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Alec Mapa

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Alec Mapa
Alec Mapa, February 2008
Born
Alejandro Mapa

(1965-07-10) July 10, 1965 (age 59)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actor, comedian, writer
Years active1987-present
Spouse
Jamison Hebert
​
(m. 2008)​
Children1
Websitewww.alecmapa.com

Alejandro "Alec" Mapa (/ˈmɑːpə/; born July 10, 1965) is an American[1] actor, comedian and writer.[2] He got his first professional break when he was cast to replace B. D. Wong for the role of Song Liling in the Broadway production of M. Butterfly. He gained recognition for roles such as Adam Benet on Half & Half, Suzuki St. Pierre on Ugly Betty and Vern on Desperate Housewives. Mapa recurred as Renzo on Switched at Birth.

Mapa co-hosted the Logo network reality dating game show Transamerican Love Story with Calpernia Addams in 2008. In 2013, he debuted in his own one-man show, Alec Mapa: Baby Daddy, which was made into a concert film and premiered on Showtime in 2015.

Early life

Mapa was born in San Francisco and attended George Washington High School.[2] While in high school, he played Randolph McAfee in the production of Bye Bye Birdie.

Mapa's senior year productions were Cabaret and Harvey, both in which he had the lead roles. Mapa was also a champion orator in the Humorous and Dramatic Interpretation categories of Speech.

Career

Mapa got his professional break when he was cast to understudy, and then replace B. D. Wong in the Broadway production of M. Butterfly. Mapa later played the role on the national tour. Mapa would return to Broadway in an adaptation of L'Hôtel du libre échange by Georges Feydeau and Maurice Desvallières, re-titled, "A Little Hotel on the Side" in 1992. The next year, Mapa was back on Broadway in a Stratford Festival inspired production of Timon of Athens. Off-Broadway, Mapa earned a nomination at the 2001 Lucille Lortel Awards for his performance in the Jessica Hagedorn play Dogeaters, and was featured in every play in the "Whitelands" trilogy, a series of plays about gay Asian men written by Chay Yew; "Porcelain" (1992), "A Language of Their Own" (1995), and "Wonderland" (1999).

On television, he has made guest appearances on a wide variety of programs, including The Jamie Foxx Show, Roseanne, Seinfeld, NYPD Blue, Friends, Murder One and Dharma & Greg. He had a supporting role in the short-lived 2001 comedy Some of My Best Friends. He played Adam Benet in the UPN comedy Half & Half.

He wrote and performed in a one-man play titled "I Remember Mapa", about his experiences growing up gay in San Francisco.

Mapa was a featured performer on the Logo original stand-up comedy series Wisecrack. In 2006 appeared as Vern, Gabrielle's personal shopper, on the TV series Desperate Housewives. He had a recurring role on the 2006–2010 series Ugly Betty, as Suzuki St. Pierre, the flamboyant host of a fictional gossip and news show (who, it is revealed, is actually a straight—and married—journalist named Byron Wu). He performed the voice of Rick's flamboyantly gay uncle Bakla on the 2007-2009 animated series Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World.

Mapa's film credits include parts in Bright Lights, Big City, Playing by Heart, Connie and Carla and Marley & Me, among others. He was featured in the movies Super Sweet 16: The Movie and Tru Loved. He also played as a stylist in the movie You Don't Mess with the Zohan.

In 2008, Mapa hosted Logo's Transamerican Love Story, a reality dating program starring transgender woman Calpernia Addams selecting from among eight potential suitors. In the same year, he also hosted Dancing With Dogs on Animal Planet.

Mapa also performed on the 2009 Atlantis Freedom Caribbean Cruise headlining in the Arcadia Theater.

In 2010, Mapa became one of the co-hosts of Logo's The Gossip Queens, a daily series where he helps present celebrity gossip.

In his act, he jokes that he is sometimes confused with Rex Lee, another flamboyant Asian homosexual who plays Lloyd on the HBO dramedy Entourage.

In 2015, Mapa appeared on Candidly Nicole with Nicole Richie.[3]

Personal life

Mapa is gay[1] and lends his support to various projects supporting the gay, lesbian, and Asian American communities. In 2008, Mapa legally married Jamison "Jamie" Hebert, after dating since 2002.[4] On the TV series The Gossip Queens, Mapa stated in the opening episode that he and his husband had adopted a 5-year-old boy.[when?] Mapa is of Filipino descent.

Credits

Writer

Filmography

Film performances
Year Title Role Notes
1988 Bright Lights, Big City Yasu Wade
1988 A New Life Sybil
1996 The Substance of Fire New Receptionist
1998 Playing by Heart Lana
2003 Who's Your Daddy? Nat-San Wang
2004 Connie and Carla Lee / N'Cream
2005 Hard Pill Protester
2005 Pollen Howard 12 minutes
2006 Dirty Laundry Daniel
2008 Marley & Me Jorge
2008 Tru Loved Mr. Bushnell
2008 You Don't Mess with the Zohan Claude
2008 Laughing Matters... The Men Himself stand-up comedy; ASIN B0010P5UOU
2011 Going Down in LA-LA Land Himself
2011 Half-Share Ito Short Film (29 minutes)
2011 Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure Gill Samms
2011 Winner Takes All Simon Short Film (15 minutes); included in the compilation film Black Briefs (2012)
2012 Family Restaurant Daddy Short Film (10 minutes)
2014 Alec Mapa: Baby Daddy Himself concert film of one-man show
2014 Such Good People Jigme Wanchuck
2017 A Very Sordid Wedding Marty Wells
2017 The Year of Spectacular Men Overzealous Casting Director
2020 Chick Fight Chuck
Year Title Role Episodes
1987 ABC Afterschool Special Peng "Supermom's Daughter"
1990 The Cosby Show Wretched Fan "Off to See the Wretched"
1992 Flying Blind Lucas "The Secret of My Great Dress"
1992 Melrose Place Jeweler #2 "The Whole Truth"
1993 Key West "The Second Day in Heaven"
1993 The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles Nguyen "Paris, May 1919"
1994 Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Hart Hal Trask
1994 Roseanne Kyle "Skeleton in the Closet"
1995 Hangin' with Mr. Cooper Perry "Halloween"
1995 Law & Order Brian Yoshimara "Rebels"
1995 M.A.N.T.I.S. Troy "The Sea Wasp"
1995 Seinfeld Paul "The Pool Guy"
1996 The Jamie Foxx Show Ike Yee "A Star Is Almost Born"
1996 NYPD Blue Angela "Unembraceable You"
1997 Murder One Damien Vasquez "Chapter Seventeen, Year Two"
"Chapter Eighteen, Year Two"
1997 Murder One: Diary of a Serial Killer Damien Vasquez TV miniseries
1997 Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher Sammy Choi "Party at Nick's Place"
1997 NYPD Blue Angela "I Love Lucy"
1997 Spy Game Andy Shawn "With Friends Like These..."
"Well, Nothing to Fear But Death Itself"
1998 Friends The Housekeeper "The One with All the Thanksgivings"
1998 Holding the Baby Nelson "No Man Is a Fantasy Island"
1999 Dharma & Greg Trina "Welcome to the Hotel Calamari"
2001 Some of My Best Friends Vern Limoso 8 episodes
2002 Baby Bob Brian "House of the Rising Son"
2002-2005 Half & Half Adam Benet 58 episodes
2003 Alias NSC Techie "The Nemesis"
2004 E! 101 Most Awesome Moments in Entertainment Himself Special
2004 I'm with Her Henry Liu "Not in My Dress You Won't"
2004 Significant Others Parent #1 "A School, Not Cool & a Fool"
2005-2007 Desperate Housewives Vern 5 episodes
2005 Wisecrack Himself stand-up comedy
2006 Help Me Help You Andrew "Inger Management"
2007 Heartland Teddy DeSilva "A Beautiful Day"
2007-2010 Ugly Betty Suzuki St. Pierre 30 episodes
2007 The Visible Vote '08: A Presidential Forum Himself
2008 Celebracadabra Pilot Contestant
2008 Dancing with Dogs Himself (Host)
2008 Transamerican Love Story Himself (Host) "Getting to Know You"
"Something's Cookin'"
"Love's a Beach"
"I Love the Nightlife"
"I Like the Way You Move"
"Meet the Folks"
"Season Recap"
"Season Finale"
2009 Alec Mapa: No Fats, Femmes or Asians Himself stand-up comedy special
2009 Annul Victory Himself Documentary
2009 Numbers Clerk "Old Soldiers"
2009 Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World Uncle Bakla "House of Race Cards"
"Marry X-Mas"		 voice role
2010 2010 NewNowNext Awards Himself
2010-2011 The Gossip Queens Himself (Host) 68 episodes
2010 Jonas Chef Shiraki "A Wasabi Story"
2010 Pride: The Gay & Lesbian Comedy Slam Himself stand-up comedy special
2010 RuPaul's Drag Race Season 2 Himself "The Snatch Game"
2010 The View Himself
Guest Co-Host		 2 episodes
2011 Rules of Engagement Restaurant Manager "The Power Couple"
2011 RuPaul's Drag U Himself (Guest Judge) "Suddenly Single"
2012 Scandalicious Himself (Presenter) 4 episodes
2014 Switched at Birth Renzo 8 episodes
2015 Major Crimes Nurse "The Jumping Off Point"
2015 Candidly Nicole Himself "Gay"
2016 Mom Milo "Quaaludes and Crackerjack"
2016-2020 Henry Danger Jack Frittleman 4 episodes
2016 2 Broke Girls Lawrence "And the Lost Baggage"
2018 Raven's Home Mapa "The Falcon and the Raven, Part 1"
2019 Doom Patrol Steve / Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man 3 episodes
2019 Team Kaylie Gerald Episode: "Lights, Camera, Retraction"
2020 Danger Force Jack Frittleman Episode: "The Danger Force Awakens"
2021 RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars Himself (Special guest) Season 6, Episode: "The Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve and Talent Monologues"

References

  1. ^ a b Rotter, Joshua (August 29, 2005), "Half & Half's Alec Mapa Goes All Out", AfterElton.com, archived from the original on November 18, 2007, retrieved 2007-11-02
  2. ^ a b Alec Mapa at IMDb
  3. ^ @AlecMapa (1 September 2015). "Watch me go to war with my neighbor @nicolerichie on the next ep of #CandidlyNicole Weds 11pm on Vh-1" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  4. ^ Hartinger, Brent (November 9, 2008). "More Gay Celebrity Boyfriends!". After Elton. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  5. ^ "The Big Nervous Breakup Episode" at IMDb
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