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Jon Heder
Birth name	Jonathan Joseph Heder
Born	October 26, 1977 (age 29) Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
Spouse(s)	Kirsten Bales (23 November 2002 - present) 1 child
Notable roles	Napoleon Dynamite in Napoleon Dynamite Clark in The Benchwarmers Roger in School for Scoundrels

Jonathan Joseph Heder (born October 26, 1977) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his portrayal of the title character in 2004's Napoleon Dynamite.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Personal life 4 Filmography 5 Footnotes 6 External links

Heder was born in Fort Collins, Colorado to a family of six children, including a twin brother named Daniel. He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served an LDS mission to Japan, and learned to speak Japanese as a result. He is the nephew by marriage of former NFL running back and current WCAU sports caster, Vai Sikahema.^[1]

Heder graduated from South Salem High School in Salem, Oregon in 1996. He is a 2003 alumnus of Brigham Young University. While attending, he befriended Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess and starred in his film Peluca, before making Napoleon Dynamite. Both were based on the same character plots, which turned out to be a scene on the full length movie Napoleon Dynamite.

Napoleon Dynamite filmed in Preston, Idaho, earned more revenue than almost any other Sundance movie. Napoleon's trademark frizzy hair is actually a perm created for the character, contributing to his quirky image. In June 2005, Heder received the MTV Movie Award for Best Musical Performance and Breakthrough Male Performance for the role. On October 8, 2005, he hosted Saturday Night Live with musical guest Ashlee Simpson. Since his success with Dynamite, Heder and his film co-star Efren Ramirez have filmed a series of commercials to promote the 2005 Utah State Fair. They appear as their characters from Napoleon Dynamite, In at least one commercial, they are shown with their FFA medals that they won in the context of the movie.

He starred in the romantic comedy Just Like Heaven. He also starred alongside Rob Schneider and David Spade as part of the trio in producer Adam Sandler's The Benchwarmers (2006), a comedy about three grown men making up for lost chances by creating their own Little League baseball team. His most recent roles were as the voice of the character Skull in the animated film Monster House, and in the comedy School for Scoundrels, opposite Billy Bob Thornton and Jacinda Barrett.

Heder will next star with Will Ferrell in Blades of Glory, a film about male figure skaters.

He currently lives with his wife Kirsten Heder in Los Angeles, California. The two have been married since 2002 and have one child.

In 2005, an article on the web-site NinjaPirate.com started a heavily circulated, untrue rumor that Heder died in a car crash after leaving the wrap party for the film Moving McAllister.^[2]

Heder's School for Scoundrels co-star, Billy Bob Thornton, has described Heder as a "Nice young Mormon man from Oregon",^[3] while his other School for Scoundrels castmate, Jacinda Barrett, noted that Heder does not work on Sundays or swear.^[4] Aside from his acting career, Heder enjoys spending time with his family and playing video games.

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Napoleon Dynamite	Napoleon Dynamite	Starring role
2005	Just Like Heaven	Darryl
2006	The Benchwarmers	Clark
2006	Monster House	Reginald "Skull" Skulinski	Voice role
2006	School for Scoundrels	Roger
2006	Mama's Boy	Oman
2007	Blades of Glory	Jimmy MacElroy	Post-Production
2007	Surf's Up	Chicken Joe	Elephant Seals
2007	Moving McAllister	Orlie

• Jon Heder at the Internet Movie Database
• A biography of Heder
• One of Jon Heder's first projects
• Snopes article debunking the myth of his death
• Video and transcript of an interview with Heder