Wilmer Valderrama
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wilmer Valderrama (born January 30, 1980) is a comic actor best known for the role of Fez in the sitcom That '70s Show and as the host of the MTV series Yo Momma.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Valderrama was born in Miami, Florida on January 30, 1980 to immigrant parents. They moved to Venezuela when he was three years old, and again moved to Los Angeles from Venezuela at the age of fourteen.[1]
He did not speak English upon his arrival, but he quickly learned the language in school and began drama classes during high school. Valderrama has said that he was aided in learning English from watching shows such as '
[edit] Debuts
- Valderrama got his start performing in numerous plays, including A Midsummer Night's Dream and Rumors.
- He made his professional debut in a Spanish-language Pacific Bell commercial.
- At his drama teacher's suggestion, Valderrama got an agent and was immediately cast in the CBS miniseries Four Corners and in Omba Makamba on the Disney Channel.
- Valderrama made his big screen debut starring opposite Freddie Prinze Jr., Brittany Murphy, Matthew Lillard and Jessica Biel in the Warner Brothers film Summer Catch.
[edit] Best-known work
- Valderama played Fez on That '70s Show from 1998-2006. He was a junior in high school when the pilot episode was shot. Note that although the character's name was an acronym of "foreign exchange student", Fox Broadcasting Company sources and Valderama's website both show the character's name spelled with "z", as some kind of "poetic license".
- Playing DJ Keoki, Valderama appeared in the 2003 film Party Monster alongside Macaulay Culkin, Chloe Sevigny and Seth Green.
- As of 2006, Valderama has hosted Yo Momma, a show he also created and produces.
[edit] Recent projects
- Valderrama recently appeared in the Los Angeles Times critic's choice play Blackout, an adaption of the feature film Drunks.
- Starring opposite Anjelica Huston and Ben Kingsley, Valderrama performed in the Actors' Fund of America one-performance only reading of Sunset Boulevard.
- Valderrama completed filming the short film La Torcedura in which he plays the lead.
- In the feature film Clifford's Really Big Movie, Valderama played alongside John Ritter, Wayne Brady and Jenna Elfman to lend his voice to the character of "Rodrigo".
- Valderrama voices the main character, Manny, in Disney Channel’s Handy Manny series for preschoolers.[2]
- Valderrama recently wrapped production on The Darwin Awards, an independent film directed by Finn Taylor, starring Winona Ryder and Joseph Fiennes.
- He will soon begin work on a starring role in El Muerto, an indie film directed by Brian Cox and based on the successful comic book created by Javier Hernandez.[3]
- In January 2007 Wilmer Valderrama has announced that he will launch his own fashion label this year. He plans to create men’s clothing label, that will be called Calavena.[4]
[edit] Personal life
Valderrama was previously in a serious relationship with Lindsay Lohan[5], and dated Mandy Moore for 18 months in 2000.
Valderrama co-owns three restaurants: Dolce, The Lodge, and Geisha House.
[edit] Selected filmography
- CHiPs (2007)
- Unaccompanied Minors (2006)
- Handy Manny (2006) (TV series)
- Bob The Builder (2006) (TV series)
- Fast Food Nation (film) (2006)
- El Muerto (2007)
- Yo Momma TV series (2006)
- Beauty Shop (2005) (uncredited)
- The Darwin Awards (2005)
- Party Monster (2003)
- Summer Catch (2001)
- That '70s Show (1998 - 2006) (TV series)
[edit] Trivia
- Valderrama has been Punk'd three times by Ashton Kutcher. He currently holds the record for being Punk'd the most.
- In an episode of That '70s Show, when the kids' high school yearbooks were shown, Fez was voted "Most Likely to Play Ponch in the Musical Version of CHiPs." In 2008, Valderrama will star in the movie version of CHiPs as Ponch. He also played Ponch alongside Danny Masterson and Mila Kunis in a parody entitled "CHiPS 2002" on an episode of MadTV.
- Valderrama was named to People magazine's "Top 50 Bachelors" in 2002.
- An episode of Celebrity Deathmatch depicted Valderrama in a match against Nick Cannon. He won.
- Valderrama cameos in Cypress Hill's video clip for the song "What's your Number".
[edit] See also
[edit] Reference notes
- ^ Many unofficial sources (i.e. blogs, pages that rely upon Wikipedia for their info, etc.) state that Valderama is of mixed Venuzelan and Colombian descent; while not unlikely, this is unverified.
- ^ Kidstcmovies: Wilmer Valderama bio
- ^ Wilmer Valderrama Official Site
- ^ Wilmer Valderrama to launch his own fashion label EnjoyFashion, January 04, 2007
- ^ Hollywood Gossip
