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Posted February 7, 2007
Ashton Kutcher, perhaps the best-known Iowan in Hollywood today, was born in Cedar Rapids on February 7, 1987 to Larry Kutcher and Diane Finnegan. Kutcher attended Clear Creek-Amana High School, where he was said to be a good student, played wide receiver on the football team and appeared in school plays. He was close to the school's principal, who later described Kutcher as a "brilliant young man.”
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Both of his parents were factory workers, with his father employed at General Mills and his mother at Proctor & Gamble. He has an older sister, Tausha, and a fraternal twin, Michael, who has cerebral palsy. Michael had an emergency heart transplant at the age of thirteen that was necessitated by cardiomyopathy, a virus-induced illness that weakened and perforated his heart muscle. He spent his childhood active in the outdoors and in performing typical jobs: carpentry, hay-baling and livestock castration, among other things.
His childhood was anything but idyllic, however. He worried constantly about his brothers’ health and his parents were often at odds, eventually divorcing. During his senior year, he broke into the school along with his cousin during the night, and was caught while leaving the scene. Kutcher was convicted of third-degree burglary and was sentenced to three years' probation and 180 hours of community service. Although Kutcher concedes that the experience "straightened him out", as a result of the incident, he lost anticipated college scholarships and was ostracized at school and in his community.
Kutcher attended the University of Iowa, where he majored in biochemical engineering (but did not complete), motivated by the desire to find a cure for his brother's heart ailment. He was also a member of the Delta Chi fraternity. To make ends meet, Kutcher worked as a floor
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Both of his parents were factory workers, with his father employed at General Mills and his mother at Proctor & Gamble. He has an older sister, Tausha, and a fraternal twin, Michael, who has cerebral palsy. Michael had an emergency heart transplant at the age of thirteen that was necessitated by cardiomyopathy, a virus-induced illness that weakened and perforated his heart muscle. He spent his childhood active in the outdoors and in performing typical jobs: carpentry, hay-baling and livestock castration, among other things.
His childhood was anything but idyllic, however. He worried constantly about his brothers’ health and his parents were often at odds, eventually divorcing. During his senior year, he broke into the school along with his cousin during the night, and was caught while leaving the scene. Kutcher was convicted of third-degree burglary and was sentenced to three years' probation and 180 hours of community service. Although Kutcher concedes that the experience "straightened him out", as a result of the incident, he lost anticipated college scholarships and was ostracized at school and in his community.
Kutcher attended the University of Iowa, where he majored in biochemical engineering (but did not complete), motivated by the desire to find a cure for his brother's heart ailment. He was also a member of the Delta Chi fraternity. To make ends meet, Kutcher worked as a floor sweeper at General Mills in Cedar Rapids, and sometimes donated blood for money. Despite his studies, he secretly yearned to be an actor, and once packed up his belongings and headed (on foot) for the airport. Quickly exhausted, and without any plan, he called his mom, and she came and picked him up. During his time at the university, he was recruited to enter the "Fresh Faces of Iowa" modeling competition and won a trip to New York City, where he decided to become a professional male fashion model and drop out of university.
Ashton's first television appearance was in a pizza commercial in the early 1990s. He was modeling at the time, also, and after the commercial, his acting career really started.
After some success in modeling, Kutcher moved to Los Angeles and, after his first audition, was cast as Michael Kelso in the television series “That '70s Show,” which debuted in 1998 and became a long-running success. Kutcher achieved some stardom and was cast in a series of film roles; although he auditioned but was not cast for the role of Danny Walker in “Pearl Harbor”, he starred in several comedy films that performed well at the box office, including “Dude, Where's My Car?” “Just Married,” and “Guess Who.” In addition, he appeared in the family film “Cheaper ByThe Dozen,” playing a self-obsessed actor. His 2004 film “The Butterfly Effect,” was an unusually dramatic role for Kutcher, playing a conflicted young man; the film received poor reviews but became a box-office success.
In 2003, Kutcher produced and starred in his own series on MTV's Punk'd. The series involves various hidden camera tricks performed on celebrities. Kutcher is also an executive producer of the reality television show “Beauty and the Geek,” which debuted in 2005, and will produce a reality show based around a rap group. as well as another reality series entitled “Wedding Crashers.”
Kutcher has dated a variety of celebrities, including singer Nelly Furtado and actresses January Jones (from 1998 to 2001), Ashley Scott (from 2001 to 2002), Monet Mazur (2002) and his Just Married co-star, Brittany Murphy, between 2002 to 2003. Following his break-up with Murphy in early 2003, Kutcher began dating actress Demi Moore; reports in the media frequently commented on the sixteen-year age difference between the two. Both would eventually spoof the issue in a monologue on the March 19, 2005 episode of Saturday Night Live. Kutcher, who served as guest host, brought Moore on stage while Moore was made-up to appear like an old woman who constantly babied Kutcher. Moore and Kutcher married on September 24, 2005 in a private ceremony conducted by a rabbi of the Kabbalah Centre; the wedding was attended by about 100 close friends and family.
Ashton Kutcher was born in Cedar Rapids and raised near the Amana Colonies.