Acting
Oct 30, 1967
Dallas, Texas, USA
Vanilla Ice
Acting
Biography
Robert Matthew Van Winkle (born October 31, 1967), known professionally by his stage name Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, actor and television personality. Born in Dallas, Texas, and raised in Texas and South Florida, he released his debut album, Hooked, in 1989 through Ichiban Records, before signing a contract with SBK Records, which released a reformatted version of the album in 1990 under the title To the Extreme; which became the fastest-selling hip hop album of all time and contained Ice's best-known hits: "Ice Ice Baby" and a cover of "Play That Funky Music". "Ice Ice Baby" was the first hip hop single to top the Billboard charts and has been credited with helping to diversify hip hop by introducing it to a mainstream audience. In late 1990, Ice began an eight-month relationship with Madonna, and appeared in photographs for her book, Sex. In April 1991, Ice began to film the SBK-produced Cool as Ice, in which he played a leading role. Cool as Ice opened on October 18, 1991, in 393 theaters in the United States, grossing $638,000, ranking at #14 among the week's new releases. Reviews of the film were negative and he received a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst New Star. Although he was successful, he later regretted his business arrangements with SBK, which had paid him to adopt a more commercial appearance and had published fabricated biographical information without his knowledge. Ice attempted suicide with a heroin overdose on July 4, 1994, but was revived by his friends. After being revived, Ice decided that it was time to change his lifestyle. He was inspired to change his musical style and lifestyle. While his later albums haven't charted or featured much radio airplay because of their less mainstream, rock-oriented sound, he has a loyal underground following. His return to music in 1998, Hard to Swallow went gold while his other releases Bi-Polar and Platinum Underground have done well. Uncertain about his future career, Ice studied real estate and started working on the side renovating and selling houses. In late 1995, he set up a recording studio in Miami and joined a grunge band, Pickin Scabz. In 2009, he began hosting The Vanilla Ice Project, a home renovation show in Florida, on DIY Network. In 2011, Ice published a book on the subject, Vanilla Ice Project – Real Estate Guide, on how to succeed in real estate. In June 2011, he filmed a role in the movie That's My Boy, starring Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg, His sixth studio album, WTF - Wisdom, Tenacity and Focus, was released on August 19, 2011, through Radium Records. While the record featured an array of different styles, like other recent Vanilla Ice albums, it also featured Ice's return to Electronica. In 2016, Vanilla Ice competed on season 23 of Dancing with the Stars. He was partnered with professional dancer Witney Carson. On January 4, 2019, Dave Franco was cast to star as Ice in a biopic chronicling the rapper's life.
Feature Films (23)
Freewheeling, motorcycle-riding musician Johnny rolls into a small town with his band, and meets Kathy, an honor student who catches his eye. Meanwhile, Kathy's father, after being in the Witness Protection Program, is finally tracked down by two corrupt cops he escaped from years ago, who want the money he owes them.
Cool as Ice
5 teenage rappers gets notice of a mysterious witch that supposedly lurks in the ghetto and those who are attacked by her gets a successful hip-hop career. In their search for the witch, they come across various rappers whom already been attacked and retells their experiences.
Da Hip Hop Witch
Wannabe "gangsta-rappers" resort to a crime spree in order to come up up with ten thousand dollars in order to finance a studio recording session.
The Bros.
A secret government agency has recruited celebrities to be undercover agents and the celebs must save humanity from an imminent attack from the undead.
Zombie Plane
While in his teens, Donny fathered a son, Todd, and raised him as a single parent up until Todd's 18th birthday. Now, after not seeing each other for years, Todd's world comes crashing down when Donny resurfaces just before Todd's wedding.
That's My Boy
Television & Series (24)
The Surreal Life is a reality television series that sets a select group of past-their-prime celebrities and records them as they live together in Glen Campbell's former mansion in the Hollywood Hills for two weeks. The format of the show resembles that of The Real World and Road Rules, in that the cameras not only record the castmates' participation in group activities assigned to them, but also their interpersonal relationships and conflicts. The series is also likened to The Challenge in that previously known individuals from separate origins of entertainment are brought together into one cast. The show's first two seasons aired on The WB, and subsequent seasons have been shown on VH1.
The Surreal Life
The Surreal Life: Fame Games is a reality television series that was originally broadcast on the VH1 cable network. A spin-off of the VH1 show, The Surreal Life, the show assembles ten alumni of the show's 6 prior seasons to compete in a ten-week competition that takes place in Las Vegas, with the winner taking home a prize of $100,000 provided by the online gaming site Golden Palace.net. Robin Leach is the host. The contestants also compete in a game show format elimination round in each episode called "Back to Reality" that sees the losers, in the first 3 weeks of the competition, sent to "the B-List" which consists of living in a less luxurious wing of the mansion than the rest of the housemates, who are designated as "the A-List". In the later weeks, when the teams are split evenly, they compete in team competitions where the losing team must send 3 members to play "Back to Reality" to eliminate one person from the competition entirely. The show featured a theme song titled "I Wanna Be Famous" recorded by cast member C.C. Deville from his solo album Samantha 7.
