Biography for Josh Duhamel

 

Date of Birth
14 November 1972, Minot, North Dakota, USA

Birth Name
Joshua David Duhamel

Height
6' 3½" (1.92 m)

Mini Biography

Joshua David Duhamel was born in Minot, North Dakota to parents Larry and Bonny Duhamel. Josh's father, Larry, is an advertisement salesman and his mother, Bonny, is a high school teacher. Josh has three younger sisters: Ashley, Cassidy and Mckenzie. His heritage also includes French and Canadian (his last name is a very common last name among Francophones in the world). Acting was not the first priority in Josh's mind while he was still studying at Minot State University. The football player studied biology with the intention of going to dental school after getting his degree. Josh decided to retake organic chemistry and physics to bump up his GPA. Josh ended up dropping a one credit art class thinking it would not matter because he had already taken so many advanced art classes but, unfortunately, people at Minot State University did care about it and Josh ended up one credit short.

When Josh was 26 years old, he worked in the construction business and it was by sheer luck that he got into the celebrity business. Josh was with his ex-girlfriend and a scout from a modeling agency in San Francisco asked him if he would be interested in modeling. Josh could not believe what had happened but, after realizing it was real, he decided to think about the offer. A few days later, Josh was accepted and he did a lot of commercial work, even beating out fellow model Ashton Kutcher for a place as a top model.

Modelling eventually gave way to acting as Josh was asked to audition for the title character in The Picture of Dorian Gray (2005), from the novel by Oscar Wilde. He got the part and, even though the movie did not become a big hit at the box office, Josh got into the real business where he landed a role as the lead star in the daytime soap opera "All My Children" (1970). Josh had to move to New York City as the series was being shot there. He played Leo Du Pres in the award-winning series from 1999-2002. Josh was nominated for three Daytime Emmy nominations, including an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in 2002. In 2003, he decided to quit "All My Children" (1970) and he left New York to return to Los Angeles. It was there when he landed his first major movie role. He got a part in Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (2004), playing the title character.

After playing Tad Hamilton, Josh landed one of the starring roles alongside Oscar-nominated James Caan in the television series "Las Vegas" (2003). He got the role of the young Danny McCoy, who works in the security department in Montecito. Josh said that it was pretty easy to relate to his character Danny McCoy in "Las Vegas" (2003) because he grew up sort of blue collar. Josh also recently became more recognized as he starred in the movie Transformers (2007) as Captain William Lennox and the movie Turistas (2006) as Alex, garnering him more success.

In the love line, Josh was previously engaged to his girlfriend of five years, Kristy Pierce, but the wedding was called off two weeks before it was to take place in May 2004. In December 2007, Josh became engaged to Stacy Ferguson, better known as Fergie from The Black Eyed Peas. Fergie has also guest-starred in an episode of "Las Vegas" (2003) together with her band. Josh is hoping that by starring in "Las Vegas" (2003), it will lead him to a possible movie career. Although the series has been canceled, Josh is focusing on getting major movie roles to increase his status in the industry. Josh has expressed his wish to hopefully do a George Clooney and focus acting on movies full time as he gets older. He recently bought a house in Los Angeles, California with Fergie.

Spouse
Stacy Ferguson     (10 January 2009 - present)

Trade Mark
Deep resonant voice
Towering height

Trivia
He starred in the yet-to-be-released independent film The Picture of Dorian Gray (2005) in 1999, then ABC called him to test for the role of "Leo du Pres". To Josh's shock, ABC executives wanted him so much that they postponed the character's first air date by more than a month to accommodate his schedule.

He lived in New York City until relocating to Los Angeles, California.

His on-again, off-again ex-girlfriend of over two years, Kristy Pierce, lives in Los Angeles, California. They were engaged in 2004 but subsequently split. In December 2007, he became engaged to Stacy Ferguson, aka "Fergie" of The Black Eyed Peas.

Josh's father, Larry, is an ad salesman, and his mother, Bonny, is a teacher.

Josh wanted to be a dentist from the time he was a sophomore in high school. He gave up his dream to become a dentist when his grades were not good enough to get in a dental college. As a result, he moved to California where he got discovered while posing for fashion magazines.

Turned down the role of Dusty Donovan on "As the World Turns" (1956) in 2002, saying that he would return to daytime only on "All My Children" (1970).

January 2004: announced on ABC's "The View" (1997) that he is now engaged to longtime girlfriend Kristy Pierce.

Shares the same middle name as his father

Has relocated to Los Angeles, California.

On People (USA) magazine's '50 Most Beautiful' list [2004].

Won the IMTA (International Modeling and Talent Association) Male Model of the Year Award in 1997. Other models were Ashton Kutcher and Riley Smith.

Earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in biology at Minot State University. He enjoys basketball, football, skiing and golf.

Has three younger sisters: Ashley, Cassidy and Mckenzie.

His name is a very common French last name among Francophones meaning "From the Hamlet".

When he was a teenager, he worked as a lifeguard at a local pool.

Enjoys basketball, football, skiing, & golf in his days off.

Branched into entrepreneurship, opening a restaurant, 10 North Main, in his hometown with his best friend.

Owns a restaurant in his hometown Minot, North Dakota called "10 North Main".

His last name (Duhamel) is pronounced "duh-MEL".

Engaged to Stacy Ferguson [December 26, 2007].

Former bath attendant.

French American.

Married longtime fiancée Stacy Ferguson in a very private ceremony on January 10, 2009. The ceremony was so private that the guests were not even told the location until the actual morning of the wedding.

Spent his honeymoon with a week at the One & Only Reethi Rah in the Maldives, followed immediately afterwords with a week at the One & Only Ocean Club on Paradise Island, in the Bahamas. [January 2009]

Brother-in-law of Dana Ferguson.

His dog, Meatloaf, died on April 1, 2012.

Josh and Stacy Ferguson are expecting their first child [February 18, 2013].

Personal Quotes
(On The Romantics (2010)) I didn't like it at first. I didn't. Because when I first read the script, I said, "I don't like any of these characters". I really didn't. I just thought it was a bunch of selfish people who were making much bigger deals of their problems than they really were. But then I read it again, and I liked it much better because it felt like it was really kind of a reflection of what people are anyway - what friends are like, what groups of friends and family are like. We're all dysfunctional. We're all messed up in some way.

[on working with Julianne Hough in 'Safe Haven'] I championed Julianne for this film because I knew she was hungry, a hard worker, sweet and down-to-earth. On a movie like this, where everything depends upon the connection between the two people, there can't be any hang-ups. And with her there are none. She is who she is. It made it easy to open up to her, and for her to open up to me.

[on developing his character for 'Safe Haven'] I was on the beach with with a pencil and paper and a little journal. I wanted to make very clear what relationship was with my wife, the one that passed away, even though I didn't have any scenes with her in the movie. It was important that I knew our history before I ever got into anything else with any of the characters. So I did a lot of writing about how we met.

When I was a kid I dreamed about fame, you know, how cool it would be to be in a movie and to be on TV. I thought about certain movie roles or certain lines from movies by myself in the shower and thought I could do that someday. But I never really believed that I ever had a chance.

[on marriage] You have to like the person that you are with, not just love them, but actually really like them. I really do like my wife a lot. She's funny. She's fun. She's very kind, very generous and thoughtful - all those things that you hope for. I think that we both grew up with similar backgrounds, believe it or not. Our parents are both former teachers, Catholic. We didn't have a lot growing up. I don't think either one of us takes our lives, our blessings, for granted.

Where Are They Now
(June 2009) Attended the premiere of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) at the Oktyabr Theater in Moscow, Russia on June 16th.

(June 2009) Attended the premiere of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) on June 15th at Odeon Leicester Square in London, England.

(June 2009) Attended the German premiere of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) at the Sony Center CineStar on June 14th in Berlin, Germany.

(June 2009) Attended the premiere of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) at Yongsan CGV Theaters in Seoul, South Korea on June 9th.

(June 2009) Attended the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) world premiere at Roppongi Hills on June 8th in Tokyo, Japan.