Jon Heder Biography: Net Worth, Wife, Age, Height, Parents, Movies, Twin, Brother

Jon Heder is an American actor and voice actor, best known for his breakout role as the title character in the 2004 indie comedy hit Napoleon Dynamite. He was born on October 26, 1977, in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Heder studied animation and film at Brigham Young University before landing the role that turned him into a household name. His performance as Napoleon Dynamite became a cultural phenomenon and defined the early stretch of his career.

Following that breakout, Heder appeared in films including The Benchwarmers, Blades of Glory alongside Will Ferrell, Mama’s Boy, and When in Rome. He has also voiced characters in animated projects and taken on roles in television, including appearances on Community and Free Agents.

Heder remains most closely associated with the awkward, deadpan charm of Napoleon Dynamite, a role that has followed him throughout his career and cemented his place in 2000s pop culture.

Jon Heder
Wiki Facts & About Data
Real Name:	Jonathan Joseph Heder
Stage Name:	Jon Heder
Born:	October 26, 1977 (age 48 years old)
Place of Birth:	Fort Collins, Colorado, United States
Nationality:	American
Ethnicity:	Part Swedish descent
Education:	South Salem High School, Brigham Young University
Height:	6 ft 1 in-6 ft 2 in (185 cm-188 cm)
Religion:	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Parents:	James Heder, Helen Brammer Heder
Siblings:	Dan Heder, Rachel Heder, Doug Heder, Adam Heder, Matt Heder
Spouse:	Kirsten Heder (m. 2002)
Children:	Evan Jane Heder, Philip Heder, Timothy Heder
Occupation:	Actor, Voice Actor, Producer
Net Worth:	$10 million-$15 million

Early Life & Education

Jon Heder, full name Jonathan Joseph Heder, was born on October 26, 1977, in Fort Collins, Colorado, under the zodiac sign Scorpio.

He is of part Swedish descent and was raised in a family belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

His parents are Dr. James Heder, a practicing physician, and Helen Brammer Heder. Heder is one of six children. He has an identical twin brother, Dan Heder; an older sister, Rachel Heder; an older brother, Doug Heder; and two younger brothers, Adam Heder and Matt Heder.

The family moved from Fort Collins to Salem, Oregon, when Heder was about two years old, and he spent the rest of his childhood there. He attended Walker Middle School before graduating from South Salem High School in 1996, where he was active in the drama club and swim team. He also achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest honour in the Boy Scouts, and later served as a Scoutmaster in 2010.

As a young adult, Heder spent two years in Japan on a proselytizing mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, an experience that left him fluent in Japanese. He went on to study film and 3D animation at Brigham Young University, graduating in 2002. It was during his time there that he met classmate Jared Hess, a connection that would lead directly to his breakout role in Napoleon Dynamite.

Career

Jon Heder’s film career began with a series of amateur projects at Brigham Young University, where he collaborated with classmate Jared Hess on the 2003 short film Peluca, an early version of the character who would define his career.

That short evolved into the feature Napoleon Dynamite, released in 2004, in which Heder played the title role, an awkward, deadpan Idaho teenager. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, grossed over $46 million worldwide against a budget of roughly $400,000, and turned Heder into an overnight star, earning him an MTV Movie Award for Best Musical Performance for the film’s dance sequence.

Riding that breakout, Heder moved quickly into a string of studio comedies, including Just Like Heaven in 2005 alongside Reese Witherspoon, The Benchwarmers in 2006, School for Scoundrels also in 2006, and Blades of Glory in 2007, in which he starred opposite Will Ferrell as a rival figure skater. He also began building a parallel voice-acting career during this period, lending his voice to Monster House in 2006 and Surf’s Up in 2007.

Through the following decade, Heder worked steadily across film and television, appearing in Mama’s Boy, When in Rome alongside Kristen Bell, Walt Before Mickey as Roy Disney, and Ghost Team, while also taking guest and recurring roles on shows including My Name Is Earl, Community, Free Agents, and FCU: Fact Checkers Unit.

In 2012, he returned to his signature role to voice Napoleon Dynamite in the short-lived animated series adaptation on Fox. His voice work continued alongside his live-action credits, with roles in Pinocchio: A True Story, My Sweet Monster, and Archibald’s Next Big Thing.

More recently, Heder has continued working prolifically in independent film, appearing in Tremors: Shrieker Island in 2021, Space Junk and Tapawingo in 2023, and Plan B in 2024 alongside Tom Berenger and Shannon Elizabeth.

That same year, he reunited with Jared Hess to voice a role in the animated film Thelma the Unicorn. In 2025, he starred in Waltzing with Brando and I See the Demon, and as of 2026, he has projects in production and post-production, including The Big Kill and Relatively Super.

Social Media

• Wikipedia: Jon Heder
• IMDb: Jon Heder
• Instagram: Jon Heder (@hederjon)
• X: Jon Heder (@hederjon)

Personal Life

Jon Heder is currently 48 years old. He stands at approximately 6 feet 1 inch to 6 feet 2 inches (185 to 188 cm) tall, though listed measurements vary slightly across sources, and no single figure has been definitively confirmed.

Heder has been married once. He wed Kirsten Bales, now known as Kirsten Heder, on November 23, 2002, after the two met while studying together at Brigham Young University.

There is no publicly documented dating history for Heder prior to his relationship with Kirsten, and the couple, both members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, remain married as of 2026 with no reported separation or divorce.

The couple have four children together: a daughter, Evan Jane Heder, born in 2007; a son, Philip Heder, born in 2009; a son, Timothy Heder, born in 2014; and a fourth child, a daughter born in July 2016 whose full name has not been made public.

Net Worth

Jon Heder has an estimated net worth of $10 million to $15 million. The bulk of his fortune traces back to Napoleon Dynamite, for which he was famously paid just $1,000 upfront before renegotiating a share of the film’s earnings after it became a surprise box-office hit, grossing over $46 million worldwide against a budget of roughly $400,000.

Beyond that breakout role, Heder’s wealth has been built steadily through a mix of live-action film and television work, voice acting in animated projects such as Surf’s Up, Monster House, and Thelma the Unicorn, and production credits on several independent films he has both starred in and helped produce.

Rather than chasing blockbuster paydays, Heder has favoured a consistent stream of smaller film and voice roles, a pattern that has kept his income stable over the two decades since his breakout.

Filmography

Film

• Peluca (2003) – short film
• Napoleon Dynamite (2004) – title role
• Just Like Heaven (2005)
• The Benchwarmers (2006)
• School for Scoundrels (2006)
• Monster House (2006) – voice role
• Blades of Glory (2007)
• Surf’s Up (2007) – voice role
• Mama’s Boy (2007)
• When in Rome (2010)
• Life Happens (2011) – cameo
• Legend of a Rabbit (2011) – voice role
• For Ellen (2012)
• Peteru at the End (2012)
• Gulliver Quinn (2012) – also producer
• Walt Before Mickey (2015) – as Roy Disney
• Ghost Team (2016)
• Surf’s Up 2: WaveMania (2017) – voice role
• Hedgehogs (2017) – voice role
• The Tiger Hunter (2017)
• The Unexpected Race (2018)
• Tremors: Shrieker Island (2021)
• My Sweet Monster (2021) – voice role
• Funny Thing About Love (2021)
• Pinocchio: A True Story (2022) – voice role, English version
• Tapawingo (2023)
• Plan B (2024)
• Thelma the Unicorn (2024) – voice role
• Waltzing with Brando (2025)
• I See the Demon (2025)
• The Big Kill (2026) – in production

Television

• My Name Is Earl (2008) – guest role
• FCU: Fact Checkers Unit (2010)
• Free Agents (2011)
• Community (2011-2012) – guest role
• Napoleon Dynamite (2012) – animated series, voice role
• Star vs. the Forces of Evil (2016-2019) – voice role, Oskar Greason
• Archibald’s Next Big Thing (2020) – voice role
• Studio C (2022) – special guest
• Space Junk (2023)
• Cyko KO: The Animated Series (2024)
• Relatively Super (2026) – TV movie, in post-production

Web Series and Digital

• Woke Up Dead (2008-2009) – also producer
• Sockbaby (2009)

Music Videos

• On Top of the World (2013)
• Old 45s (2014)

What People Ask