Vin Diesel

Background

Mark Sinclair, known professionally as Vin Diesel, is a celebrated Hollywood actor and producer whose talents have earned him immeasurable fame and success. Diesel was born on July 18, 1967, in Alameda County, California. He later moved to New York and was raised by his astrologer mother, Delora Sherleen Claire, and adoptive African-American father, Irving Vincent, a theater manager and acting coach. Diesel is multiracial, but he’s got English, German and, Scottish roots. He’s a Cancer by design and debuted as an actor at age seven in the kid’s play “Dinosaur Door.” He attended Hunter College in New York and began screenwriting.

Although he was uncredited in the cast, Diesel got his first film role in “Awakenings” (1990). Following his lack of success at auditions, Diesel wrote, directed, produced, and starred in “Multi-Facial” (1994), his short drama film. The film was semi-autobiographical and highlighted his struggles as a multiracial actor. “Multi-Facial” was selected for screening at the Cannes Festival in 1995. In 1997, he made his first feature-length film called “Strays.” In 1998, he was cast in the Oscar-winning film by Steven Spielberg, “Saving Private Ryan.” In 2000, Diesel appeared in “Boiler Room” with Ben Affleck and Giovanni Ribisi. His breakthrough leading role was in “Pitch Black” the same year. Then came “The Fast and the Furious” in 2001 and “XXX” in 2002, movies that gave him an action-hero persona.

Diesel went on to star in multiple movies including “The Pacifier” (2005), “Babylon A.D.” (2008), and several more, before returning to the “Fast and Furious” series. After “Fast & Furious 4” (2009), Diesel reprised his role in five more installments. The most recent installment, “F9,” was released in 2021. The actor’s talent was crowned with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2013, and by 2014, he voiced Groot in “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Diesel has appeared in over 40 movies and in September 2020, he debuted his venture into music with the song “Feel Like I Do.” Diesel has proven he’s a man of many talents, and as one with immense success, he shares it with the people he loves the most, his family.

On November 30, 2013, the actor experienced a tragic loss when his close friend and “Fast and Furious” co-star, Paul Walker, was killed in a single-vehicle collision. Diesel paid tribute to his friend and has done so every year since his death. In terms of his personal life, the actor has been in a relationship with model Paloma Jimenez since 2007, and the couple has three children together.

Vin Diesel Movies