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John Alberto Leguizamo Peláez, born in Bogotá, Colombia, is a Colombian-American actor, voice actor, stand-up comedian, film producer, playwright and screenwriter. He voices the ground sloth Sid in the Ice Age series, and voices the character in the Ice Age video games.
Born to Alberto and Luz Leguizamo, Leguizamo’s father once studied at Cinecittà, only to drop out after funds were low; at the age of four, the Leguizamo family moved to America, where their son soon began comedic undergraduate work at the New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, dropping out in time so as to start up a career in standup comedy. In time, Leguizamo moved on to acting roles in addition to standup comedy.
To voice Sid in the first Ice Age film, Leguizamo tried out thirty different voices, among them a Southern American accent and a Hindi accent. After viewing specials on the “Discovery Channel” on sloths, Leguizamo learned that sloths store food in their mouths and so began to use such foods as chocolate, jam, and peanut butter to voice Sid in his thick, lispy voice.