- John Leguizamo is a multi-faceted artist who has been acting since the 1980s
- The Emmy Award nominee has been married to his wife, Justine Maurer, for 20 years
- John and Justine have two adult children
- John was married once before Justine
John Leguizamo is a versatile actor who has more than 150 acting credits to his name, according to his IMDb page. He got his start in Madonna‘s 1986 music video for “Borderline” and had his film debut in 1984’s Mixed Blood. From there, he appeared in some episodes of Miami Vice, landed a role in Die Hard 2, and continued building his resume to this day. Notably, he played Tybalt in 1996’s Romeo + Juliet and he lent his voice as Sid in the Ice Age films and as Bruno in the popular Disney film, Encanto. In addition, he has more than 20 producing credits to his name, earned a Special Tony Award in 2018 for his run of Latin History for Morons on Broadway, and landed a Critic’s Choice and Emmy Award nomination for his role of Raymond Santana Sr. in the Netflix’s miniseries, When They See Us.
Throughout most of his phenomenal career, John, 62, has enjoyed the support of his wife, Justine Maurer, and their two kids. He was also married to actress Yelba Osorio for two years during the second decade of his career. Read on to learn more about John and his past marriages.
Justine Maurer
John, a Catholic with roots in Latin America, and Justine Maurer, who is Jewish, have been married since 2003. Coincidentally, John’s character of Mauricio in 2008’s Nothing Like The Holidays had the same religious dynamic in his marriage. “They never said it was written for me. No one’s told me the truth. It’s too weird a coincidence,” he told Time in 2008. “It made it great, too, because that’s my life — I had lots to draw from. My wife knows that [my family members are] all very passionate and we talk about everything and there’s no holds barred when we get together. We talk about everything and anything loudly.”
In the same interview, John expressed what marriage means to him. “I still think marriage is more than a ceremony and a document. It’s definitely a commitment that two people make and I don’t know if you need all those elements to make it a marriage,” he noted. “To me marriage is a devout commitment to make things work and figure it out and fight to stay together. I think you have to really make that commitment in your soul. Both people have to.”
While not much is known about their relationship, John once confessed that he has very active dreams that force his wife to comfort him. “I’m always being chased — by dogs, murderers — like an action movie,” he told PEOPLE in Dec. 2022. “She has to put her hand on me because I’m about to yell.”
The couple has two children: daughter Allegra Sky, who was born in 1999, and son Ryder Lee, who they welcomed in 2000. Allegra became a student at Northwestern University beginning in 2018, which her actor father documented on Instagram, as seen in the above video.
In June 2022, John gushed about how much being a father means to him. “Happy father’s day to me!” he exclaimed alongside a picture with his two kids, seen here. “And every Dad that is present. Because It’s the most important job and most fulfilling in the world! I an (sic) humbled by the task snd (sic) inspired to be my best by my kids!”
Yelba Osorio
The Summer of Sam actor married actress Yelba Osorio in 1994. The pair acted together in the 1997 film Pest, in which John starred as the titular character. The pair went their separate ways in 1996, and it’s unclear why. Yelba stopped acting in 2014 and lives away from the spotlight.