Guide Note

Jon Heder is an American film actor who quickly rose to fame after playing the title role in the 2004 movie Napoleon Dynamite. Despite a rash of Internet rumors started in 2005, Heder is alive and well. He and his wife Kirsten Heder had a baby girl who they named Evan Jane Heder on April 6, 2007.

Fast Facts

1. Full Name: Jonathan Joseph Heder
2. Born: October 26, 1977
3. Birthplace: Fort Collins, Colorado
4. Has an identical twin brother, Dan Heder
5. Father is a physician with a family practice in Colorado
6. Heder speaks Japanese
7. Member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
8. Voice of "Chicken Joe", the surfing chicken in the 2007 animated film Surf's Up

Heder has starred in a few comedic films after the groundbreaking success of Napoleon Dynamite. He starred with Rob Schneider and David Spade in the film produced by Adam Sandler, The Benchwarmers and played opposite Billy Bob Thornton in School for Scoundrels.

In 2007 he co-starred with Will Ferrell in Blades of Glory. Although Blades of Glory was a hit in its own right, the pop-cultural phenomena of the first Heder film keeps going.

In the South Park episode "Trapped in the Closet", Heder is mentioned when Stan Marsh tells Tom Cruise that he is not as good of an actor as "The Napoleon Dynamite guy".