Frankie Muniz

Francisco James Muniz IV (/ˈmjuːnɪz/; Wood-Ridge, New Jersey, December 5, 1985) is an American racing driver and actor. He is best known for playing the title character on the FOX family television sitcom Malcolm in the Middle, which earned him an Emmy Award nomination and two Golden Globe nominations.

In 2003, he was considered "one of the most bankable young men in Hollywood". In 2008, he temporarily left his acting job to become a single-seater driver, competing in the Atlantic Championship. From 2012 to 2014, he was a drummer in the band Kingsfoil.

Early Years

Francisco James Muniz IV was born on December 5, 1985 in Wood-Ridge, New Jersey, the son of restaurateur Francisco Muniz III and nurse Denise. His father is Puerto Rican, with Spanish origins (from Asturias)., and his mother is of Italian and Irish descent. He has an older sister, Cristina. When Muniz was four years old, his family moved to Knightdale, North Carolina, where he grew up. age eight, at a talent show in Raleigh, North Carolina, in a local production of A Christmas Carol, cast as Tiny Tim. Shortly thereafter, his parents divorced, and he subsequently moved to Burbank, California, with his mother. She appeared in commercials and made her feature film debut in the TV movie To Dance With Olivia (1997), starring Louis Gossett, Jr.. In the same year, she was featured in CBS's Hallmark Hall of Fame induction, What the Deaf Man Heard. A small role in the movie Lost & Found (1999) led to the breakout role of him as the main character in Malcolm in the middle .

Career

Performance

Fox premiered Linwood Boomer's Malcolm in the Middle, starring Muniz, on January 9, 2000, as a midseason replacement, and the show was quickly exceeded with acclaim. The main episode was watched by 23 million people and the second episode by 26 million.He was nominated for the Emmy Awards in 2001, and received the "Young Star Award" from The Hollywood Reporter for the work of him in the series.

Throughout his television career, Muniz made guest appearances on the shows Lizzie McGuire; Sabrina the Teenage Witch; and MADtv. His first leading film role was as Willie Morris in the 2000 family piece, My Dog Skip, which was released around the same time as the pilot. from Malcolm in the Middle. That same year, he provided the voice of the character Domino in the 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue video game, and appeared in the Stargate Worlds video game.

The following year, he provided a character voice to the animal cast of the film Dr. Dolittle 2. He had a hit with the 2002 release Big Fat Liar, which cast him with young actress Amanda Bynes as a pair of students seeking revenge on a sleazy producer of movies (played by Paul Giamatti). Muniz was also part of the ensemble of the gang movie Deuces Wild, released that same year. In 2003, he made a cameo appearance as Cher's younger boyfriend in Stuck on You. That same year, he appeared in the premiere of MTV's prank series Punk'd, by Ashton Kutcher.

Subsequently, Muniz played the lead role in the film Agent Cody Banks, as well as its sequel, Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London. The first film was released in March 2003 and grossed $47 million; the sequel, which was released a year later, grossed $28 million.He trained in martial arts for the movies, and performed most of his own stunts. He also commented that it was the point in his career where he should "make the transition from rookie actor to respectable actor".

Muniz provided the voice of a zebra character named Stripes, who wishes to become a racing equine, in the 2005 film Racing Stripes. That same year, he made a guest appearance on "Mr. F", an episode of the Fox sitcom Arrested Development. In April 2006, he began filming My Sexiest Year, an independent film starring Harvey Keitel as his father. He announced, later that month, that he would be taking a break from acting to pursue a career in motorsports, under a two-year full-time contract with Jensen Motorsport in Formula BMW competition.

Malcolm in the Middle ended its run on May 14, 2006. Ten days later, on May 24, Muniz appeared in the horror film Stay Alive. He expressed a desire to leave traditional Hollywood film roles behind, saying:

Growing up has never scared me until last year. I started thinking about getting old, getting older, and he scared me. I hope things work in my career. If they don't, then it was never meant to be.

Despite her earlier stated intention to take a break from acting, in May 2006, she signed on to star in the R-rated teen sex comedy, Extreme Movie]. The film was planned originally to be released in 2007 by Dimension Films, but was finally released direct-to-DVD in February 2009.

In late 2007, he made a guest appearance on an episode of the CBS crime drama Criminal Minds. In December 2007, he made a cameo appearance in the film Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, playing Buddy Holly. In 2008, he began working on a film with former Missy Elliott protégé Brianna Perry, but the project was never released.

Muniz made a foray into the superhero genre with the family action film, Pizza Man, in 2011.

In 2012, he made a cameo appearance as himself in the second season of the sitcom Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23.

In 2015, he made another appearance in The Mysteries of Laura, in which one of the detectives (Merideth Bose) had a crush on the actor and race car driver (Frankie Muniz) who was competing in a drag race. The team was on an NYPD case and the suspicious evidence would be presented at the drag race.

On September 6, 2017, Muniz was announced as one of the celebrities competing on season 25 of Dancing with the Stars, being paired with professional dancer, Witney Carson. Muniz and Carson made it to the season finale, finishing in third place.

Writing and Production

Muniz began writing in 2004, when she wrote the television show soap opera Granted. To date, that is the only work of hers written about her. In 2004, he was the executive producer of Granted. In 2006, he also executive produced the film Choose Your Own Adventure: The Abominable Snowman. A year later (2007), he became associate producer of the movie Choose Connor.

Motor Racing

Muniz in 2007

Muniz has always been very interested in car racing. On February 18, 2001, Muniz drove the pace car for the Daytona 500, meeting Dale Earnhardt shortly before Earnhardt got into his car for the race. Muniz, who also attended the race to film for the MTV documentary series True Life, witnessed the subsequent last-turn crash that killed Earnhardt.

Muniz's career in auto racing dates back to 2004, when she led the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race at Long Beach as a celebrity entrant, finishing in seventh place. The following year, she finished third, and was the best celebrity after capitalizing on last-lap contact from Ingo Rademacher and Aaron Peirsol. While researching the possibility of joining a racing team as owner, he was granted a trial run in a car, instead signing a two-year contract. years with Jensen Motorsport as a driver. Muniz entered fourteen races during the 2006 Formula BMW USA season, failing to finish in a points points position, he was selected as one of thirty-six drivers to compete in the annual Formula BMW World Final. in Valencia. Muniz finished in 29th place. In April, he returned to racing in the Toyota Pro/Celebrity, finishing 11th after starting 19th.

In 2007, Muniz moved up to the more competitive Champ Car Atlantic Series, where he competed in the entire 12-race season. For the season, his best race finish was ninth place, and he officially earned a total of 41 points (for 22nd place) and $17,000 in prize money, logging 351 laps. In January 2007, he placed second in the race Sebring Winter National. He signed with Atlantic Championship winning team Pacific Coast Motorsports in January 2008, with the goal of consistently competing in the top ten of the points championship. He finished the 2008 season in eleventh place. At the end of the 2008 season, he won the Jovy Marcelo Award, an award for sportsmanship voted for by other drivers named in memory of the 1991 Atlantic Championship winner who was killed during practice for the 1992 Indianapolis 500. In 2009, Muniz joined Team Stargate Worlds, and finished in the top ten in every race held, with a best finish of fourth at Miller Motorsports Park. However, before the penultimate race at Road America, his season was cut short by surgery on his wrist.

Muniz at the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race in 2011

In 2011, Muniz returned to the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race; After starting 15th, he finished fourth.

Music

Muniz joined the unsigned band, You Hang Up, as a drummer. He said, "This is something I've always wanted in my life, and I'm thrilled to be associated with such a great group of guys!"

In 2012, Muniz joined Kingsfoil, a band based in York, Pennsylvania, and endorsed SJC Drums and Cymbals Imperial. In 2014, he had to leave the band due to scheduling issues.

In 2017, Muniz announced on Facebook that he is the manager of York-based band Astro Lasso, which consists of Jordan Davis and Tristan Martin from his former band Kingsfoil. Muniz travels with the band doing their monitoring systems, lighting, as well as being the designated driver. The band opened for We the Kings, Cute Is What We Aim For and Plaid Brixx on the We The Kings 10 tour last spring.

Personal life

On November 30, 2012, Muniz was hospitalized following a transient ischemic attack, also described as a "mini-stroke," and he discussed the experience with Katie. second attack a year later, in November 2013. He was interviewed in 2017 and asked about his health, he said that he had not had any problems. On October 9, 2017, it was revealed on Dancing with the Stars that he had suffered extensive memory loss, including losing many memories of his childhood acting days as in Malcolm in the Middle.

Muniz began dating Paige Price in 2016, and announced their engagement on November 18, 2018. They eloped in October 2019 and married on February 21, 2020. Their son, Mauz Mosley Muniz was born on March 22 of 2021.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Results

Atlantic Championship