Ernie Reyes, Jr.

Ernie Reyes, Jr.
Ernie Reyes, Jr. at a 2009 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 25th anniversary
Born	Ernie E. Reyes, Jr. (1972-01-15) January 15, 1972 San Jose, California, United States
Residence	San Jose, California Los Angeles, California Manhattan, New York
Nationality	American
Occupation	Actor, martial artist
Years active	1985–present

Ernie Reyes, Jr. (born January 15, 1972)^[1] is an American actor and martial artist.

Early life

Reyes was born in San Jose, California to actor/stuntman Ernie Reyes, Sr., and is the grandson of Filipino immigrants.^[2] He has three brothers and two sisters, one of whom, Lee Reyes, is a boxer and another, Santino Ramos, is a filmmaker/artist. By the age of 6, Reyes had joined his father's group, the "West Coast Demo Team".

Career

Reyes, Jr. is probably best known for his film debut at age 13 in the 1985 film The Last Dragon. The same year he shared the screen with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Brigitte Nielsen in Red Sonja. During this time, he also had his own television series, Sidekicks, a spin-off of the original Walt Disney one-time special The Last Electric Knight, alongside Gil Gerard presented by Michael Eisner.^[2] He also appeared in an episode of the hit television series MacGyver in 1988.^[3] Reyes had starring roles in Surf Ninjas and the second Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film The Secret of the Ooze as Keno, the pizza delivery boy. He also served as the martial arts stunt double for Donatello in the first Ninja Turtles film.^[4] He later appeared in films such as Rush Hour 2 playing Zing^[5] and in The Rundown alongside WWE wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.^[4] Reyes guest starred in the TV series Kung Fu: The Legend Continues alongside David Carradine.^[6]

In 2006, Ernie Reyes, Jr. hosted the MTV martial arts reality show Final Fu.^[7]

Ernie Reyes, Jr. has a professional fight record of 3–0 in Strikeforce which was a large mixed martial arts organization but started out as a Muay Thai and kickboxing organization. Ernie fought Anthony Elkaim the WKA ISKA Champion. Reyes knocked out the champion in the 3rd round. His next two fights would be won by decision, including a unanimous decision over Veasna Thach^[8] which aired on ESPN. Ernie Reyes Jr.'s fight against the champion Anthony Elkaim also aired on ESPN.^{[9][10][11][12]}

Ernie Reyes, Jr. has done motion capture stunts for blockbuster films such as Avatar and Alice in Wonderland.^[13] Most recently, Reyes guest starred on NCIS: Los Angeles "The Frozen Lake" playing "Jay Thapa", a Nepalese soldier who is an expert in knife-fighting.

Personal life

In June 2015, it was reported that Reyes is currently suffering from kidney failure and is in need of a transplant. According to his sister, Reyes undergoes dialysis three times per week for four hours each day. His family set up a GoFundMe campaign to help raise $75,000 for his medical expenses.^[14][15]

Filmography

As actor

As stunt performer

Mixed martial arts record

Kickboxing record

3 Wins (1 KO), 0 Losses Date Result Opponent Event Location Method Round Time Record 2005-10-00 Win Ryan Fotheringham Strikeforce San Jose, California, USA Decision 5 3:00 3-0 1999-00-00 Win Veasna Thach Strikeforce San Jose, California, USA Decision (unanimous) 5 3:00 2-0 1998-00-00 Win Anthony Elkaim Strikeforce Milan, Italy KO 3 1-0 Legend:       Win       Loss       Draw/No contest       Notes

See also

• Patusan
• Tsamporado

References

External links

• Ernie Reyes, Jr. at the Internet Movie Database