Vin Diesel was born as Mark Sinclair Vincent III - after his great uncle who died in a POW camp in WWII - in New York City on July 18, 1967 to Delora Sinclair. Delora later married Irving H. Vincent, who adopted Diesel and his twin brother Paul. Diesel made his stage debut at the age of seven in Theatre for the New City, which was produced in Greenwich Village and directed by Thomas Hinkerman. He continued to be involved with the theatre throughout his adolescence, and he went on to attend the city's Hunter College, where his studies in creative writing led him to begin writing screenplays. Diesel became active in filmmaking in the early 1990s, first earning notice for the short Multi-Facial, which was selected for screening at the 1995 Cannes Festival.

He followed up Multi-Facial with his first feature-length film, 1997's Strays, an urban drama in which he cast himself as a gang boss whose love for a woman inspires him to try to change his ways. Written, directed, and produced by Diesel, the film was selected for competition at the 1997 Sundance Festival, which led to a deal with MTV to turn it into a series. In an interview on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, he stated that he changed his name to Vin Diesel while he was working as a bouncer because in that business, one's real name is not generally given out. The name "Vin" is a shortened version of Vincent. He received the name "Diesel" from the nickname Chuck Norris had given him when they met in 1993. The term "diesel" refers to someone that has a very defined, toned body.

Personal life As a teenager, Diesel was a skilled breakdancer and appeared in an instructional video on breakdancing. He appeared as a dancer in music videos for the rapper Kwamé, who is his cousin.[citation needed] Diesel is a long time fan and player of Dungeons & Dragons and other role playing games, a fact that he proudly states in various interviews. He occasionally makes reference to D&D in his films, such as in xXx where one of the tattoos on Xander Cage (Diesel's character) reads "Melkor," the name of one of Diesel's old player characters. (Melkor was the original name for the fallen angel character of the Tolkien Legendarium.) It has been said that his portrayal of Richard Riddick in the Pitch Black series of movies and games is based somewhat on this favorite character, a Drow "witch-hunter" who was a loner, and that Diesel has the character's image tattooed on his leg.

He has also written the foreword to the commemorative book 30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of D&D, a collection of stories and essays which chronicles the history of D&D. Diesel is also an avid fan of video games. He currently owns his own game studio, Tigon Studios, which produced The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, a successful Xbox and PC game. His likeness and voice are featured in the game.

At the 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles it was announced that he will lend his likeness to the Xbox 360 and PS3 game The Wheelman. The game is also being developed concurrently as a film, which Diesel will also star in. He has a fraternal twin brother named Paul Vincent.

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