Jon Heder (born 1978 in Fort Collins, Colorado) is an American actor and filmmaker, most famous for his portrayal of the title character in 2004's Napoleon Dynamite. This was his debut movie which earned more revenue than almost any other Sundance movie. Heder is married.

Heder is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a 2003 alumnus of Brigham Young University. While attending, he befriended Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess and starred in his films Peluca and Napoleon Dynamite.

Since his success with Dynamite, persisting urban legends hold that Heder has been killed by means of a car crash or drug overdose. Heder has not been involved in any such accident, and remains very much alive as of this writing.

Heder and Efren Ramirez have filmed a few commercials to promote the 2005 Utah State Fair. They appear as their characters from Napoleon Dynamite, Napoleon and Pedro respectively. In at least one commercial, they are shown with their FFA medals that they won in the context of the movie.

External links

• A biography of Heder
• Snopes article debunking the myth of his death