Hector Elizondo
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Hector Elizondo (born December 22, 1936 in New York City) is a Puerto Rican-American actor.
In the 1930s, Hector's parents, Martin Echevarria Elizondo (whose own parents were from Spain) and Carmen Medina Reyes, emigrated to New York City, like so many other Puerto Ricans at the time, with the hope of finding a better way of life. They had two children, Hector being the elder.
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[edit] Early life
Whilst still young, Elizondo demonstrated a talent in both sports and music and when only 10 he sang for the Frank Murray Boy's Choir. Upon graduating from Jr. High School in 1951, he enrolled in the High School of the Performing Arts; he also attended a regular public high school where he excelled in basketball and baseball - his baseball skills were good enough for him to be scouted by both the New York Giants and the Pittsburgh Pirates.
[edit] Later education
In 1954, Elizondo enrolled in City College of New York, with the intention of becoming a history teacher. During his freshman year he became a father and dropped out of College and went to work full-time in order to support his family. Later, he was divorced and gained full custody of his son, Rodd.
From 1962–63, Elizondo studied dance at the Ballet Arts Company at Carnegie Hall and in 1963 he landed parts in two Off-Broadway shows:
- Kill the One-Eyed Man and
- The Great White Hope.
His first major success came when he played "God" in guise of a Puerto Rican steam room attendant in the play Steambath. Elizondo won an Obie Award for his performance.
In the 1980s, Elizondo befriended Garry Marshall; Marshall was impressed with his talent and it was to become a lifelong friendship, which would bring benefits for both. Their first movie together was Young Doctors in Love followed by The Other Sister. In some of the movies in which Elizondo appeared, he went uncredited and he would not have minded staying that way for the movie Pretty Woman, however it was Marshall who insisted on crediting him. His role in Pretty Woman only lasted 10 minutes, but it led to him receiving a Golden Globe nomination.
[edit] Roles
- A Mexican bandit in Valdez is Coming (1971),
- A psychopathic killer in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974),
- A dogged detective in The Fan (1981),
- A middle-class family man in The Flamingo Kid (1984),
- A football coach in Necessary Roughness (1991),
- A Greek coffee shop owner in Frankie and Johnny (1991),
- The head of the queen's security service in The Princess Diaries and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, and
- As Chief of Staff Dr. Phillip Watters in Chicago Hope.
Many of his roles involve playing a friend or sympathizer to the lead character. He provided the voice of Bane, one of the more aggressively themed characters in Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman.
Hector Elizondo has participated in over 80 movies and 12 of them have been Garry Marshall's. He is married to actress Carolee Campbell whom he met in NBC's soap opera Doctors.
Hector Elizondo plays the role of Wan Shi Tong on Avatar: The Last Airbender.
[edit] See also
Categories: 1936 births | Living people | American voice actors | Puerto Rican-American actors | The West Wing actors | American character actors | American film actors | American musical theatre actors | American soap opera actors | American television actors | Gargoyles voice actors | Tales from the Crypt actors | Columbo actors | Matlock actors | People from New York City | Film actors
