This is a list of characters from Two and a Half Men, an American sitcom based around a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie; his uptight brother, Alan; and Alan's growing son, Jake. Charlie's free-wheeling life is complicated and altered when his brother gets divorced and moves, along with his son, into Charlie's beach-front house. The series' premise was revamped in the ninth season, centering on Alan's life with his new roommate, billionaire Walden Schmidt, following Charlie's sudden death.

Cast and characters[link]

Main[link]

• Charlie Sheen as Charles Francis "Charlie" Harper (seasons 1-8 ; season 9, guest appearance), a bachelor who tends to pick on his younger brother Alan, whom he loves, although he would never admit it, and usually takes pleasure in any dismay or trouble he runs into. He is the opposite of Alan: relaxed, carefree, and affluent. He gives his nephew, Jake, advice (much of which is not age-appropriate), but the two increasingly trade barbs as well.^[1] He is killed sometime between Seasons 8 and 9 as he is hit by a train and it is revealed that he proposed to Rose before his death. He is later re-written into the series for one episode, this time as a ghost forced to live eternity in Hell in a woman's body (Kathy Bates), acting as Alan's demonic spirit guide. The producers were so impressed by Bates' rendition of the character, they are considering bringing back the character of "Charlie Harper" as a recurring character, with Bates in the role.

• Jon Cryer as Alan Jerome Harper, Charlie's brother, who is conscientious but continually stricken with bad luck and teased by Charlie, Berta and Judith. After losing his house to his first wife Judith, in the divorce, he moves in with Charlie. He is generally a nice and polite man, but seems to have an attraction to women who treat him poorly, which may stem from the non-nurturing relationship he had with his and Charlie's mother. In the Season 4 episode, "Repeated Blows to his Unformed Head," it is revealed that Alan has a pregnancy fetish, which he says is due to Judith only varying from her sexless marriage policy while pregnant with Jake. Also, in the Season 6 episode, She'll Still Be Dead at Halftime, he confesses that he likes feet (see foot fetish). In the season 3 finale, Alan marries a twenty-two year old dumbbell named Kandi who was one of Charlie's former girlfriends. After Charlie had canceled his wedding with Mia, Alan and Kandi got married instead. Although in the season 4 premiere, four months after the marriage Kandi throws Alan out of her condo and divorces Alan which leads him to paying alimony to two ex-wives. Alan is two years younger than Charlie. Prior to Two and a Half Men, Cryer and Sheen appeared together in the 1991 comedy Hot Shots! Cryer also won the 2009 Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Alan stays at the house as Walden temporarily lets him after helping him with Bridget, but Walden later insists that Alan stay with him permanently when Alan, with Bridget's help, saves him from Courtney (Jenny McCarthy), a femme fatale who previously had a relationship with Charlie, and was out to get Walden's money. Alan and Walden became best friends after that. This friendship eventually earned Alan a position as a board member of Walden's company and his name on the deed of the beach house. Walden also re-named his company "Walden Loves Alan Enterprises" in honor of his best friend

• Angus T. Jones as Jacob David "Jake" Harper, the son of Alan and Judith. He spends most of his free time playing video games, eating, watching television, playing the guitar, sleeping, and getting high with his best friend Eldridge. He is also an excellent poker player and a fairly good cook, but is very dimwitted and lazy, which coupled with his excessive flatulence, is a frequent theme of jokes about him. Despite his apparent lack of intelligence, he is sometimes very observant. He clearly loves his father and uncle, but is often surly toward them. Jake's style, personality and attitude changes as the series progresses, from a more adorable, little-boy charm in the first season to a caustic teenager in later seasons. After Charlie's death, Jake at first does not appear affected by his passing but it is later revealed that he does miss him and tells his father that the most important thing Charlie taught him was that when he is his uncle's age he wants to be married and have a family, because Charlie seemed very lonely. He and Eldridge decide to join the Army following their high school graduation.

• Ashton Kutcher as Walden Schmidt (season 9-present), a billionaire internet entrepreneur who has recently been divorced and was suicidal when Alan first met him.^[2] When Charlie dies and leaves the house to Alan, Alan puts the house on the market because he is unable to make payments on the three mortgages. Guest stars John Stamos, Jenna Elfman and Thomas Gibson view the house but do not buy it. While Alan is speaking to Charlie's ashes and trying to decide where to spread them, Walden appears from nowhere on the back deck, scaring Alan and causing him to dump the ashes across the living room. Once inside, he reveals that he was trying to drown himself in the ocean, having been recently divorced from his wife Bridget, portrayed by Judy Greer. He and Alan bond at a bar, where he tells Alan that he made his $1.3 billion fortune by selling his website to Microsoft. After picking up two women and bringing them back to the house, where he sleeps with them, he decides to buy the house.^[3] His wife describes him as emotionally immature, which upsets him, so, with Alan's help, he returns to his mansion to confront his wife in the hope of reconciling. However, he is sent away after being treated for an electric shock that he received while climbing the front gates of the mansion. Walden gets a second chance when Bridget later decides that she had been too harsh and that he deserves a chance to prove he is not as childish as he was; this chance is quickly ruined by a food fight between Walden and a little girl in the middle of Soup Plantation. Walden eventually invites Alan to stay living at the house he has been living in for 8 years with him as Walden wants someone around he can trust, and they became best friends. He drives a Fisker Karma,^[4] and asks Evelyn to remodel the house^[5] using solar power and wind power.^[6] Walden is now dating a British woman named Zoey (Sophie Winkleman) whom he met at the supermarket. Bridget later comes wanting Walden back but he declines her wanting Zoey instead. She later is seen stalking him where she runs into Rose who says she can help make Walden suffer. Bridget reluctantly goes with her.

• Conchata Ferrell as the sharp-tongued housekeeper Berta (seasons 1-present). Although Berta's manner may be viewed as sarcastic, Alan and Charlie still treat her with a great deal of respect, partly out of fear, and it is clear that the household cannot function properly without her. Berta has tried her best not to allow the overwhelming stress of her job to get to her head: when Alan (a generally tidy person) moved in, she quit and Charlie was so upset that Alan had to personally beg her to return and promised that he would do his own cleaning. However, the fact that Jake's bedroom could be confused with a dump (at various times including dead fish in the closet, food left-overs in his toy box, and nasal mucus under the bed), that his toilet seat is frequently sprayed with urine, and that his underwear is filthy often leads to anger on her part. Her favorite line after a mini disaster occurs in the house is, "I'm not cleaning that up!" She has a sister named Daisy, played by Camryn Manheim, with whom she does not get along. She also has three daughters and a number of granddaughters, whom she admits are "sleazy and easy" and whom she sometimes brings along to work. A notable example was when she brought her teenage granddaughter Prudence, played by Megan Fox. She has served time in prison and worked as a prison barber. She uses, and makes references to, drugs (legal and otherwise); it is hinted that she has enjoyed many a joint during work hours, and can produce a perfect one given the opportunity. She takes anxiolytics (Valium especially) in her coffee to reduce her violent tendencies. She was a groupie with the Grateful Dead, and implied that she has had a lesbian experience while there. While it had been hinted several times prior to Charlie's death that he had changed his will so she'd inherit the beach house instead of Alan, that turned out not to be true, although Berta still was set to move out because the house had mortgages attached that Alan had no chance of paying. She often calls Alan "Zippy." She, along with Alan and Evelyn, are portrayed as the only people saddened over Charlie's death. After Walden buys the house, he asks her to be a live-in housekeeper. But that agreement is short-lived when she finds out that Alan will be moving back in, only this becomes more likely when Walden sees Berta invite a piggish house guest over earlier.

• Holland Taylor as Evelyn Harper (seasons 1-present), Charlie and Alan's mother and Jake's grandmother. In the first season she is 58 years old. She expresses a superficial fondness for her sons and grandson, but she rarely lives up to her self-perceived notion of being a devoted and misunderstood matriarch. Her sons and grandson generally return the favor and go out of their way to avoid interacting with her on most occasions. Her wide-ranging sex life is a recurring gag throughout the series. The family frequently refers to her as "the devil" (or, as Charlie put it, "unholy mother of us"), and Charlie has her number on speed-dial in his cell phone as "666." Once, she showed up at the door in a black cloak with carrying a scythe. When Alan asked who it was, Charlie responded "It's Death," to which Alan replied, "Hi, mom!" It has been implied on one occasion that she literally is a witch (who is dreaded by other witches). Wealthy, with a luxurious house, she has been married numerous times and sells real estate. Evelyn has lost her oldest son Charlie, who was killed by a moving train, and surprisingly, she is distraught over his death. At his funeral, however, she continuously mentions her intention to sell his house. Since, Evelyn has begun a lesbian love affair with the mother of Alan's girlfriend, Lyndsey.

• Marin Hinkle as Judith Harper-Melnick (seasons 1-present), Alan's cheating, vindictive, cold hearted, self-absorbed, and humorless ex-wife. She seems to despise Alan and takes any chance to humiliate him. She was the first woman Alan ever slept with, but their marriage was cold: according to her, the only time she was ever happy being sexual was when she was pregnant with Jake. In the pilot, she lied to him about realizing she was homosexual as an excuse to end the marriage, and in subsequent episode he caught her picking up multiple men. She made no secret of living luxuriously with Alan's alimony, seeing as she has not held a job since she divorced him. She has since remarried to Dr. Herb Melnick (Ryan Stiles), Jake's pediatrician, a union that brought joy to Alan because it meant he no longer had to pay alimony. In Season 6, she threw Herb out of the house and briefly reunited with Alan before reconciling with Herb, and it was later revealed she was pregnant with a daughter, whom she eventually named Millie. Alan hoped he was the father, but Judith said she would kill him if he revealed that he slept with her, and after she gave birth in the sixth season finale, the child's parentage remained uncertain, as Judith was with both Herb and Alan around the time Millie was conceived. Jake and Berta describe Millie as looking nothing like Judith or Herb but more like a girl version of Alan, implying Alan is the probable biological father. In Seasons 7 and 9, Judith made very few appearances but was featured in almost every episode in Season 8.

• Jennifer Taylor (season 6; recurring, season 7; regular, season 9; guest appearance)^[7] as Chelsea^{[note 1]} Charlie's girlfriend for most of season six, who has moved into his house by the season's end. Formerly a one-night stand, Chelsea seems to be one of the few women out of Charlie's countless relationships that has caused him to try to make positive changes in his debaucherous lifestyle. She became close friends with Alan, something Charlie enjoyed because Alan could take her to museums and foreign films (activities that Charlie cannot stand). In the seventh season premiere, Charlie finally decides to let go of Mia and commit to Chelsea. As the season progresses they plan to marry but, after Chelsea becomes attracted to Alan's lawyer and Charlie vomits on a baby, Chelsea postpones the wedding. In Season 7 Charlie and Chelsea make several attempts to reconcile, most recently following her breakup with Brad (the man Chelsea left Charlie for). Chelsea tried to reunite with Charlie, but was thwarted due to her best friend Gail, (Tricia Helfer) sleeping with him. Jake later gives Chelsea a necklace that Charlie got her for her birthday and she goes outside to see him but when she got there, Charlie was in trouble with the police for backing into a police car, with a suspended license. Jake was driving at the beginning of this episode, but when the police came after them in a cop car, Jake and Charlie switched seats, causing Charlie to lose his license. While credited among the main cast as Jennifer Taylor during the seventh season, CBS press releases bill her as a recurring character. At Charlie's funeral, she says he gave her chlamydia.

• April Bowlby (season 3; recurring, season 4; regular^[8]) as Kandi, Alan's second ex-wife. Initially Charlie's gorgeous but dim-witted girlfriend until Charlie broke it off with her so he could date Mia. When Judith (who later became Kandi's confidante) initially tried to end Kandi's relationship with Alan, Kandi's mother Mandi (Gail O'Grady), who also had a brief fling with Charlie during that time, made sure the couple were dating again. During this time Judith briefly dated Kandi's father Andi (Kevin Sorbo) leading an interesting joke Jake told his father about the possibility Kandi could be his stepmother, stepsister and stepcousin all at once. Kandi and Alan had a superficial relationship based mostly on sex, but they eventually wed in Las Vegas, where they also won half a million dollars. After only four months of marriage, and spending nearly all of their winnings, Kandi kicked Alan out of their condominium, which was later revealed to be because Alan did not want to have another child with her. Kandi is soon offered a role (as a sexy forensics expert) on a CSI-type television series, entitled Stiffs. At the same time, Alan sees that Jake is practically grown up and he returns to Kandi to agree to have a baby with her. However, moments before they try to conceive, Kandi finally signs the divorce papers, to ensure that Alan would not have any claim on her new-found television lucre, and disappears from Alan's life. Bowlby had also appeared as another character named Kimber earlier on in the series prior to playing Kandi. Kandi was not seen or mentioned in seasons 5, 6 or 7, although Alan, Charlie and Jake have all mentioned that Alan "has been married twice." While credited among the main cast during the fourth season, CBS press releases billed her as a recurring character.

• Melanie Lynskey (starring seasons 1–2; recurring seasons 3–5, guest appearances season 6–present) as the Harpers' wealthy neighbor and Charlie's stalker, Rose, one of Charlie's one-night stands, who won't allow him to forget about her as he does all his other sexual conquests. Rose acknowledges that she is "boundary challenged", while Charlie and Alan refer to her as Charlie's stalker. In the pilot, she told Alan that she sneaks into Charlie's room while he's asleep and tries on his underwear. Usually uninvited, she enters and exits Charlie's house by climbing onto the backyard deck, rather than using the front door. She has been caught by Charlie and Alan as she watched them sleeping on several occasions. While credited among the main cast in CBS press releases in Season 3–4, she was credited as a recurring star in on-screen credits.^[8] After season 4, she left for London and appeared on the show only rarely. She later returns to Malibu in Season 5, though no longer living next door to Charlie, hence her less frequent appearances. She claims she was sent away from England after "an incident at Buckingham Palace." In Season 6, she became friends with Charlie's fiancee Chelsea and went on a blind date with Alan; the two began dating before Rose evinced the same jealousy and possessiveness towards Alan that she had applied towards Charlie, right down to gluing things to his nether regions. Rose was stalking Alan, but have been stalking both Alan and Charlie. Although she is somewhat mentally unhinged and obsessed with Charlie, Rose expressed that she "has an undergraduate degree from Princeton University (which she completed in 2 years) and a master's degree in behavioral psychology from Stanford University." Throughout the series, Rose has applied her knowledge of interpersonal communication towards the various situations that arise. Her family is involved in banking and oil, making them, and implicitly her, extremely wealthy. Martin Sheen, who is Charlie Sheen's real-life father, made a guest-appearance on the show as Rose's equally-disturbed father who similarly obsessed over Evelyn after sleeping with her once. Rose also has five ferrets, all named "Charlie," as was revealed in Season 2's "The Salmon Under My Sweater." Her only appearance in Season 7 was in "Gumby with a Pokey" when Charlie begins to hallucinate (after taking medicinal marijuana). Women in his past interrogate why he mistreated them, then he goes out to the deck to discover Rose; unlike the other women, Rose is really there. She made multiple appearances in Season 8, after staging her wedding, which makes Charlie realize he probably loves her. In the last episode of Season 8, Charlie leaves for Paris with her. In Season 9, Rose reveals that she and Charlie got engaged in Paris. It is implied she may have had something to do with Charlie's death after she returned to their Paris hotel to find him showering with another woman. She reappears again at the end of "What A Lovely Landing Strip" catching Walden's ex-wife Bridget spying on Walden and his new girlfriend, she then tells her that she can help her in making Walden suffer. Though she has yet to make another appearance, she makes a brief cameo through archive footage in a flashback montage in the episode "Oh Look, Al-Qaeda!".

Recurring[link]

• Ryan Stiles (recurring, seasons 2–present) as pediatrician Dr. Herbert "Herb" Melnick, Judith's goofy, train-hobbyist husband and Jake's stepfather. He first appeared as Judith's date in Season 2's "Enjoy Those Garlic Balls," but due to an inconsistency in the storyline, he was initially referred to as "Greg Melnick." Not particularly happily married to uptight Judith, he is laid-back and gets along with the Harper brothers, whose lifestyles he appears to envy at times—such as Charlie's partying and the fact that Alan was married to Kandi and later dates neighborhood MILF (and former soft-core porn actress) Lyndsey McElroy.^[9] He and the other men in Judith's neighborhood similarly idolize Lyndsey's ex-husband Chris for repeatedly seducing the babysitter.^[10] He has stated that he likes spending time with the Harpers, and called Charlie "a little loosie-goosie with the liquor and the ladies, but all-in-all a good fella" (which did not impress Judith). In the Season 6 finale, Judith gives birth to their daughter, whom they name Millie Melnick. However, Herb does not know that Judith had a brief affair with Alan around the time Millie was conceived, and remains in the dark about the fact that Alan could possibly be Millie's biological father. Single for most of his life, Herb's hobbies center on gardening,^[11] his large model train layout,^[12] and "accidentally" bumping into Lyndsey every morning.^[10] Sexually, he is particularly adept at cunnilingus.^[11]

• Jane Lynch (season 1, 3–present) as Dr. Linda Freeman, initially as Jake's, then as Charlie's and Alan's adept, incisive but money-hungry psychiatrist. Often when Charlie or Alan are just getting to the root of their problem, Dr. Freeman notes that the area is interesting, "but, unfortunately, we're out of time". She prides herself as a guesser and is quite sarcastic, especially with Charlie. A recurring gag is her frequent over-billing, once charging Charlie a full hour's fee ($200) for 5 minutes of consultation, and on another occasion while treating Alan for insomnia she billed him for an entire hour after he slept for 40 minutes of the session pointing out that she was awake. In one episode, she tells Charlie to open up and not hold anything back as her hourly fee comes to "$7 a minute". During her sessions with Jake, Dr. Freeman displays a rather quirky demeanor and is noted for her use of a cow hand puppet. She later becomes Walden's psychiatrist in season 9. It is implied that she is gay, as after Walden hugs her, she remarks "Hmph. Maybe I'm not gay." ^[13]

• Emmanuelle Vaugier (season 3; recurring, seasons 5, 6, 7 & 9; guest appearances) as Mia, a ballet teacher whom Charlie Harper fell in love with during the third season. She got him to clean up his act by not drinking nor smoking as much, not wearing bowling shirts as well as not eating meat. However, he breaks up with her after he becomes fed up with the way she was making him act. She then takes a job in New York. She returns towards the end of the third season when her dancing group comes to town, and she asks Charlie for his sperm so she can have a baby. He attempts but fails, and he then proposes marriage to her, in which she accepts. Initially, Alan was their wedding planner, however after a big blowout with Mia's parents, they agree to go to Las Vegas and elope. Just as they are about to be married, Mia implies that Alan and Jake will be moving out after they wed, and Charlie refuses to throw out his family. They break off the engagement and she leaves. Mia returns in the fifth season when Charlie sees that she is marrying another man, and he attempts to win her back, but her father punches him out. She returns again the sixth and seventh seasons after her divorce in hopes that Charlie will help her with a new-found singing career. Charlie then has to choose between Mia and his then-fiancee Chelsea. After much consideration, Charlie chooses Chelsea and abandons Mia at the recording studio. Mia also makes a brief guest appearance in the ninth season premiere at Charlie's funeral.

• J. D. Walsh (season 1-3, 6-8) as Gordon, a pizza delivery driver who idolized Charlie. During the third season he has a brief relationship with Rose, who forces him to dress like Charlie and yell the latter's name during sex. After their break-up he disappears from the show, but returned in season six, again delivering pizzas. He revealed how he became a millionaire on the stock market, got married and subsequently divorced and then lost all his money to his ex-wife, forcing him to return to pizza delivery. He looked up to Charlie, often calling him a genius and always addressing him as "Mr. Harper" rather than the more familiar "Charlie". Charlie invariably orders pizza from Gordon's pizzeria for him to deliver, irrespective of the distance; including when subletting his own live-in girlfriend Chelsea's old apartment in the San Fernando Valley,^[14] and when camped out with Alan et al. in Lyndsey's burned-out house^[15] twenty miles from the beach.^[9] Gordon is unaware that Alan briefly dated Rose after his own relationship with her.^[16] Gordon did not make an appearance in the ninth and current season. Since he has not appeared since Season 8, it remains unknown if he knows that Charlie has passed away.

• Kelly Stables (season 6-8) as Melissa, Alan's receptionist who briefly dated Charlie before starting a relationship with Alan. She broke off the relationship after discovering Alan in bed with her mother (Alan was under the influence of marijuana, provided by Melissa's mother). The two reconcile and begin dating again, but Alan's cheapness and lack of a private area for them to make love causes a second breakup. She reappeared in Alan's life in the second episode of season 8 ("A Bottle of Wine and a Jackhammer"), complicating Alan's relationship with Lyndsey. Alan and her had a bad breakup and she violently forced Charlie to reveal Alan's location with Lyndsey, but she never showed up there, wasn't a factor in Alan and Lyndsey's breakup at the time, and has not been seen since. She was mentioned in "A Giant Cat Holding A Churro" when Alan was sharing his secrets with Lyndsey, saying he "cheated on her with an old girlfriend." ^[17]

• Courtney Thorne-Smith (season 7-present) as Lyndsey McElroy, Alan's girlfriend and the mother of Jake's best friend, Eldridge (Graham Patrick Martin). Years ago, she was featured in a soft-core porn movie.^[9] She and Eldridge live across the street from Judith, Herb, Jake and Millie.^[18] She divorced her husband Chris after discovering his affair with their babysitter.^[19] Alan began dating Lyndsey at the end of season 7, and their relationship was initially kept a secret from their sons.^[20] They have since had several breakups and reunions. In the Season 9 episode "One False Move, Zimbabwe" Alan says Lyndsey is dating someone else, a fact later confirmed when he meets her very young (and rich, and handsome) boyfriend and is misled into thinking he could reunite with her. However, Lyndsey later breaks up with the boyfriend and tells Alan she wants to resume dating him; he is initially happy, then somewhat downcast when she explains that she had to work too hard to look sexy and cover up her bodily functions to keep the young guy, and she can forget about all that with Alan because he's not going to find anyone else. Alan later tells Jake that he and Lyndsey are dating but have absolutely no intention of getting married.

• Graham Patrick Martin (season 7-present) as Eldridge McElroy, Jake's best friend whose mother Lyndsey (Courtney Thorne-Smith) dated Alan. Eldridge is a dim-witted drummer and somewhat of a trouble maker. In his first appearance at the end of season 7, he and Jake get into trouble after sneaking off to the beach with "a few" beers. While Jake and Eldridge are friends, the relationship between their parents does cause some friction in their friendship. He made his first appearance of season 9 in "One False Move, Zimbabwe", and has since joined Jake in becoming laid-back, stupid (even more than before) potheads.

• Judy Greer (season 9-present) as Bridget Schmidt, the wife of Walden Schmidt who is in the process of divorcing him. She initiated the divorce proceedings because she felt Walden would never become a mature adult, but after the divorce was ready to be finalized she decided she loved him anew and wanted him back. Unfortunately, Walden decided to sign the divorce papers and continue his nascent relationship with Zoey, leading Bridget to become violently unhinged and to fall into the orbit of a returned-from-Paris Rose. ^[21] In Season 4, Greer portrayed the role of Myra Melnick the sister of Herb Melnick, Judith's fiance/husband, in the episodes "Smooth as a Ken Doll" and "Aunt Myra Doesn't Pee a Lot", during which she had a brief swing with Charlie before she returned home to her fiancee, whose existence came as a shock to Charlie.

• Sophie Winkleman (season 9–present) as Zoey Hyde-Huttington-Pierce, the British girlfriend of Walden Schmidt. She is more mature than Walden. She has a daughter in Kindergarten and is divorced. She is a lawyer. In "The Duchess of Dull-in-Sack", Zoey has lost interest in the sex. Walden gives her some of Berta's special brownies which makes her insane. She has a slight disdain towards Alan and the French.

Notes[link]

References[link]

Ashton Kutcher
Ashton Kutcher, September 2008
Born	Christopher Ashton Kutcher (1978-02-07) February 7, 1978 (age 34) Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Occupation	Actor, producer, former fashion model, comedian, television host
Years active	1998–present
Spouse	Demi Moore (m. 2005–present; divorce filed)

Christopher Ashton Kutcher (/ˈkʊtʃər/; born February 7, 1978),^[1] best known as Ashton Kutcher, is an American actor, producer, former fashion model, and comedian, known for his portrayal of Michael Kelso in the Fox sitcom That '70s Show. He also created, produced and hosted Punk'd, and played lead roles in the Hollywood films Dude, Where's My Car?, Just Married, The Butterfly Effect, The Guardian, and What Happens in Vegas. He is also the producer and co-creator of the supernatural TV show Room 401 and the reality TV show Beauty and the Geek. Kutcher currently co-stars in the hit CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men as the character Walden Schmidt.

Early life[link]

Kutcher was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He is the son of Diane (née Finnegan), a Procter & Gamble employee, and Larry M. Kutcher, a factory worker.^[2][3] His father is of Bohemian (Czech) descent and his mother is of Irish, German, and Bohemian ancestry.^[4][5] Kutcher was raised in a conservative Roman Catholic family,^[6] with an older sister, Tausha, and a fraternal twin, Michael, who had a heart transplant when the brothers were young children. Kutcher's twin brother also has cerebral palsy and is a spokesperson for the advocacy organization Reaching for the Stars.^[7]

Kutcher's brother's cardiomyopathy caused his home life to become increasingly stressful. He has stated that "I didn't want to come home and find more bad news about my brother" and "kept myself so busy that I didn't allow myself to feel".^[8] Kutcher stated that during adolescence, he contemplated committing suicide. At thirteen, he attempted to jump from a Cedar Rapids hospital balcony, with his father intervening in the incident.^[9] Kutcher attended Washington High School in Cedar Rapids for his freshman year, before his family moved to Homestead, Iowa, where he attended Clear Creek Amana High School. During high school, he developed a passion for acting and appeared in school plays.^[10] However, Kutcher's home life worsened as his parents divorced when he was sixteen. During his senior year, he broke into his high school at midnight with his cousin in an attempt to steal money; he was arrested leaving the scene. Kutcher was convicted of third-degree burglary and sentenced to three years' probation and 180 hours of community service. Kutcher stated that although the experience "straightened him out", he lost his girlfriend and anticipated college scholarships, and he was ostracized at school and in his community.^[10]

Kutcher enrolled at the University of Iowa in August 1996, where his planned major was biochemical engineering, motivated by the desire to find a cure for his brother's heart ailment.^[3] At college, Kutcher was kicked out of his apartment for being too "noisy" and "wild".^[11] Kutcher stated, "I thought I knew everything but I didn't have a clue. I was partying, and I woke up many mornings not knowing what I had done the night before. I played way too hard. I am amazed I am not dead."^[12] To earn money for his tuition, Kutcher worked as a college summer hire in the cereal department for the General Mills plant in Cedar Rapids, and sometimes donated blood for money.^[13] During his time at UI he was approached by a scout at a bar called "The Airliner" in Iowa City and was recruited to enter the "Fresh Faces of Iowa" modeling competition. After placing first, he dropped out of college and won a trip to New York City to the International Modeling and Talent Association (IMTA) Convention. Following his stay in New York City, Kutcher returned to Cedar Rapids before relocating to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting.^[11]

Career[link]

Modeling career[link]

After participating as a modeling contestant in an IMTA competition (losing to Josh Duhamel) in 1998, Kutcher signed with the Next modeling agency in New York, appeared in ads for Calvin Klein, and modeled in Paris and Milan.^{[citation needed]}

Television and film career[link]

Kutcher with Two and a Half Men co-star Jon Cryer in September 2011

After some success in modeling, Kutcher moved to Los Angeles and, after his first audition,^{[citation needed]} was cast as Michael Kelso in the television series That '70s Show, which debuted in 1998 and ended in 2006. Kutcher was cast in a series of film roles; although he auditioned but was not cast for the role of Danny Walker in Pearl Harbor (2001) (the role went to Josh Hartnett), he starred in several comedy films, including Dude, Where's My Car? (2000), Just Married (2003), and Guess Who (2005). He appeared in the 2003 family film, Cheaper By The Dozen, playing a self-obsessed actor. His 2004 film The Butterfly Effect was a dramatic role for Kutcher, playing a conflicted young man who time travels; the film received mixed to negative reviews, but was a box office success.^[10]

In 2003, Kutcher produced and starred in his own series, MTV's Punk'd, as the host. The series involved hidden camera tricks performed on celebrities. Kutcher is also an executive producer of the reality television shows Beauty and the Geek, Adventures in Hollyhood (based around the rap group Three 6 Mafia), The Real Wedding Crashers, and the game show Opportunity Knocks. Many of his production credits, including Punk'd, come through Katalyst Films, a production company he runs with partner Jason Goldberg.^[14] In 2006, People magazine ranked him third in its annual list of "The Sexiest Men Alive".^[15]

Because of scheduling conflicts with the filming of The Guardian, Kutcher was forced not to renew his contract for the eighth and final season of That 70s Show, although he did appear in the first four episodes of it (credited as a special guest star) and returned for the series finale.^[10]

Kutcher produced and starred in the 2010 action comedy, Killers, in which he played a hitman.^[16]

In May 2011, Kutcher was announced as Charlie Sheen's replacement on the series Two and a Half Men.^[17] Kutcher's contract was for one year and was believed to be worth nearly $20 million.^[18] His debut as the character Walden Schmidt, entitled "Nice to Meet You, Walden Schmidt", was seen by 28.7 million people on September 19, 2011. The Nielsen ratings company reported that figure was more than any episode in the show's first eight seasons, when Sheen starred in it.^[19][20]

Other work[link]

Kutcher was part of the management team for Ooma, a tech start-up launched in September 2007. Ooma is in the Voice over Internet Protocol business and Kutcher's role was as Creative Director. He spearheaded a marketing campaign and produced viral videos to promote this service. Kutcher also created an interactive arm of Katalyst called Katalyst Media, with his partner from Katalyst Films, Jason Goldberg. Their first site was the animated cartoon Blah Girls. Ooma revamped its sales and marketing strategy with a new management team in the summer of 2008, replacing Kutcher as their creative director. Rich Buchanan, from Sling Media, became Ooma's Chief Marketing Officer.

Kutcher appears in advertisements for Nikon cameras.

On March 23, 2011, Kutcher launched his own Twitter client with UberMedia, called A.plus. While the app was initially available exclusively for desktop computers with Adobe Air installed, it eventually became available on mobile platforms, for iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry. In order to download on one of the 3 mobile platforms, users must first have the UberSocial client installed on their device, and then proceed to the device's browser to download A.plus.^[21][22]

In July 2011, Brazilian fashion label Colcci hired Kutcher and Alessandra Ambrosio to feature in a denim advertisement.^[23]

Personal life[link]

Kutcher and Moore, September 2008

In 2003, Kutcher began dating actress Demi Moore. Moore and Kutcher married on September 24, 2005,^[24] in a private ceremony conducted by a Rabbi of the Kabbalah Center; the wedding was attended by about 150 close friends and family of the couple, including Bruce Willis, Moore's ex-husband.^[25] In October 2010, Kutcher and Moore met with co-director of the Kabbalah Center Rabbi Yehuda Berg in Israel.^[26] On November 17, 2011, Moore released a statement announcing her intention to divorce Kutcher.^[27] The announcement followed weeks of media speculation about the state of the couple's marriage.^[28]

Kutcher has invested in an Italian restaurant, Dolce^[10] (other owners include Danny Masterson and Wilmer Valderrama) and a Japanese-themed restaurant named Geisha House located in Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York.

Kutcher is a self-described fiscal conservative and social liberal.^[29] He is a student of Kabbalah; his No Strings Attached co-star, Natalie Portman, stated in 2011 that Kutcher "has taught me more about Judaism than I think I have ever learned from anyone else".^[30]

On September 17, 2008, Kutcher was named the assistant coach for the freshman football team at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. However, he was unable to return in 2009 because he was filming Spread.^[31][32]

In February 2011, Kutcher sold his Hollywood Hills home, which he originally bought in 2004.^[33]

In April 2012, Ashton Kutcher became the 500th paying customer to sign up to ride Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo.^[34]

Twitter presence[link]

On April 16, 2009, Kutcher became the first user of Twitter to have more than 1,000,000 followers,^[35] beating CNN in the "Million followers contest".^[36][37][38] Kutcher announced via Twitter that he would be donating $100,000 to a charity to fight malaria. However, there have been several reports that Twitter manipulated the contest's results by preventing users from "unfollowing" Kutcher or CNN.^[39]

Controversy[link]

In April 2011, Kutcher and wife Demi Moore began a public service announcement campaign claiming that "Real Men" do not engage the services of child prostitutes who are the victims of human trafficking.^[40] Kutcher's claims that 100,000 to 300,000 American children were sold into sexual slavery were criticized by newspaper the Village Voice, which gave evidence refuting the claims. Kutcher represented a study referring to minors 'at risk' for sexual exploitation as referring to children actually being prostituted. Experts estimate the true numbers to be in the hundreds, not the hundreds of thousands.^[41] Kutcher reacted to the criticism by accusing the Village Voice of promoting child prostitution and using Twitter to request that Village Voice advertisers including American Airlines, Disney, the City of Seattle, and Domino's Pizza withdraw their advertising from publications owned by the parent company of the Village Voice.^[42][43]

Filmography[link]

Television[link]

As a producer[link]

Awards[link]

• Young Artist Award
  • 1999 – Best Performance in a TV Series – Young Ensemble for That '70 Show (shared with Topher Grace, Laura Prepon, Mila Kunis, Wilmer Valderrama and Danny Masterson)- Nominated
• Kid's Choice Awards
  • 2004 – Favorite Movie Actor for Just Married, My Boss's Daughter and Cheaper by the Dozen – Nominated
  • 2004 – Favorite Television Actor for That '70s Show and Punk'd – Winner
  • 2005 – Favorite TV Actor for That '70s Show and Punk'd – Nominated
  • 2006 – Favorite TV Actor for That '70s Show – Nominated
  • 2007 – Favorite Voice in a Cartoon for Open Season – Nominated
• People's Choice Awards
  • 2010 – Favorite Web Celeb – Winner
• Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award
  • 2000 – Sierra Award Best Male Newcomer for Dude, Where's My Car? – Nominated
• MTV Movie Awards
  • 2001 – Breakthrough Male Performance for Dude, Where's My Car? – Nominated
  • 2011 – Best Comedic Performance for No Strings Attached – Nominated
• Teen Choice Awards
  • 2003 – Choice Reality Hunk for Punk'd – Winner
  • 2003 – Choice TV Reality/Variety Host for Punk'd- Winner
  • 2003 – Choice TV Actor – Comedy for That '70s Show – Winner
  • 2004 – Choice TV Personality – Winner
  • 2004 – Choice Reality/Variety TV Star – Male for Punk'd – Winner
  • 2004 – Choice TV Actor – Comedy for That '70s Show – Winner
  • 2004 – Choice Movie Hissy Fit for Cheaper by the Dozen – Nominated
  • 2004 – Choice Movie Liplock Cheaper by the Dozen (shared with Piper Perabo) – Nominated
  • 2005 – Choice: TV Male Personality for Punk'd – Winner
  • 2005 – Choice TV Actor: Comedy for That '70s Show – Winner
  • 2005 – Choice Movie Actor: Comedy for Guess Who and A Lot Like Love – Nominated
  • 2005 – Choice Movie Rockstar Moment for A Lot Like Love – Winner
  • 2007 – Choice Movie Actor: Drama for The Guardian – Nominated
  • 2008 – Choice: Movie Actor Romantic Comedy for What Happens In Vegas – Winner
  • 2010 – Choice: Movie Actor Romantic Comedy for Valentine's Day – Winner
  • 2011 – Choice: Movie Actor Romantic Comedy for No Strings Attached – Winner
  • 2012 - Choice TV Actor: Comedy for Two and a Half Men - Pending
• Golden Raspberry Awards
  • 2003 – Razzie Award for Worst Screen Couple for Just Married (shared with Brittany Murphy) and My boss's Daughter (shared with Tara Reid) – Nominated
  • 2004 – Razzie Award for Worst Actor for Cheaper By The Dozen, Just Married and My Boss's Daughter – Nominated
  • 2010 – Razzie Award for Worst Actor for Killers – Winner

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ashton Kutcher

• Ashton Kutcher at the Internet Movie Database
• Ashton Kutcher at AllRovi
• Ashton Kutcher at People.com
• Ashton Kutcher on Twitter