HÉCTOR ELIZONDO, UNFORGETTABLE TV & CINEMA ROLES

Today, The Grandma is relaxing at home. She has been watching some movies interpreted by one of her favourite actors, Héctor Elizondo, who was born on a day like today in 1936.

Héctor Elizondo (born December 22, 1936) is an American character actor. He is known for playing Phillip Watters in the television series Chicago Hope (1994–2000) and Ed Alzate in the television series Last Man Standing (2011–present). His film roles include The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), American Gigolo (1980), Leviathan (1989), Pretty Woman (1990), Beverly Hills Cop III (1994), Runaway Bride (1999), The Princess Diaries (2001), and Valentine's Day (2010).

Elizondo is the recipient of an Obie Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two ALMA Awards. He has also received nominations for a Drama Desk Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Satellite Award, and five Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Elizondo was born in New York, the son of Carmen Medina Reyes and Martín Echevarría Elizondo, a notary public and accountant. His parents were Puerto Ricans of Spanish descent who moved from Puerto Rico to New York City with the hope of finding a better life. He grew up on the Upper West Side.

At a young age, he demonstrated a talent for sports and music. He sang for the Frank Murray Boys' Choir when he was 10 years old. Upon graduating from junior high school in 1950, he enrolled in the High School of the Performing Arts. He also attended another public high school, where he excelled in basketball and baseball. His baseball skills were good enough for him to be scouted by both the San Francisco Giants and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

More information: US Magazine

In 1954, Elizondo enrolled in City College of New York, intending to become a history teacher. However, during his freshman year, he became a father and dropped out of college, going to work full-time to support his family. Later, he divorced and gained full custody of his son, Rodd.

From 1962 to 1963, Elizondo studied dance at the Ballet Arts Company at Carnegie Hall. During 1962–63, he also studied acting under Mario Stiletti at Stella Adler Theatre Studio when it was located in the Dryden East Hotel on East 39th St. In 1965, he landed a part in the off-Broadway show Kill the One-Eyed Man.

In 1968, he got a part in the play The Great White Hope. His first major success came when he played God in the guise of a Puerto Rican steam room attendant in Steambath, for which he won an Obie Award for his performance. Many of his roles involve playing a friend of or sympathizer to the lead character.

In 1974, Elizondo played an ex-mafioso-turned-subway hijacker Mr. Grey in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.

He starred as a Puerto Rican widower on the CBS television series, Popi (1975–76). The short-lived series, which ran for 11 episodes, was one of the first American network television series to feature a Latino theme and cast.

In 1975, he portrayed the murderer in an episode of Columbo, A Case of Immunity. He was a member of the cast of the 1985–86 CBS situation comedy Foley Square, starring Margaret Colin.

In the 1980s, Elizondo befriended Garry Marshall, who was impressed with his talent. Their first movie together was Young Doctors in Love, in which Elizondo displays his guitar-playing talent. His role in Pretty Woman lasted only 10 minutes, but led to a Golden Globe nomination.

In 1999, he co-starred in Runaway Bride as Fisher, the husband of the male protagonist's ex. Elizondo has participated in more than 80 movies, 17 of which have been Marshall's. He appeared in every movie that Marshall directed, including a brief but funny appearance as a Portuguese fisherman in Overboard, which starred Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn.

In 2001, he was featured in the short-lived television drama Kate Brasher and portrayed security head Joe in the movie The Princess Diaries, a role he reprised in the 2004 sequel, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.

As a voice-actor, he played Bane, one of the more aggressively themed characters in Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman. He may be best known to television audiences as Dr. Phillip Watters on the CBS television series Chicago Hope created by well-known television creator David E. Kelley. He has won both an Emmy and ALMA award and was nominated for a Satellite Award and several SAG Awards for playing this role. He is one of only two people to remain on the show for its entire run, the other being Adam Arkin.

On April 30, 2008, USA Network announced that Elizondo would be cast on Monk as Dr. Neven Bell, Adrian Monk's new psychiatrist, following the sudden death of Stanley Kamel, the actor who played Monk's original psychiatrist, earlier that month.

Since 2011, Elizondo has played Ed Alzate on the Fox (formerly ABC) comedy Last Man Standing, starring Tim Allen and Nancy Travis.

More information: The Skanner

I started in 1946 in radio. I was ten years old.
I was discovered singing in a school play.
Someone was in the audience and it's six degrees of separation.

Hector Elizondo