Efren Antonio Ramirez (born October 2, 1973) is an American actor.

Biography

Career

Ramirez has starred in a number of films, including Napoleon Dynamite as Pedro Sanchez, Employee of the Month with Dane Cook, Jessica Simpson, and Dax Shepard, Crank & Crank: High Voltage with Jason Statham, Searching for Mickey Fish with Daniel Baldwin, All You've Got with Ciara, and HBO's Walkout and made cameos in Nacho Libre and Mr. & Mrs. Smith. In 2009, Efren will star in the comedy American Summer with Matthew Lillard as well as appear as a contestant on MTV's Celebrity Rap Superstar. On July 14, 2008 Sierra Mist released a series of commercials aimed at multicultural consumers in which Efren stars. The first being named "Wedding Girl" followed by "Mannequin Man" and an online spot, "The Whiner," which will be posted at the Sierra Mist dedicated site, RefreshYourMind.com

Soon after the success of Napoleon Dynamite, the music group G. Love and Special Sauce asked Efren to appear in their music video "Booty Call". He also played Ashlee Simpson's boyfriend in the music video for her 2005 song "Boyfriend". Ramirez also made a cameo appearance in a 2005 episode of ABC's The George Lopez Show wearing a t-shirt similar to the shirt Jon Heder wears in Napoleon Dynamite that reads, "Vote For Pedro". In 2007 Ramirez appeared on Cycle 8 of reality contest America's Next Top Model as the judge for an acting challenge.

Ramirez makes a cameo in King Cobra, portraying a teenager playing a game of hide-and-seek with his girlfriend (portrayed by Ramirez's wife Iyari Limon). They later end up as prey for the title antagonist.

He co-founded Powerhouse Pictures Entertainment, LLC with Chris Barrett, and they co-authored the book Direct Your Own Life: How To Be A Star In Any Field You Choose being published on June 10, 2008 through Kaplan Publishing.

Personal life

Ramirez was born in Los Angeles, California of Salvadoran and Mexican descent. He has two brothers, one of whom is his twin. Ramirez bought his parents a house with his earnings from Napoleon Dynamite.

In 1998, he married actress Iyari Limon. The marriage was later annulled.

Ramirez is also a touring DJ. He has performed in over 50 cities across the world and spins everything from Hip Hop all the way to his favorite type of music: Hard House.

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1994	Tammy and the T-Rex	Pizza Boy
1995	Jury Duty	Pirate Pete's employee
1996	Kazaam	Carlos
1998	Melting Pot	Miguel Álvarez
1999	King Cobra	Teen Boy	Direct-to-Video Release
2000	Rave	Bookie
2001	Delivering Milo	Street Hustler	Uncredited Role
2004	Napoleon Dynamite	Pedro Sanchez
	Just Hustle	Street Connection
2006	Tomorrow's Yesterday	Ron
	Gettin' Some Jail Time	Pico
	Crank	Kaylo
	Employee of the Month	Jorge
2007	Moola	Hector
	Crossing the Heart	Jesus
2009	Ratko: The Dictator's Son	Ratko Volvic
	American Summer	Hector
	Gamer	DJ Twist
	Crank: High Voltage	Venus
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Relativity	Xavier	Episode: "No Job Too Small"
1997	Dangerous Minds	Nutty	Episode: "The Feminine Mystique"
	Nothing Sacred	Guillermo	Episode: "A Bloody Miracle"
1999	Ryan Caulfield: Year One	Juan	Episode: "Nocturnal Radius"
	Chicken Soup for the Soul	Paco	Episode: "Paco Come Home"
2000	Missing Pieces	Renaldo	TV-Movie
2000, 2001	Boston Public	Amaad Wilkens	Episode: "Chapter Six" Episode: "Chapter Twenty-Two"
	Even Stevens	Scrub Patrol	Episode: "Scrub Day" Episode: "Easy Crier"
2003	Judging Amy	Ricky Diaz	Episode: "Picture of Perfect"
	ER	Jimmy	Episode: "Death and Taxes"
2004	The District	Fernando Guttierez	Episode: "Ten Thirty-Three"
2005	George Lopez	The New Class Treasurer	Episode: "George's Extreme Makeover-Holmes Edition"
	Robot Chicken	Pedro Sanchez/Domino's Pizzaman	Voice Role Episode: "The Black Cherry"
2006	Walkout	Bobby Verdugo	HBO TV-Movie
	All You've Got	Carlos	MTV TV-Movie
	MADtv	Various Roles	Episode: 12.3
2007	El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera	El Cucharón	Voice Role Episode: "The Bride of Puma Loco"
	American Dad!	Paco	Episode: "American Dream Factory"
	Celebrity Rap Superstar	Himself
	Scrubs	"Caramel Bear" Ricky	Episode: "My Growing Pains"

References

1. http://efrenramirez.net/bio
2. FamilyTreeLegends.com lists him and his brother Carlos born on October 2, 1973. This database is from the California Birth Index, 1905-1995, Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California (see also Ancestry.com). (FamilyTreeLegends.com retrieved and verified on 2006-08-20). Also, the Clark County, NV marriage recorder shows he married Iyari Limon in October 1998. Other sources list a dubious birth year of 1983 [1], which would have made him 15 at the time of his marriage to a woman seven years his senior.
3. Efren Ramirez
4. http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1804511844/bio

External links

• Official Efren Ramirez Site
• Official Direct Your Own Life: How To Be A Star In Any Field You Choose's Book website
• Efren Ramirez Interview