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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.
****
Background Information
Born Christopher Ashton Kutcher
February 7, 1978 (1978-02-07) (age
33)
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, U.S.
Occupation Actor, producer, former
fashion model, comedian, television host
Years active 1998–present
Spouse Demi Moore (m. 2005–present;
divorce filed)
****
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.[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 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. Kutcher also
appeared in school plays.[8]
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".[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'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.[8]
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
Modeling career
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
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.[8]
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.[8]
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 19 September, 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
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. In July 2011, Brazilian fashion label Colcci hired Kutcher
and Alessandra Ambrosio to feature in a denim advertisement.[21]
Personal life
In 2003, Kutcher began dating
actress Demi Moore. Moore and Kutcher married on September 24, 2005,[22] 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.[23] In October 2010, Kutcher and Moore met with
co-director of the Kabbalah Center Rabbi Yehuda Berg in Israel.[24] On November
17, 2011, Moore released a statement announcing her intention to divorce
Kutcher.[25] The announcement followed weeks of media speculation about the
state of the couple's marriage.[26]
Kutcher has invested in an Italian
restaurant, Dolce[8] (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.[27] 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".[28]
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.[29][30]
In February 2011, Kutcher sold his
Hollywood Hills home, which he originally bought in 2004.[31]
Twitter
presence
On April 16, 2009, Kutcher became
the first user of Twitter to have more than 1,000,000 followers,[32] beating CNN
in the "Million followers contest".[33][34][35] 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.[36]
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.[37] 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.[38] 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.[39][40]
Filmography
Movies
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 Just Shoot Me! Dean Cassidy 1
episode
Texas Rangers George Durham
2003 Just Married Tom Leezak
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
Robot Chicken Various Voice
2006 Bobby Fisher
The Guardian Jake Fischer
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
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1998–2006 That 70's Show Michael
Kelso Seasons 1–7 (Regular); Season 8 (Recurring)
180 episodes
2001 Just Shoot Me Dean Cassidy 1
episode
2002 Grounded for Life Cousin Scott
1 episode
2003–2007 Punk'd Himself/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
As a
producer
Year Title Episodes Notes
2003–2007 Punk'd 69 episodes
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
2005–2008 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
2005 A Lot Like Love
2010 Killers Executive producer
Awards
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
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
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http://www.fox19.com/story/3622898/ashton-kutcher?redirected=true. Retrieved May
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2.^ "Ashton Kutcher Biography".
Filmreference.com. http://www.filmreference.com/film/49/Ashton-Kutcher.html.
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3.^ a b "Interview With Ashton
Kutcher — Part 2". America's Intelligence Wire. September 6, 2006.
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-18727013_ITM. Retrieved
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4.^ Stated on The Tonight Show with
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5.^
http://www.lobdellkrotzgenealogy.com/pedigree.php?personID=I92403&tree=lobdellnovy
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9.^ "USA Weekend". Profile:
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10.^ "Hollywood.com". Profile:
Ashton Kutcher Contemplate. Archived from the original on April 14, 2005.
http://web.archive.org/web/20050414182642/http://www.hollywood.com/news/detail/article/2439108.
Retrieved October 6, 2007.
11.^ a b Meers, Erik (2001). "Dude
– He's a star." Papermag.com. Retrieved October 6, 2006.
12.^ "Cosmopolitan". Profile:
Ashton Kutcher on past party days and his rock-solid relationship. February 1,
2001. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-11778752_ITM. Retrieved
October 11, 2007.
13.^ Weitzman, Elizabeth (March
2000). "Kutcher in the Rye". Interview. Archived from the original on March 12,
2008.
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New Projects"
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Killers'". Movies.tvguide.com. October 22, 2008.
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Half Men' Replacement For Charlie Sheen". The Huffington Post. AOL. May 12,
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18.^ "Ashton Kutcher's 'Two and a
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19.^ Bauder, David. "Excite
News-Kutcher sets sitcom record; Sheen roast a big draw". Exciite.com/Associated
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Half Men’ debut scores record ratings". Washington Post. 20 September 2011.
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21.^ "Ashton Kutcher in steamy
photo shoot with Alessandra Ambrosio". Daily Mail. 30 July 2011.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/apnewsbreak-demi-moore-announces-plans-to-end-her-6-year-marriage-to-ashton-kutcher/2011/11/17/gIQANPlOVN_story.html.
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Divorce". People. November 17, 2011.
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27.^ Real Time with Bill Maher.
August 14, 2009.
28.^ Mandell, Andrea (January 18,
2011). "'No Strings Attached' binds Portman and Ashton". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2011-01-18-kutcherportman18_cv_N.htm.
Retrieved January 20, 2011.
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30.^ "',L.A. Times', blogsite
Ashton Kutcher has a close relationship with his step-daughters".
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31.^ Ashton Kutcher Lists His
Bachelor-Era Home for $2.6 Million
32.^ "Inside Ashton Kutcher's world
of Twitter". The Guardian (UK). April 21, 2009. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/apr/21/ashton-kutcher-celebrity-twitter.
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37.^ "Moore, Kutcher: Join our
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39.^ "Ashton Kutcher Will Destroy
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Retrieved July, 2011.
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