Ashton Kutcher
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Ashton Kutcher | |
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Kutcher at the premiere of New Year's Eve in 2011 |
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Born | Christopher Ashton Kutcher February 7, 1978 Cedar Rapids, Iowa, U.S. |
Occupation | Actor, producer, fashion model, comedian |
Years active | 1998–present |
Spouse(s) | Demi Moore (m. 2005) |
Christopher Ashton Kutcher (/ˈkʊtʃər/; born February 7, 1978),[1][2] known professionally as Ashton Kutcher, is an American actor, producer, former fashion model, comedian, and human trafficking abolitionist. He is 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 the producer and co-creator of the supernatural TV show Room 401 and the reality TV show Beauty and the Geek. As of 2013[update], Kutcher co-stars in the hit CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men as the character Walden Schmidt.
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Early life
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.[3][4] His father is of Bohemian descent and his mother is of Irish, German, and Bohemian ancestry.[5][6] Kutcher was raised in a conservative Roman Catholic family,[7] 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.[8]
Kutcher's brother's cardiomyopathy caused his home life to become increasingly stressful. He 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".[9] 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.[10] 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.[11] However, Kutcher's home life worsened as his parents divorced when he was 16. 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.[11]
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.[4] At college, Kutcher was kicked out of his apartment for being too "noisy" and "wild".[12] 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."[13] 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.[14] 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.[12]
Career
Modeling career
After participating as a modeling contestant in an IMTA competition (losing to Josh Duhamel) in 1998, Kutcher signed with Next modeling agency in New York, appeared in ads for Calvin Klein, and modeled in Paris and Milan.[15]
Television and film career
After some success in modeling, Kutcher moved to Los Angeles and, after his first audition,[16] 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.[11]
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.[17] In 2006, People magazine ranked him third in its annual list of "The Sexiest Men Alive".[18]
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.[11]
Kutcher produced and starred in the 2010 action comedy, Killers, in which he played a hitman.[19]
In May 2011, Kutcher was announced as Charlie Sheen's replacement on the series Two and a Half Men.[20] Kutcher's contract was for one year and was believed to be worth nearly $20 million.[21] 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.[22][23]
Other work
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.
In 2009, Kutcher established an international human rights organization with his then wife, Demi Moore. DNA Foundation, later known as Thorn, works to address the sexual exploitation of children and the proliferation of child pornography on a global scale.[24]
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.[25][26]
In July 2011, Brazilian fashion label Colcci hired Kutcher and Alessandra Ambrosio to feature in a denim advertisement.[27]
Kutcher has also successfully invested in several technology startups.[28][29] Some of his investments include Skype, Foursquare, Airbnb, Path and Fab.com.[30] He is a co-founder of the venture capital fund A-Grade Investments.[31]
Personal life
Relationships
In 2003, Kutcher began dating actress Demi Moore. Moore and Kutcher married on September 24, 2005,[32] 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.[33] Kutcher and Moore met with co-director of the Kabbalah Center Rabbi Yehuda Berg in Israel in October 2010.[34] On November 17, 2011, Moore released a statement announcing her intention to end her marriage to Kutcher.[35] The announcement followed weeks of media speculation about the state of the couple's marriage.[36] After over a year of separation, Kutcher filed for divorce from Moore on December 21, 2012, in Los Angeles Superior Court, citing irreconcilable differences.[37] Moore filed her response papers in March 2013, requesting spousal support and payment of legal fees from Kutcher.[38]
Kutcher began dating his former That '70s Show co-star Mila Kunis in 2012.[39][40][41]
Interests and beliefs
Kutcher is a self-described fiscal conservative and social liberal.[42] 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".[43] Kutcher has invested in an Italian restaurant, Dolce[11] (other owners include Danny Masterson and Wilmer Valderrama) and a Japanese-themed restaurant named Geisha House located in Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York City. 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.[44][45] In February 2011, Kutcher sold his Hollywood Hills home, which he originally bought in 2004.[46] In April 2012, Ashton Kutcher became the 500th paying customer to sign up to ride Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo.[47]
Twitter presence
On April 16, 2009, Kutcher became the first user of Twitter to have more than 1,000,000 followers,[48] beating CNN in the "Million followers contest".[49][50][51] 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.[52]
Controversy
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.[53] 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.[54] 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 Voice's parent company.[55][56]
Filmography
Year | Film | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1999 | Coming Soon | Louie | |
2000 | Down to You | Jim Morrison | |
Reindeer Games | College Kid | ||
Dude, Where's My Car? | Jesse Montgomery III | ||
2001 | Texas Rangers | George Durham | |
2003 | Just Married | Tom Leezak | Main role |
My Boss's Daughter | Tom Stansfield | ||
Cheaper by the Dozen | Hank | Supporting role | |
2004 | The Butterfly Effect | Evan Treborn | Main role |
2005 | Guess Who | Simon Green | |
A Lot Like Love | Oliver Martin | ||
2006 | Bobby | Fisher | |
The Guardian | Jake Fischer | Lead Role | |
Open Season | Elliot | Voice | |
2008 | What Happens in Vegas | Jack Fuller | Lead role |
2009 | Spread | Nikki | Main role |
Personal Effects | Walter | Main role | |
2010 | Valentine's Day | Reed Bennet | Main role |
Killers | Spencer Aimes | Main role | |
2011 | No Strings Attached | Adam Franklin | Main role |
New Year's Eve | Randy | Supporting role | |
2013 | Jobs | Steve Jobs | Main role |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1998–2006 | That '70s Show | Michael Kelso | Seasons 1–7 (Regular); Season 8 (Recurring) 184 episodes[57] |
2001 | Just Shoot Me | Dean Cassidy | 1 episode |
2002 | Grounded for Life | Cousin Scott | 1 episode |
2003–2007,2012 | Punk'd | Himself/Host | Creator, 2003-2007: Full-time Host, 2012: Celebrity Host |
2005 | Robot Chicken | Various | Voice |
2008 | Miss Guided | Beaux | 1 episode |
2011–present | Two and a Half Men | Walden Schmidt | Main role season 9-present |
As a producer
Year | Title | Episodes | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2003–2007,2012-present | Punk'd | Executive producer/host | |
2003 | My Boss's Daughter | Co-producer | |
2004 | The Butterfly Effect | Executive producer | |
You've Got a Friend | 8 episodes | Executive producer | |
2005 | A Lot Like Love | ||
2005–2008 | Beauty and the Geek | 48 episodes | Executive producer |
2007 | Adventures in Hollyhood | 8 episodes | Executive producer |
Miss Guided | 7 episodes | Executive producer | |
Game Show in My Head | Executive producer | ||
The Real Wedding Crashers | 7 episodes | Executive producer | |
Room 401 | 8 episodes | Executive producer | |
2008 | Pop Fiction | Executive producer | |
2008–2009 | Opportunity Knocks | TV series (Executive producer) | |
2009 | True Beauty | Executive producer | |
The Beautiful Life | 5 episodes | ||
Spread | |||
2010 | Killers | Executive producer |
Awards
Year | Award | Category | Title of work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1999 | Young Artist Award | Best Performance in a TV Series – Young Ensemble (shared with Topher Grace, Laura Prepon, Mila Kunis, Wilmer Valderrama and Danny Masterson) | That '70s Show | Nominated |
2000 | Las Vegas Film Critics Society | Sierra Award Best Male Newcomer | Dude, Where's My Car? | Nominated |
2001 | MTV Movie Awards | Breakthrough Male Performance | Dude, Where's My Car? | Nominated |
2003 | Teen Choice Award | Choice Reality Hunk | Punk'd | Won |
Choice TV Reality/Variety Host | Won | |||
Choice TV Actor | That '70s Show | Won | ||
Golden Raspberry Awards | Razzie Award for Worst Screen Couple (shared with Brittany Murphy) | Just Married | Nominated | |
Razzie Award for Worst Screen Couple (shared with Tara Reid) | My Boss's Daughter | Nominated | ||
2004 | Kid's Choice Awards | Favourite Movie Actor | Just Married, My Boss's Daughter, Cheaper by the Dozen | Nominated |
Favorite TV Actor | That '70s Show, Punk'd | Won | ||
Teen Choice Award | Choice TV Personality | Won | ||
Choice Reality/Variety TV Star – Male | Punk'd | Won | ||
Choice TV Actor – Comedy | That '70s Show | Won | ||
Choice Movie Hissy Fit | Cheaper by the Dozen | Nominated | ||
Choice Movie Liplock (shared with Piper Perabo) | Nominated | |||
Golden Raspberry Awards | Razzie Award for Worst Actor | Cheaper By The Dozen, Just Married, My Boss's Daughter | Nominated | |
2005 | Kid's Choice Awards | Favorite TV Actor | That '70s Show, Punk'd | Nominated |
Teen Choice Award | Choice TV Male Personality | Punk'd | Won | |
Choice TV Actor: Comedy | That '70s Show | Won | ||
Choice Movie Actor: Comedy | Guess Who, A Lot Like Love | Nominated | ||
Choice Movie Rockstar Moment | A Lot Like Love | Won | ||
2006 | Kid's Choice Award | Favorite TV Actor | That '70s Show | Nominated |
Hollywood Film Award | Ensemble of the Year | Bobby | Won | |
2007 | Critics Choice Award | Best Acting Ensemble | Nominated | |
Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | Nominated | ||
Kid's Choice Award | Favorite Voice in a Cartoon | Open Season | Nominated | |
Teen Choice Award | Choice Movie Actor: Drama | The Guardian | Nominated | |
2008 | Choice Movie Actor: Romantic Comedy | What Happens In Vegas | Won | |
2010 | People's Choice Awards | Favorite Web Celeb | Won | |
Teen Choice Award | Choice Movie Actor: Romantic Comedy | Valentine's Day | Won | |
2011 | Golden Raspberry Awards | Razzie Award for Worst Actor | Killers, Valentine's Day | Won |
MTV Movie Awards | Best Comedic Performance | No Strings Attached | Nominated | |
Teen Choice Award | Choice Movie Actor: Romantic Comedy | Won | ||
2012 | Choice TV Actor: Comedy | Two and a Half Men | Nominated |
References
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- ^ "Monitor". Entertainment Weekly (1245): 22. Feb 8, 2013.
- ^ "Ashton Kutcher Biography". Filmreference.com. Retrieved October 29, 2008.
- ^ a b "Interview With Ashton Kutcher — Part 2". America's Intelligence Wire. September 6, 2006. Retrieved October 29, 2008.
- ^ Stated on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, August 12, 2003
- ^ "Pedigree Chart for Diane Finnegan". Lobdellkrotzgenealogy.com. 2010-05-28. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
- ^ "Living The Dream – The Making of Spread" (Commentary with Ashton Kutcher saying; "I'm from the Mid West. I'm from a Catholic family, from a relatively conservative environment."), Spread on DVD, Katalyst Films, 2009.
- ^ Brannigan, Joseph (2011-09-09). "Surprise! Ashton Kutcher Has a Twin Brother | Yahoo TV - Yahoo! TV". Tv.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
- ^ "USA Weekend". Profile: Ashton's great balancing act. Retrieved September 23, 2006.[dead link]
- ^ "Hollywood.com". Profile: Ashton Kutcher Contemplate. Archived from the original on April 14, 2005. Retrieved October 6, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e "Ashton Kutcher: More than meets the eye?"[dead link]
- ^ a b Meers, Erik (2001). "Dude – He's a star." Papermag.com. Retrieved October 6, 2006.
- ^ "Cosmopolitan". Profile: Ashton Kutcher on past party days and his rock-solid relationship. February 1, 2001. Retrieved October 11, 2007.
- ^ Weitzman, Elizabeth (March 2000). "Kutcher in the Rye". Interview. Archived from the original on March 12, 2008. Retrieved February 2, 2007.
- ^ "Actors who used to be models!". msn. August 18 2012. Retrieved October 31 2012.
- ^ "Ashton Kutcher- Biography". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved December 29 2012.
- ^ "Two New Producers, Lots of New Projects"
- ^ "The Sexiest Men Alive 2006 – Ashton Kutcher". People. November 15, 2006. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
- ^ "Ashton Kutcher to Shoot 'Five Killers'". Movies.tvguide.com. October 22, 2008. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
- ^ "Ashton Kutcher: 'Two And A Half Men' Replacement For Charlie Sheen". The Huffington Post. AOL. May 12, 2011. Retrieved May 12, 2011.
- ^ "Ashton Kutcher's 'Two and a Half Men' deal only spans one year". CNN. May 24, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
- ^ Bauder, David. "Excite News-Kutcher sets sitcom record; Sheen roast a big draw". Exciite.com/Associated Press. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
- ^ "Ashton Kutcher’s ‘Two and a Half Men’ debut scores record ratings". Washington Post. September 20, 2011. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
- ^ "MSN TakePart". Causes.msn.com. Retrieved 2013-03-24.
- ^ "Twitter app by Ashton Kutcher". Aplus-app.com. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
- ^ "Ashton Kutcher launches his own Twitter client (!?!) With Ubermedia (Ah...) - TNW Apps". Thenextweb.com. 2011-05-23. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
- ^ "Ashton Kutcher in steamy photo shoot with Alessandra Ambrosio". Daily Mail. UK. July 30, 2011. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
- ^ "Ashton Kutcher's Surprisingly Successful Tech Investments". The Atlantic. 2011-06-14. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
- ^ "An Actor Who Knows Start-Ups". New York Times. 2011-05-25. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
- ^ crunchbase.com: Ashton Kutcher
- ^ crunchbase.com: A-Grade Investments
- ^ "Ashton & Demi Get Married". People. September 25, 2005.
- ^ Oldenburg, Ann (September 27, 2006). "Changing of the 'Guardian'". USA Today. Retrieved September 30, 2006.
- ^ Brinn, David. "Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore share 'love, light' in Israel". The Jerusalem Post.
- ^ "Demi Moore announces plans to end her 6-year marriage to Ashton Kutcher". The Washington Post. Associated Press. November 17, 2011.
- ^ "Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore to Divorce". People. November 17, 2011.
- ^ "Ashton Kutcher Files for Divorce from Demi Moore". People. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
- ^ "Demi Moore files divorce papers, responding to Ashton Kutcher". Los Angeles Times. March 7, 2013. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
- ^ "Ashton Kutcher & Mila Kunis Pack On The PDA In NYC (Photos)". The Huffington Post. September 24, 2012.
- ^ "Mila's football lesson from Ashton". New York Post. September 25, 2012. Retrieved September 26, 2012.
- ^ "Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher's Superhero date". Virgin Media. September 26, 2012.
- ^ Real Time with Bill Maher. August 14, 2009.
- ^ Mandell, Andrea (January 18, 2011). "'No Strings Attached' binds Portman and Ashton". USA Today. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
- ^ L.A. Times report on Kutcher[dead link]
- ^ "Ashton Kutcher has a close relationship with his step-daughters". Los Angeles Times. September 1, 2009. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
- ^ "Ashton Kutcher Lists His Bachelor-Era Home for $2.6 Million"
- ^ Moskowitz, Clara. "Ashton Kutcher Buys 500th Ticket for Virgin Galactic Spaceship Ride". Retrieved April 5, 2012.
- ^ "Inside Ashton Kutcher's world of Twitter". The Guardian (London). April 21, 2009. Archived from the original on April 23, 2009. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
- ^ Sutter, John D. (April 15, 2009). "CNN report on Kutcher". CNN. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
- ^ "Fox News report on Kutcher". Fox News. April 17, 2009. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
- ^ Kaufman, Gil (April 17, 2009). "MTV article on Kutcher". MTV. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
- ^ Needleman, Rafe. "How to unfollow Ashton Kutcher". CNET. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
- ^ "Moore, Kutcher: Join our crusade to end child sex trafficking". CNN. April 14, 2011. Retrieved July, 2011.
- ^ "Real Men Get Their Facts Straight". The Village Voice (New York). April 14, 2011. Archived from the original on July 1, 2011. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
- ^ "Ashton Kutcher Will Destroy Newspaper Over Sex Slavery Article". Gawker. July 1, 2011. Retrieved July, 2011.
- ^ "http://www.boingboing.net/2011/07/01/ashton-kutcher-bulli.html". BoingBoing. July 1, 2011. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
- ^ "That '70s Show (1998–2006)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved December 29 2012.
External links
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
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