Mark Vincent (born July 18, 1967), better known by the stage name Vin Diesel, is an American actor, writer, director, and producer. Diesel is also the founder of the production companies OneRace Films and Tigon Studios. Diesel is distinguished by a bald head, muscular physique, and deep gravelly baritone voice.

History

Born on July 18, 1967, in New York City, to Delora Vincent and an unknown father, Diesel is considered to be of Irish, Dominican, Mexican, African-American, Scottish and Italian descent. The 1994 short film Multifacial aimed to tell the story of Mike, a struggling actor, whose multi-ethnic appearance proves problematic in auditions. Diesel also reportedly claimed that his mother is descended from the Sinclairs of Scotland.

Portfolio

Diesel was cast in 1998's Saving Private Ryan on the strength of Multi-Facial, and followed it up with Boiler Room (2000). He broke through to mainstream audiences with the 2001 film The Fast and the Furious and the 2002 film xXx. In 2004 he reprised his role as Pitch Black's Riddick in The Chronicles of Riddick, and afterwards took on the titular role in Hannibal, as the Carthaginian general who crossed the Alps by elephant to attack Rome.

During his teens, he performed breakdancing in an instructional video on the subject.

Diesel is also a long time fan and player of Dungeons & Dragons and other role playing games, a fact that he proudly states in various interviews. He occasionally places references to D&D in his films, such as in XXX where one of the tattoos on Xander Cage (Diesel's character) read "Melkor," the name of one of Diesel's old player characters. (Melkor is also the original name of the Satan-like character in The Silmarillion and other Tolkien stories.) He has also written the foreword to the commemorative book 30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of D&D, which chronicles the history of D&D through various stories and essays written by various authors and developers.

Diesel has been rumored to be dating many celebrity females, currently the rumor is British model Lucy Clarkson but the actor has never confirmed this and has commented that he will concentrate on his career until the age of 40; at that point, he will consider marriage and family life. In the meantime, he owns a mastiff by the name of Roman.

Filmography

Additional reading

• Biography: Vin Diesel (AskMen)
• Biography: Vin Diesel (Lycos)
• Factsheet: Vin Diesel (VinXperience)

External links

• Vin Diesel at the Internet Movie Database
• Vin Diesel Video - The Ultimate Vin Video Collection
• Vin Diesel YTMND
• Vin Diesel Online
• Random Vin Diesel Factsde:Vin Diesel

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