Vin Diesel

Vin Diesel was born Mark Vincent in NYC. He was raised by his mother Delora, and adoptive father Irving in Westbeth, a subsidized artist housing block in Greenwich Village. Irving, a talented actor, and theatre director, encouraged Mark in the performing arts from a young age. As a teenager, Mark joined the repertory company run by his father, appearing in several off-Broadway shows. With a muscular physique, and deep voice, Mark already cut an ice-cool presence. He took a part-time evening job as a bouncer at a trendy New York club. To further harden up his image, Mark changed his name to 'Vin Diesel'.

Next came college, where Vin Diesel took an English course. But the lure of Hollywood beckoned, and Vin Diesel dropped his studies to head West, to try to break into movies. One audition after another came and went - the hoped-for breakthrough seemed elusive. A dispirited Vin Diesel returned to New York.

His mom, Delora, lent her despondent son a copy of Feature Films at Used Car Prices, a book about writing, shooting, editing and distributing a movie entirely by yourself. Vin Diesel loved the idea, and put together the short Multi-Facial (1994), a semi-autobiographical account of a struggling actor. The film was accepted for the 1995 Cannes Film Festival, where it received rave-reviews, and enthusiastic press. Several promising ventures followed, but Vin Diesel's breakthrough came when Stephen Spielberg (who had seen Multi-Facial) phoned to offer him a part in Saving Private Ryan (1998), which became a blockbuster hit. Since then, Vin Diesel's career has continued to flourish, with memorable acting performances in Pitch Black (2000), The Fast and the Furious (2001), and The Chronicles of Riddick (2004).

Nowadays Vin Diesel is also very active as a producer on big budget movies - surely a testament to the value of his early self-help experiences.