as "Dr. Denis Leary" on the cover of his 2009 book, Why We Suck.

Career[link]

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Leary began working as a comedian in the Boston comedy scene of the 1980s, where he hosted his own show at the underground club "Play It Again Sam's". He also wrote and appeared on a local comedy series, Lenny Clarke's Late Show, hosted by his friend Lenny Clarke and written by Boston comedy writer Martin Olson. Leary and Clarke both spoke about their early affiliations and influences in the Boston comedy scene in the documentary film When Standup Stood Out (2006). It was during this time that he developed his stage persona. He also appeared in skits on the MTV game show Remote Control, playing such characters as Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, the "brother" of co-host Colin Quinn, and artist Andy Warhol.

Leary first earned fame when he ranted about R.E.M. in an early 1990s MTV sketch. Several other commercials for MTV quickly followed, in which Leary would rant at high speeds about a variety of topics, playing off the then-popular and growing alternative scene. He released two records of his stand-up comedy: No Cure for Cancer (1993) and Lock 'n Load (1997). In late 2004, he released the EP Merry F#%$in' Christmas, which included a mix of new music, previously unreleased recordings, and some tracks from Lock 'n Load.

In 1993, his sardonic song about the stereotypical American male, "Asshole", achieved much notoriety. It was voted #1 in an Australian youth radio poll (the Triple J Hottest 100).^[15] The song was used as part of the Holsten Pils series of ads in the UK, in which Leary was participating, with adapted lyrics criticizing a drunk driver.^[16]

Leary has appeared as an actor in over 40 movies, including The Sandlot, as Scott's stepfather Bill, Monument Ave., The Matchmaker, The Ref, Suicide Kings, Dawg, Wag the Dog, Demolition Man, Judgment Night, The Thomas Crown Affair, and Operation Dumbo Drop. He had a small part in Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers, playing a ranting inmate during a prison riot; his part was eventually cut, but can be seen on the Special Edition DVD. He has had the lead role in two television series, The Job and the FX cable-network series Rescue Me, of which he is also co-creator. He plays Tommy Gavin, a New York City firefighter dealing with alcoholism, family dysfunction, and other issues in post-9/11 New York City. He received Emmy^[17] nominations in 2006 and 2007 for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Denis Leary was offered the role of Dignam in the 2006 film The Departed but turned it down due to scheduling conflicts with his television show, Rescue Me.

In addition, Leary has provided voices for characters in animated films, such as a fire-breathing dragon named Flame in the series The Agents, a prehistoric saber-toothed cat named Diego in the Ice Age film trilogy, and the pugnacious ladybug Francis in A Bug's Life. He has produced numerous movies, television shows, and specials through his production company, Apostle; these include Comedy Central's Shorties Watchin' Shorties, the stand-up special Denis Leary's Merry F#$%in' Christmas, and the movie Blow. As a Boston Red Sox fan, he narrated the official 2004 World Series film (Q Video/MLB Productions, 2004). In 2006, Leary and Lenny Clarke appeared on television during a Red Sox telecast and, upon realizing that Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis is Jewish, delivered a criticism of Mel Gibson's antisemitic comments.^[18] As an ice hockey fan, Leary hosted the National Hockey League video NHL's Greatest Goals.^{[citation needed]} In 2003, he was the subject of the Comedy Central Roast of Denis Leary.^[19]

Leary did the TV voiceover for MLB 2K8 advertisements, where he used his trademark rant style in baseball terms, and ads for the 2009 Ford F-150 pickup truck.^{[citation needed]} He has also appeared in commercials for Hulu and DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket package.^{[citation needed]} Leary was a producer of the Fox Broadcasting series Canterbury's Law, and wrote and directed its pilot episode. Canterbury's Law aired in the spring of 2008 and was canceled after eight episodes.

On September 9, 2008, Leary hosted the sixth annual Fashion Rocks event, which aired on CBS. In December of the year, he appeared in a video on funnyordie.com critiquing a list of some of his "best" films, titled "Denis Leary Remembers Denis Leary Movies".^[20] Also in in 2008, Leary voiced a guest role as himself on the "Lost Verizon" episode of The Simpsons.

On March 21, 2009 Leary began the "Rescue Me Comedy Tour" in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The 11-date tour, featuring Rescue Me co-stars Lenny Clarke and Adam Ferrara, was Leary's first stand-up comedy tour in 12 years.^{[citation needed]} The Comedy Central special Douchebags and Donuts, filmed during the tour, debuted on American television January 16, 2011, with a DVD release on January 18, 2011.^[21]

On January 1, 2010, both Leary and Lenny Clarke sang the Neil Diamond song "Sweet Caroline" at the 2010 NHL Winter Classic at Fenway Park, flanked by members of the Boston and Worcester Fire Departments.^{[citation needed]} Nine days later, Leary sang at Road Recovery, on New York City's The Bowery, along with Peter Frampton, John Varvatos and Leary's band The Enablers.^{[citation needed]}

He is currently working as Captain George Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man movie set to be released in July 2012^[22] and is writing the American adaptation of British comedy Sirens.^[23]

Leary is one of the executive producers of the documentary BURN, which chronicles the struggles of the Detroit Fire Department. BURN made its debut on April 23, 2012, at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Personal life[link]

Leary and wife at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival.

Leary has been married to writer Ann Lembeck Leary since 1989.^[1] They met when he was her instructor in an English class at Emerson College. They have two children, son John Joseph "Jack" (born 1990)^{[citation needed]} and daughter Devin (born 1992).^{[citation needed]} Ann Leary published a memoir, An Innocent, a Broad, about the premature birth of their son on an overseas visit to London. She has also written a novel, Outtakes From a Marriage, which was published in 2008.

Leary is an ice hockey fan and has his own backyard hockey rink at his home in Connecticut, with piping installed under the ice surface to help the ice stay frozen.^[24] His favorite National Hockey League team is the Boston Bruins.^[24] He is also a Boston Red Sox fan,^[25] as well as a fan of the Green Bay Packers.^[26][27]

Leary describes himself as a Jack Kennedy Democrat with some conservative ideologies, such as support for the military. Leary told Glenn Beck, "I was a life-long Democrat, but now at my age, I've come to realize that the Democrats suck, and the Republicans suck, and basically the entire system sucks. But you have to go within the system to find what you want."^[28] Leary supported Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election.^{[citation needed]}

Leary has said of his religious beliefs, "I'm a lapsed Catholic in the best sense of the word. You know, I was raised with Irish parents, Irish immigrant parents. My parents, you know, prayed all the time, took us to Mass. And my father would sometimes swear in Gaelic. It doesn't get more religious than that. But, no, after a while, they taught us wrong. I didn't raise my kids with the fear of God. I raised my kids with the sense of, you know, to me, Jesus was this great guy...."^[28]

Leary Firefighters Foundation[link]

On December 3, 1999, six firefighters from Leary's hometown of Worcester were killed in the Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire. Among the dead were Leary's cousin Jerry Lucey and his close childhood friend Lt. Tommy Spencer.^[8] In response, the comedian founded the Leary Firefighters Foundation. Since its creation in the year 2000, the foundation has distributed over $2.5 million (USD) to fire departments in the Worcester, Boston, and New York City areas for equipment, training materials, new vehicles, and new facilities. Leary won $125,000 for the foundation on the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Leary has close ties with 107.3/WAAF, which in 2000 released the station album Survive This! Part of the proceeds from this album were donated to the Leary Firefighters Foundation.

Leary at the Vanity Fair party celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Tribeca Film Festival, 2011.

A separate fund run by Leary's foundation, the Fund for New York's Bravest, has distributed over $2 million to the families of the 343 firemen killed in the September 11 attacks in 2001 in addition to providing funding for necessities such as a new mobile command center, first responder training, and a high-rise simulator for the New York City Fire Department's training campus. This new fund was established because the families of the Worcester fire did not want to include New York families into the fund.^{[citation needed]} As a result, Leary created a separate fund for New York.

As the foundation's president, Leary has been active in all of the fundraising, usually presenting large checks and donated equipment personally. The close relationship he has developed with the FDNY as well as with individual firefighters across the New York/New England area has resulted in Leary's most recent television show, Rescue Me, a comedy-drama on FX. In the pilot episode of the show, he is seen wearing a Leary Firefighter Foundation 9-11 Memorial T-shirt.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Leary donated over a dozen boats to the New Orleans Fire Department to aid in rescue efforts in future disasters. The foundation also rebuilt entire NOLA firehouses.

Controversies[link]

Statements concerning autism[link]

In his 2008 book Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid, Leary said:

There is a huge boom in autism right now because inattentive mothers and competitive dads want an explanation for why their dumb-ass kids can't compete academically, so they throw money into the happy laps of shrinks... to get back diagnoses that help explain away the deficiencies of their junior morons. I don't [care] what these crackerjack whack jobs tell you — your kid is not autistic. He's just stupid. Or lazy. Or both.

In response to the controversy, Leary stated that the quote was taken out of context and that in that paragraph he had been talking about the trend of overdiagnosis of autism, which he attributed to American parents seeking an excuse for behavioral problems and underperformance. Later, he apologized to parents with autistic children whom he had offended.^[29][30]

Allegations of plagiarism[link]

For many years, Leary had been friends with fellow comedian Bill Hicks. When Leary's comedy album No Cure for Cancer was released, many people believed Leary had stolen Hicks' act and material. The friendship ended abruptly as a result.^[31] Hicks once told an interviewer: "I have a scoop for you. I stole his [Leary's] act. I camouflaged it with punchlines, and to really throw people off, I did it before he did".^[32]

At least three stand-up comedians have gone on the record stating they believe Leary stole Hicks' material, comedic persona and attitude.^{[31][33][34][35]} One similar routine was about the band Judas Priest, during which Hicks says, "I don’t think we lost a cancer cure."^{[citation needed]}

During a 2003 Comedy Central Roast of Denis Leary, comedian Lenny Clarke, a friend of Leary's, said there was a carton of cigarettes backstage from Bill Hicks with the message, "Wish I had gotten these to you sooner." This joke was cut from the final broadcast.^[36]

The feud is also mentioned in Cynthia True's biography American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story:

Leary was in Montreal to host the "Nasty Show," at Club Soda, and Colleen was coordinating the talent so she was standing backstage when she heard Leary doing material that sounded incredibly similar to old Hicks riffs, including his perennial Jim Fixx joke: ("Keith Richards outlived Jim Fixx, the runner and health nut dude. The plot thickens."). When Leary came offstage, Colleen, more stunned than angry, said, "Hey, you know that's Bill Hicks' material! Do you know that's his material?" Leary stood there, stared at her without saying a word and briskly left the dressing room.^[37]

According to the book, True said upon hearing a tape of Leary's album No Cure for Cancer, "Bill was furious. All these years, aside from the occasional jibe, he had pretty much shrugged off Leary's lifting. Comedians borrowed, stole stuff and even bought bits from one another. Milton Berle and Robin Williams were famous for it. This was different. Leary had, practically line for line, taken huge chunks of Bill's act and recorded it."^[37]

In a 2008 appearance on The Opie and Anthony Show, comedian Louis CK claimed that Leary stole his "I'm an asshole" routine, which was then expanded upon and turned into a hit song by Leary.^[38] On a later episode of the same show, Leary challenged this assertion by claiming that he (Leary) co-wrote the song with Chris Phillips.^[39]

Awards[link]

Filmography[link]

Films[link]

TV shows[link]

TV commercials[link]

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• Quaker State Motor Oil
• MTV promos (1991–93)
• Lotus Notes
• Holsten O'Pils beer
• Ford F-150 (voice only) (2009–2011)
• Hulu (2009)
• DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket (2009)

Discography[link]

• 1993: No Cure for Cancer
• 1997: Lock 'n Load
• 2004: Merry F#%$in' Christmas

Bibliography[link]

• 2008: Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid, Viking ISBN 978-0-670-03160-3
• 2010: Suck On This Year : LYFAO @ 140 Characters or Less, Viking ISBN 978-0-670-02289-2

References[link]