Early Life
Muñiz was born (December 5, 1985) and grew up in Ridgewood, New Jersey He is the son of Denise, a former nurse, and Francisco Muñiz III, a restaurant manager. His father is Puerto Rican, whose ancestral origins descend from Asturias, Spain, and his mother is of Italian and Irish descent. He has an elder sister, Cristina. Muniz was first discovered at the age of eight, at a talent show in Raleigh, North Carolina (shortly after the family moved from New Jersey), where he was cast as Tiny Tim in a local production of A Christmas Carol. His parents divorced shortly after. He subsequently moved to Burbank, California, with his mother. He appeared in commercials and made his film debut in the made-for-television movie To Dance With Olivia (1997), starring Lou Gossett Jr. In that same year, he appeared in the CBS Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation of What the Deaf Man Heard. A small role in the film Lost & Found (1999) led to his breakout role as the title character on Malcolm in the Middle.
Read more about this topic: Frankie Muniz
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