Hector Elizondo

This chameleonic character player broke away from stereotyping early in his career to play a rich variety of comic and dramatic roles. After a brief fling with ballet, Hector Elizondo became established as a versatile stage actor, winning an OBIE Award for his performance as God--in the guise of a Puerto Rican steamroom attendant--in Bruce Jay Friedman's Off-Broadway comedy "Steambath" (1971). He also earned a Drama Desk nomination as George C. Scott's scheming servant in "Sly Fox" (1976), Larry Gelbart's contemporary reworking of "Volpone".

Elizondo made his film debut (fully clothed) in the sexploitation film "The Vixens" (1969), and has since proved as comfortable switching ethnic identities as he has changing the many wigs that he sometimes uses to cover his natural baldness. He played the police officer who takes lessons in dressing from Richard Gere in "American Gigolo" (1980) and is a favorite of director Garry Marshall, who has cast him in diverse roles like Angelo and Angela Bonafetti in "Young Doctors in Love" (1982); Matt Dillon's sympathetic working-class father in "The Flamingo Kid" (1984); Tom Hanks' ad agency boss in "Nothing in Common" (1986); and Julia Roberts' fairy godfather--in the form of a supportive hotel manager--in "Pretty Woman" (1990).

In 1991, Elizondo completed his fifth cinematic collaboration with Marshall, the 50s style "working-class" love story "Frankie and Johnny", in which the played the warm and cheap Greek owner of a greasy spoon. Although Marshall has made a couple of films without the actor, his billing in Marshall's rather mild farce set at a sex resort, "Exit to Eden" (1994) listed him as "Hector Elizondo, of course". Now considered Marshall's good luck charm, additional roles in "Dear God" (1996), "The Other Sister" and "Runaway Bride" (both 1999), "The Princess Diaries" (2001) plus its sequel "Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement" (2004), and "Raising Helen" (2004) followed. He also headlined the Latin-flavored "Tortilla Soup" (2001), a loose reworking of Ang Lee's 1994 feature "Eat Drink Man Woman".

The actor remained busy on the small screen as well, starring, for example, as Sandy Stern in the TV miniseries "The Burden of Proof" (1992), adapted from the Scott Turow novel. He also had the key role as hospital administrator Dr. Watters on the long-running CBS medical drama drama "Chicago Hope" (1994-2000) throughout the run of the series, for which he earned a supporting actor Emmy in 1997. After that series ended he continued to remain in demand, appearing in a string of short-lived series that failed to catch on with viewers, including "Kate Brasher," "Miracles" and "Century City." Elizondo also had a supporting turn in the well-regarded Showtime miniseries "Fidel" (2002).

• Born:
  December 22, 1936 in New York, New York
• Job Titles:
  Actor, Director

Family

• Father: Martin Echevarria Elizondo. Basque-Puerto Rican descent
• Mother: Carmen Medina Elizondo. Born in Puerto Rico
• Son: Rodd Elizondo. Born c. 1956; mother is Elizondo's first wife

Significant Others

• Wife: . married in 1962; divorced in 1963
• Wife: . married neighborhood girl when he was a teenager; separated c. 1957; mother of Rodd Elizondo

Education

• City College of New York, New York, NY, 1956
• Ballet Arts Company, New York, NY, dance, 1962-1963
• Stella Adler Studio, Los Angeles, CA

Milestones

• 1947 TV debut, "The Wendy Barrie Show"
• 1948 Landed a recurring role on the children's TV series, "Oky Doky Ranch"
• 1959 Danced with the Ballet Arts Company of Carnegie Hall
• 1961 Stage debut in Equity Library Theatre production of "Mr. Roberts"
• 1964 Film debut "The Fat Black Pussycat"
• 1965 Off-Broadway debut, "Kill the One-Eyed Man"
• 1969 Appeared in "The Vixens"
• 1969 Made Broadway debut in "The Great White Hope," opposite James Earl Jones
• 1971 Won an OBIE Award for his outstanding performance as God in the guise of a Puerto Rican bath attendant in "Steambath"
• 1972 Had small roles in the films "Pocket Money" and "Deadhead Miles"
• 1975 Had small role in the NBC TV movie "Columbo: A Case of Immunity"
• 1976 Played Pancho Villa in the ABC film "Wanted: The Sundance Woman"
• 1976 Starred as Abraham Rodriguez in TV series, "Popi"
• 1977 Nominated for a Drama Desk Award for his performance in "Sly Fox," opposite Jackie Gleason
• 1980 Had a small role in "American Gigolo" as a detective; first pairing with Richard Gere
• 1980 Played Det. Sergeant Dan 'The Bean' Delgado in the TV series, "Freebie and the Bean"
• 1981 Played a cop in the thriller "The Fan"
• 1982 Offered hilarious turn as a drag queen in Garry Marshall's "Young Doctors in Love"
• 1983 Moved to Los Angeles
• 1983 Played Captain Louis Renault in the short-lived NBC series "Casablanca"
• 1983 Starred in the NBC movie "Women of San Quentin"
• 1984 Directorial debut, TV series, "aka Pablo" (also star)
• 1984 Had small role in Marshall's comedy "The Flamingo Kid"
• 1985 Portrayed District Attorney Jesse Steinberg on TV series, "Foley Square"
• 1986 Third comedy with Marshall, "Nothing in Common"
• 1987 Had bit part as skipper of a garbage scow in the Goldie Hawn/Kurt Russell starrer "Overboard"; directed by Marshall
• 1987 Played Dave Whitman in the Fox TV series "Down and Out in Beverly Hills"
• 1988 Featured as yet another cop in the ABC movie "Addicted to His Love"
• 1989 Had small role in "Leviathan"
• 1990 Played Hasan Demir in the TNT production "Forgotten Prisoners: The Amnesty Files"
• 1990 Updated the fairy godmother role in Marshall's blockbuster modern Cinderella tale "Pretty Woman"; second film with Gere
• 1991 Featured as the owner of the diner where "Frankie and Johnny" work in Marshall's thoughtful romance, starring Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer
• 1991 Played a coach in the football comedy "Nescessary Roughness"
• 1992 Starred as Sandy Stern in the ABC miniseries "The Burden of Proof"
• 1992 Voiced the character of Sheldon Fallbrook on "Batman: The Animated Series"
• 1993 Earned Emmy Award nomination for his supporting role in the American Playhouse production of "Mrs. Cage"
• 1994 Played Dr. Phillip Watters on the CBS medical drama series, "Chicago Hope"; nominated for Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actor in 1995, 1996 and 1998; won in 1997
• 1994 Appeared as Dr. Watters on an episode of the TV series "Picket Fences"
• 1994 Had featured role in unecessary sequel "Beverly Hills Cop III"
• 1994 Lent voice to the character Malcho on the CBS syndicated cartoon series "Disney's Aladdin"
• 1994 Played small role as the rich man who trains a vulnerable Dana Delaney to be a dominatrix in Marshall's unpopular S&M comedy "Exit to Eden"
• 1996 Acted in the Marshall comedy "Dear God"
• 1996 Played himself on an episode of the CBS comedy "Murphy Brown," where Marshall had a regular co-starring role
• 1998 Appeared as Dr Phillip Watters in an episode of the CBS drama "Early Edition"
• 1999 Had featured role in "The Other Sister," Marshall's tale of a young developmentally disabled couple in love
• 1999 Stole scenes as the new husband of Gere's ex-wife in the blockbuster romantic comedy "Runaway Bride"
• 2001 Once again worked with Garry Marshall, playing the head of security for the monarch of a small country in the comedy "The Princess Diaries"
• 2001 Starred opposite Raquel Welch in "Tortilla Soup," a remake of "Eat Drink Man Woman" re-set in the Latino community of L.A.
• 2004 Again played head of security for the monarch in "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement"
• 2007 Cast in the Garry Marshall-directed dark comedy "Georgia Rule"
• 2007 Had a supporting role in Gabriel Garcia Márquez's "Love in the Time of Cholera"
• Acted with the Theatre Company of Boston in "Armstrong's Last Goodnight" and "So Proudly We Hail"
• Grew up on Manhattan's Upper West Side
• Played conga drums in a New York nightclub