Frankie Muniz Biography

Francisco "Frankie" Muniz IV (born December 5, 1985) is an American actor, musician, writer, producer, race car driver, and band manager. He is best known for playing the title character in the Fox television family sitcom Malcolm in the Middle, which earned him an Emmy Award nomination and two Golden Globe Award nominations.

In 2003, he was considered "one of Hollywood's most bankable teens." In 2008, he put his acting career on hold to pursue an open wheel racing career. He competed in the Atlantic Championship. From 2012 to 2014, he was a drummer in the band Kingsfoil.

Early life

Muniz was born on December 5, 1985, in Wood-Ridge, New Jersey. His father, Francisco III, was a restaurateur, and his mother, Denise, was a nurse.His father is Puerto Rican and his mother is of Italian and Irish descent. He has an elder sister, Cristina. When Muniz was four years old, his family moved to Knightdale, North Carolina where he grew up. He was first discovered at the age of eight, at a talent show in Raleigh, North Carolina in a local production of A Christmas Carol, cast as Tiny Tim. Shortly after, his parents divorced, and he subsequently moved to Burbank, California, with his mother. Beginning in the sixth grade, Muniz was home-schooled by his mother. He appeared in commercials and made his film debut in the made-for-television movie To Dance With Olivia (1997), starring Lou Gossett Jr. In that same year, he appeared in the CBS Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation of What the Deaf Man Heard. A small role in the film Lost & Found (1999) led to his breakout role as the title character on Malcolm in the Middle.

Career

Acting

Fox premiered Linwood Boomer's Malcolm in the Middle, starring Muniz, on January 9, 2000, as a mid-season replacement, and the show was quickly met with accolades. The premiere episode was watched by 23 million people and the second episode by 26 million. He was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2001, and received The Hollywood Reporter "Young Star Award" for his work in the series.

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

The following year, he contributed 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 teamed him with teen actress Amanda Bynes as a pair of students seeking revenge on a sleazy movie producer (played by Paul Giamatti). Muniz was also part of the ensemble for the gang film Deuces Wild, released that same year. In 2003, he made a cameo appearance as Cher's underage boyfriend in Stuck on You. That same year, he appeared in the series premiere of Ashton Kutcher's MTV practical joke series Punk'd.

Muniz subsequently played the title role in the film Agent Cody Banks as well as its sequel, Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London. The first film opened in March 2003, and grossed $47 million; the sequel, which opened a year later, grossed $28 million. He trained in martial arts for the films, 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 child actor to an adult actor or a respectable actor."

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

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

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

In late 2007, he made a guest appearance in an episode of the CBS crime drama Criminal Minds. In December 2007, he made a cameo appearance in the movie Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, playing Buddy Holly. In 2008, he began work on a film with former Missy Elliott protge 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 comedy Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23.

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

On September 6, 2017, Muniz was announced as one of the celebrities who would compete on the 25th season of Dancing with the Stars. He was paired with professional dancer, Witney Carson. Muniz and Carson finished the season in third place.

Writing and producing

Muniz started writing in 2004, when he wrote the teleplay of the TV show Granted. To date, that is his only written work. In 2004, he was the executive producer of Granted. In 2006, he was also executive producer for the movie Choose Your Own Adventure: The Abominable Snowman. A year later (2007), he became an associate producer of the film Choose Connor.

Racing

Muniz has had a long-running interest in car racing. On February 18, 2001, Muniz drove the pace car for the Daytona 500 and met Dale Earnhardt shortly before Earnhardt entered his vehicle for the race. Muniz, who was also attending the race to film for MTV's documentary series True Life, witnessed the subsequent crash on the final lap which killed Earnhardt.

Muniz's career in car racing traces back to 2004, when he ran the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race in Long Beach as a celebrity participant, finishing 7th. The following year, he finished third, and was the best-finishing celebrity after capitalizing on Ingo Rademacher and Aaron Peirsol's contact on the final lap. While investigating the possibility of joining a racing team as an owner, he was granted a test in a car, and instead signed a two-year deal with Jensen Motorsport as a driver. Muniz entered fourteen races during the 2006 Formula BMW USA season, and failed to finish in a point-scoring position. He was selected as one of the thirty-six drivers to compete in the annual Formula BMW World Final at Valencia. Muniz finished 29th. In April, he again competed 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 season of 12 races. 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 at the Sebring Winter National race. He signed with Atlantic Championship-winning team Pacific Coast Motorsports in January 2008, with a goal to consistently compete 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 on by fellow 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 he contested, with a best finish of fourth at Miller Motorsports Park. However, prior to the penultimate race at Road America, his season was shortened by wrist surgery.

In 2011, Muniz returned to the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race; after starting 15th, he finished 4th.

Music

Muniz joined the unsigned band You Hang Up as a drummer. He said, "This is something I have 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 Imperial Cymbals. In 2014, he had to leave the band because of scheduling problems.

In 2017, Muniz announced on Facebook that he is the manager for the York-based band Astro Lasso, which consists of Jordan Davis and Tristan Martin of his former band Kingsfoil. Muniz travels with the band doing their monitor systems, lights, 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 this past spring.

Personal life

Muniz is an avid supporter of the Arizona Cardinals and the Los Angeles Clippers.

On November 30, 2012, at age 26, Muniz was hospitalized after having a transient ischemic attack, also described as a "mini stroke", and spoke about the experience on Katie. He suffered a second attack a year later, in November 2013. He was interviewed in 2017 and asked about his health, and said he has had no issues. It was revealed on Dancing with the Stars on October 9, 2017, that he in fact has suffered from a lot of memory loss, including losing memories from his childhood acting days.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	To Dance with Olivia	Oscar	TV movie
1997	What the Deaf Man Heard	Young Sammy	TV movie
1998	Spin City	Derek Evans	Episode: "Three Men and a Little Lady" Episode: "The Kidney's All Right"
1999	Sabrina, the Teenage Witch	Angelo	Episode: "Sabrina the Matchmaker"
1999	Lost & Found	Movie on TV 'Boy'
1999	Little Man	Ross	Short film
2000	My Dog Skip	Willie Morris	Main role
2000	2000 Kids' Choice Awards	Himself / Host
2000	Miracle in Lane 2	Justin Yoder	TV movie
2000-2003	Scruff	Strummer	Lead Role
2000-2006	Malcolm in the Middle	Malcolm	Lead role
2001	'	Young Andy Dick	Episode: "Kid Krist"
2001	The Simpsons	Thelonious (voice)	Episode: "Trilogy of Error"
2001	Dr. Dolittle 2	Boy Bear Cub (voice)
2001-2003	'	Chester McBadbat (voice)	24 episodes
2002	Moville Mysteries	Mosley 'Mo' Moville	TV series
2002	Lizzie McGuire	Himself	Episode: "Lizzie in the Middle"
2002	Big Fat Liar	Jason Shepherd	Main role
2002	Titus	Nick Galenti	Episode: "Too Damn Good"
2002	'	Mike	Episode: "Camp Nowhere: Part 2"
2002	Deuces Wild	Scooch
2002	Fillmore!	Willie / Augie / Tony (voice)	Episode: "Test of the Tested" Episode: "A Wurm in Our Midst"
2002	Moville Mysteries	Mosley "Mo" Moville	TV series
2003	Clifford the Big Red Dog	Himself	Episode: "Little Big Pup/Getting to Know You"
2003	Agent Cody Banks	Cody Banks	Main role
2003	Stuck on You	Cher's Boyfriend
2004	Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London	Cody Banks	Main role
2005	Racing Stripes	Stripes (voice)	Main role
2005	Arrested Development	Himself	Episode: "Mr. F"
2006	Stay Alive	Swink Sylvania
2006	Danny Roane: First Time Director	Himself
2006	Choose Your Own Adventure: The Abominable Snowman	Benjamin North (voice)	Video
2006	'		Episode: "1.1"
2007	My Sexiest Year	Jake Stein
2007	Criminal Minds	Jonny McHale	Episode: "True Night"
2007	Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story	Buddy Holly
2008	Extreme Movie	Chuck
2010	'	Manu (voice)
2011	Pizza Man	Matt Burns / Pizza Man
2012	Last Man Standing	Richard	Episode: "Baxter & Sons"
2012	Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23	Himself	Episode: "A Reunion..."
2013	Blast Vegas	Nelson	Main role
2015	Hot Bath an' a Stiff Drink 2	Deputy Allister Jenkins	Sequel to Western Hot Bath an' a Stiff Drink
2015	Road To Capri	Daniel	Post production
2015	The Mysteries of Laura	Himself	Episode: "The Mystery of the Crooked Clubber"
2015	Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!	Lucas Stevens	TV movie
2017	Preacher	Himself	Episode: "Viktor"; appears in a TV advert
2017	Dancing with the Stars	Himself / Contestant	Season 25
2017	Misfit Garage	Himself	Season 5, Episode 8

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result
1998	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in a TV Movie/Pilot/Mini-Series: Young Actor Age Ten or Under	What the Deaf Man Heard
	YoungStar Award	Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Miniseries/Made-for-TV Movie
2000	Giffoni Film Festival	Best Actor	My Dog Skip
	Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards	Youth in Film
	YoungStar Awards	Best Young Actor/Performance in a Motion Picture Drama
		Best Young Actor/Performance in a Comedy TV Series	Malcolm in the Middle
		Best Young Ensemble Cast: Television
	Teen Choice Awards	TV: Choice Actor
	Television Critics Association Awards	Individual Achievement in Comedy
2001	Young Artist Awards	Best Ensemble in a Feature Film	My Dog Skip
		Best Performance in a TV Movie (Drama): Leading Young Actor	Miracle in Lane 2
		Best Ensemble in a TV Series	Malcolm in the Middle
		Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series: Leading Young Actor
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
	Golden Globe Awards	Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series Comedy/Musical
	Satellite Awards	Best Performance by an Actor in a Series: Comedy or Musical
	Teen Choice Awards	TV: Choice Actor
	TV Guide Awards	Breakout Star of the Year
2002	Teen Choice Awards	Film: Choice Chemistry	Big Fat Liar
	Golden Globe Awards	Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series: Musical or Comedy	Malcolm in the Middle
	Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite Television Actor'
	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series: Leading Young Actor
		Best Ensemble in a TV Series: (Comedy or Drama)
2003	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Actor: Comedy	Agent Cody Banks
		Choice TV Actor: Comedy	Malcolm in the Middle
	Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite Television Actor
	Young Artist Awards	Best Ensemble in a TV Series: (Comedy or Drama)
		Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama): Leading Young Actor
2004	Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films	Best Performance by a Younger Actor	Agent Cody Banks
	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama): Leading Young Actor
	Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite Television Actor	Malcolm in the Middle
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actor: Comedy
2005	Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite Television Actor	Malcolm in the Middle
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actor: Comedy

Motorsports career results

American open-wheel racing results

(key)

Atlantic Championship

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Rank	Points
2007	Jensen MotorSport	LVG Ret	LBH 19	HOU 21	POR1 Ret	POR2 20	CLE Ret	MTT Ret	TOR 9	EDM1 17	EDM2 16	SJO 11	ROA 18	22nd	41
2008	Pacific Coast Motorsports	LBH 15	LS 13	MTT 11	EDM1 12	EDM2 13	ROA1 11	ROA2 10	TRR 12	NJ 10	UTA 14	ATL 9		11th	102
2009	Team Stargate Worlds	SEB 10	UTA 4	NJ1 8	NJ2 8	LIM 10	ACC1 7	ACC2 7	MDO 8	TRR 6	MOS	ATL	LS	9th	62