Ashton Kutcher

Ashton Kutcher (born Christopher Ashton Kutcher 7.2.1978)

Ashton Kutcher is an American actor and TV personality.

Ashton Kutcher: Childhood

Ashton Kutcher was born in Cedar rapids, Iowa. His father, Larry, was a factory worker and his mother Diane was employed by Proctor & Gamble. Ashton has a sister Tausha and a twin brother who suffers with cerebral palsy.

Kutcher studied at Washington High School, before his family moved to Homestead Iowa, where he attended Clear Creek Amana High School. It was here that his love of acting began, when he appeared in school plays.

Ashton Kutcher had something of a troubled childhood and an attempt to commit suicide by jumping from a hospital balcony when he was 13 and was thwarted by his father. His parents divorced when he was 16 and in his senior year at high school, he was arrested after breaking into his school at midnight to steal money.

Motivated by a desire to find a cure for his twin brother's heart condition, Ashton Kutcher enrolled at the University of Iowa to study biochemical engineering. After being approached by a scout he entered the 'Fresh Faces of Iowa' modelling contest and won a trip to New York to attend the International Modelling and Talent Association Convention. He dropped out of university and eventually relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a modelling career.

Ashton Kutcher: Career

After achieving some success as a model, Ashton Kutcher was cast as Michael Kelso in the TV series That '70s Show, which ran from 1998 to 2006. Other actors to have starred in the show include Mila Kunis and Tommy Chong.

After losing out to Josh Hartnett for a role in Pearl Harbor in 2001, Kutcher found his niche in comedy films. One of the best known of these is Dude Where's My Car, which was release in 2000 and also starred Seann William Scott. In 2003, he starred in Just Married, with Brittany Murphy and Guess Who in 2005, with the late comedian Bernie Mac.

Kutcher also had a brief role in the 2003 family film Cheaper By The Dozen - a family film, featuring Steve Martin and Hilary Duff. The following year, he took an unusually dramatic role in The Butterfly Effect. The film, which also starred Amy Smart, was a box office success, despite mixed reviews.

Ashton Kutcher also began a successful TV career when he began presenting the MTV prank show Punk'd in 2003. The series involved hidden-camera style tricks, played on various celebrities. Among the many victims of the show are Jessica Alba, Tyra Banks, Jason Bateman, Jack Osbourne, Lindsay Lohan and Missy Elliot. Kutcher is also an executive producer of a number of reality TV shows, including Beauty and the Geek, Adventures in Hollyhood - featuring the rap group Three 6 Mafia - and The Real Wedding Crashers. He is also a producer on the game show Opportunity Knocks. He runs the production company Katalyst Films with his business partner Jason Goldberg.

In 2006, Ashton Kutcher was filming his role in The Guardian, which prevented him from renewing his contract for the eighth and final season of that '70s Show. He did, however, appear in the first four episodes as well as returning for the season finale.

In the 2010 action comedy, Killers, Kutcher acted as producer as well as playing the role of a hitman, alongside Katherine Heigl and Tom Selleck.

In May 2011, it was announced that Ashton Kutcher would take over as Charlie Sheen's replacement in the sitcom Two and a Half Men.

Ashton Kutcher: Personal Life

Kutcher started dating the actress Demi Moore in 2003, which caused a great deal of discussion in the media about their age difference. In 2005, the pair married in a private ceremony at a Kabbalah Centre. Their relationship was notable for the apparent closeness that was retained between the couple and the actor Bruce Willis - the father of Moore's children.

In November 2011, Demi Moore announced her intention to divorce Kutcher, after it was revealed that he had reportedly been unfaithful to her.