Mario Van Peebles was born in 1957, January 15 in Mexico City, Mexico. His full name is Mario Cain Van Peebles. His father, Melvin, was a well-known writer, director, and a movie actor while his mother Maria came from Germany and is also an actress and a famous picture taker. Mario attended Saint Thomas More School, which is located in Connecticut, and finished it in 1974. After that, he enrolled at Columbia University and became a student of Economics. He got his Bachelor's degree in 1978.
Career
After graduating from his Alma Matter Mario started his career as a movie and television series actor and director. The first thing he did was in 1971. He was in one of his father's movies, an independent drama film Sweet Sweetback's Badassssss Song. The next time he came back on the screen was in 1982 as an actor for ABC's soap opera One Life to Live. His first gig as a director was in 1989 when he got to direct one of the episodes of 21 Jump Street, a television series that was successful in the 90's and most recently a movie with the same title was created based on the show. Mario was an actor on the show prior to his role as a director. The episode was considered to be a good one and it showed that the guy had quite some talent as a director. Throughout his career the actor appeared in almost 50 different movies including John Terlesky's Judgment Day, Michael Mann's biographical drama about world's most famous boxer titled Ali, Thunder Levin's sci-fi action film American Warships, and most recently he had a role in Stuart Archer's comedy film Mantervention. This was the last film the actor is credited with and it was in the year 2014.
He had also appeared in numerous television series including L.A. Law, Law & Order, as well as ABC's musical drama Nashville.
As a director, Mario also has quite a few projects done during his career. In 2016, he directed a war film USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage and it features one of the most famous actors in the world, Nicolas Cage. Mario Van Peebles also did a lot of directing work in the past.
The American is also credited with appearing in his father's play Waltz of the Stork.
Personal life and trivia
Those who consider writing his biography know that there is quite a tale to tell. The actor divorced his first wife Lisa Vitello and married his current wife Chittra Sukhu. In total Van Peebles has five children – 2 with his first wife and 3 with his current life partner.
Awards and nominations
The actor has numerous awards and nominations. He won Copper Wing Tribute Award in 2003 during Phoenix Film Festival. His first award was in 1989. It was an Image Award for an Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture. He also has over 10 nominations for his various work.
Even though Mario Van Peebles started his career as an actor it seems like he is keener on becoming a director. His most recent work suggests that he has talent and it could be only a matter of time before we see his name in the Oscar nominee list.
| Birth Date: | 15 Jan, 1957 |
| Age: | 63 yrs |
| Citizenship: | United States of America Mexico |
| Birth Place: | Mexico City |
| Education: | Columbia University |
| Gender: | Male |
| Description: | American actor |
| Net Worth 2021: | 12 million |
