Frankie Muniz Boy Genius

By Nancy Krulik

Meet Frankie Muniz!
He's the star of Malcolm in the Middle, one of the hottest shows on TV today. Frankie's fifteen, funny, and now he's famous. Here, for every fan who can't get enough of Frankie, is everything you need to know about him: how he broke into show business, what his hobbies are, where to find Frankie fan clubs on the Web, and whether his zodiac sign is compatible with yours!
Extra bonus: take the all-Frankie quiz inside!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gallery Books
• Release date: Feb 21, 2001
• ISBN: 9780743418447

Nancy Krulik

Nancy Krulik is the New York Times bestselling author of more than 200 books for children and young adults. She is the author of the fan favorite book series Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo; George Brown, Class Clown; How I Survived Middle School; and Magic Bone. She lives in New York.

Book preview

Star of Malcolm in the Middle, one of the hottest shows on TV today, Frankie’s fifteen, funny, and now he’s famous. Inside, you’ll find everything there is to know about him:

What was the first movie he starred in?

How old was he when he got his first acting role?

What’s Frankie’s favorite food?

Does he attend school?

Is his zodiac sign compatible with yours?

Find out the answers to these questions and many more about Frankie Muniz, boy genius!

Look for other celebrity biographies from Pocket Books

98°: The Official Book by 98° with K. M. Squires

Backstreet Boys ⋆ Aaron Carter by Matt Netter

Five by Matt Netter

Hanson: MMMBop to the Top by Jill Matthews

Jewel: Pieces of a Dream by Kristin Kemp

Leonardo DiCaprio: A Biography by Nancy Krulik

Matt Damon: A Biography by Maxine Diamond with Harriet Hemmings

Will Power!: A Biography of Will Smith by Jan Berenson

AN ARCHWAY PAPERBACK Original

An Archway Paperback published by

POCKET BOOKS, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com

Visit us on the World Wide Web:

http://www.SimonSays.com

Copyright © 2000 by Nancy Krulik

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

For information address Pocket Books, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

ISBN: 0-7434-1844-1

eISBN: 978-0-743-41844-7

AN ARCHWAY PAPERBACK and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Dedication

For Ian, a genius in his own right

Introduction: The Christmas Gift

1 A Star Is Born

2 On the Rise

3 Puttin’ on the Dog

4 Becoming Malcolm

5 The Miracle Man

6 Looking in the Crystal Ball

7 A Working Man

8 Frankie and the Fans

9 The Baby of the Family

10 A Real Tree-t

11 An Arrow through Your Heart

12 We’ve Got Frankie’s Number!

13 Are You the Girl for Frankie?

14 Just the Facts

15 What’s Your Frankie IQ?

16 Finding Frankie

The Christmas Gift

The theater was dark and silent. The small nine-year-old boy peered out from behind the curtain, squinted his big blue eyes, and struggled to see. But the bright lights prevented him from making eye contact with the few people that dotted the seats in the theater. It was Frankie’s first audition, and he was kind of nervous. Sure, he’d seen his older sister go through this audition process a million times. But it was all new to him. He had no idea what to expect.

Amazingly, from the minute he stepped out on the stage, the young actor relaxed. He felt strangely at home. It was fun being in the footlights. That day Frankie Muniz made an astounding discovery—acting was his passion. His life would never be the same again.

Frankie’s comfort on the stage must have impressed the producers of the show, because they cast him. It’s almost impossible to imagine Frankie’s shock and excitement when he was told he’d be playing Tiny Tim in a regional theater production of A Christmas Carol. Getting the role of Tiny Tim was a very big deal. In the show, Tiny Tim is Bob Cratchit’s sickly son; the one who utters perhaps the most famous line in the entire play: God bless us, everyone.

Once he was bitten by the theater bug, Frankie’s whole life changed. Instead of going to school and hanging out with his friends, Frankie spent his free time going to rehearsals and squeezing in homework whenever he could. But Frankie never complained about the lack of leisure time. For him, being part of A Christmas Carol was anything but humbug! It was awesome.

Besides, the extra work was only supposed to last for a while—Frankie had planned on his life going back to normal when the show’s run ended. But during rehearsals an agent came to the theater to watch one of his clients at work. Instead it was Frankie who grabbed the agent’s attention.

During the rehearsals an agent was watching and asked my mom if I wanted to do commercials and stuff, Frankie recalls.

Did he ever! Frankie loved acting, and he didn’t want the career to end with the last performance of A Christmas Carol. He signed on with the agent, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Guess you could say that on that Christmas, Frankie received a really special gift—a career in show business. oday, six years after his first audition, Frankie Muniz is a major star in Hollywood. As the title character of the sitcom smash Malcolm in the Middle, he’s being touted as the boy who saved the Fox network. He’s also performed in well-regarded plays like The Death of Papa, starred in a hit film, My Dog Skip, and shouldered a highly praised made-for-TV movie called Miracle in Lane 2. Oh, and