Joshua David Duhamel (pronounced
duh-MEL; born November 14, 1972) is a
Daytime Emmy Award-winning
American actor and former
fashion model. He first achieved acting success in 1999 as
Leo du Pres on
ABC's
All My Children and later as the chief of security,
Danny McCoy, on
NBC's
Las Vegas. He is also well known for his role as one of the protagonists, Captain William Lennox, in the box office hit
Transformers.
Biography
Early life
Duhamel was born in
Minot,
North Dakota, the son of Bonnie, a physical education teacher, and Larry David Duhamel, an advertising salesman.
[ FilmReference.com] His parents divorced during his youth, and although he remains close to both, he grew up with his mother
[ USA Weekend.com] and his younger sisters Ashlee, Mckenzee and Kassidy. Duhamel attended
Minot State University and participated on the
university's football team as the quarterback,
[. He intended on attending dental school][ NBC.com] but dropped out one-and-a-half credits shy of his degree.
Career
Duhamel has stated, "After college, I followed an ex-girlfriend to northern California, did a bunch of odd jobs and then sort of fell into modeling."[ He won the title of Male Model of the Year in an IMTA (International Modeling and Talent Association) modeling competition in 1997][ IMTA.com] (his first runner-up was actor Ashton Kutcher[ People.com]).
Duhamel began his acting career as an extra in the music videos for Donna Summer's song, "I Will Go With You (Con te partirò)" in 1998 and Christina Aguilera's song, "Genie in a Bottle" in 1999.[ Later that year, he won the role of Leo du Pres on the ABC soap opera All My Children. His work on the show, especially his character's pairing with Greenlee Smythe (portrayed by actor Rebecca Budig), garnered critical acclaim. In 2002, Duhamel earned a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for the Special Fan Award for America's Favorite Couple, shared with Budig, and won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Leo du Pres.][ Soapcentral.com] Duhamel opted to leave All My Children in 2002 to pursue other acting opportunities.
In 2003, Duhamel landed a prime time role on the NBC show Las Vegas, playing Montecito Casino security agent, Danny McCoy. He succeeded James Caan as president of the Montecito after Caan departed at the end of the fourth season. The series was cancelled in 2008.
Duhamel made his big-screen acting debut in 2004's Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! and continued on to star in the thriller Turistas (2006). After watching an episode of Las Vegas in which Duhamel's character had just returned from the war in Iraq, director/producer Steven Spielberg handpicked him for the role of Captain William Lennox in 2007's summer blockbuster film Transformers[ (a film which Spielberg was the executive producer). Duhamel will reprise the role for the sequel, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, scheduled for release on June 26, 2009.][ Variety]
Personal life
In 2004, Duhamel was engaged to his girlfriend of several years, fashion model Kristy Pierce, whom he met on a photo shoot. They broke off their engagement months shy of their wedding.[ He is now engaged to Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson,][ MSN.com] who is a singer in the band The Black Eyed Peas. They met, and began dating, in September 2004[ People.com] when she and her band appeared on Duhamel's show Las Vegas (in an episode titled "Montecito Lancers", which aired on November 1, 2004). Duhamel and Ferguson reside in Brentwood, California[ STLToday] in a house that they purchased together in 2007.[ MSNBC.com]
Duhamel branched into entrepreneurship in 2005 by opening a restaurant with three other people, "10 North Main", in the downtown section of his hometown of Minot, North Dakota.[ 10 North Main]
Filmography
Film
Television
Awards and nominations
See also
