Frankie Muniz: Is Malcolm Still In The Middle?

Everyone knows Frankie Muniz as the adorable kid named Malcolm who's always stuck in the middle of his dramatic yet hilarious family in the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle. Malcolm is a young boy genius who's the voice of reason for a dysfunctional yet loving family. Being the middle of three children in a family full of chaos proved to be a hit FOX television sitcom in 2000.

Frankie, whose full name is Francisco James Muniz IV, was born in 1985 in New Jersey. Muniz was first discovered at the age of eight in Raleigh, North Carolina where he played Tiny Tim in the classic Charles Dickens play, A Christmas Carol. After his parent's divorce, Frankie along with his mom and older sister moved to Burbank California. His career expanded past commercials into films in 1997, he had roles in both films To Dance With Olivia and What the Deaf Man Heard. Two years later he had a minor part in Lost and Found which lead up to his most famous role of Malcolm in Malcolm in the Middle. The sitcom aired for 6 seasons and had 151 episodes.

After the audition for the sitcom, Muniz felt as if he would not get the part because he was 13 years old, much older than the character he was to portray. The shows creator and executive producer, Linwood Boomer, felt otherwise. Muniz was the perfect person to play Malcolm and began working on developing the young character. His work on the show would later earn him an emmy nomination.

During his time on the sitcom he became very popular and made many guest appearances on other shows. He appeared as himself on Lizzie McGuire in 2000. In 2001 he appeared on The Simpsons, The Andy Dick Show and had a role as a baby bear cub in Dr. Dolittle 2. He went on to make more appearances in 2002 before starring in Agent Cody Banks in 2003. Muniz played Cody Banks, a young James Bond type character and became an instant box office hit. The next year he released Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London and was once again a success. Muniz was a very busy individual during his tenure as Malcolm. After starring in two hit movies plus many cameos on other shows, he still found time to lend his voice to become many fictional characters throughout the years of 2002-2006.

As Muniz transferred from a child to an adult actor he took on more serious roles in such sitcoms as Criminal Minds. Here he played a dark comic book writer who targeted and violently killed gang members after a group of members raped and killed his fiance while making him watch. Later that year he made an appearance as Buddy Holly in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.

Muniz began a career in racecar driving 2005 when he was given a 2 year deal as a driver with Jensen Motorsport at the age of 20. Despite a difficult season of 14 races in 2006, Muniz was invited to race in the annual Formula BMW World Final where he finished 29th. Since then he has moved on to more competitive racing and completed a full season in 2007 of 12 races. In 2008 Muniz decided to take a break from acting to pursue a career in professional race car driving, finishing the season in 11th place and earning the Jovy Marcelo Sportsmanship Award. He has entered back into the acting realm with a 2010 animation movie, The Legend of Secret Pass, and two upcoming 2011 films.