Biography for
Esai Morales More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

1 October 1962, Brooklyn, New York, USA

Birth Name

Esai Manuel Morales

Nickname

Manny

Height

5' 9" (1.75 m)

Mini Biography

Esai Morales, a graduate of New York's High School for the Performing Arts, began his acting career on the stage, firstly appearing in El Hermano at the Ensemble Theatre Studio and at New York's Shakespeare Festival In The Park in The Tempest.

Esai made his film debut in Bad Boys (1983), and later appeared as Richie Valens' older brother in La Bamba (1987). He has also done voice work on a variety of animated features such as The Adventures of Tom Thumb & Thumbelina (2002) (V) and Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman (2000) (V).

A versatile actor, Morales is no stranger to the small screen, having appeared in a variety of roles in television series including "The Outer Limits" (1995), "Family Law" (1999)", "Resurrection Blvd." (2000), "The Twilight Zone" (1985), "Fame" (1982), "Tales from the Crypt" (1989), and "Miami Vice" (1984). He had a long-running role on ABC's popular series "NYPD Blue" (1993) as Lt. Tony Rodriguez.

A self-proclaimed activist, Esai Morales has freely given of his time to assist with many charitable organizations and environmental causes. He was founding board member of E.C.O. (Earth Communications Office), which is a clearing house for environmental information and has worked closely with the Wildlife Preservation Fund in Costa Rica and Health Education Aids Liaison (H.E.A.L.).

IMDb Mini Biography By: Peculiar Chicken <peculiar_chicken@yahoo.com>

Trivia

Is co-founder, with Sonia Braga and Jimmy Smits, of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts.

Spoke only Spanish until age 5.

Studied at Manhattan's High School for the Performing Arts.

He first became interested in an acting career at age 12 when he saw Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon (1975).

Esai's Puerto Rican parents divorced when he was a baby.

As a child, Esai was so concerned about his mother's smoking that he hid her cigarettes.

He originally auditioned for the role of Ritchie Valens in La Bamba (1987), and Lou Diamond Phillips originally auditioned for the role of Bob.

His first name frequently appears in crossword puzzles, since it is rare to find an English four-letter word that is 75% vowels.

Participated in the 2011 National Record-A-Thon by recording children's book titles for RFB&D (Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic)'s audiobook library. [March 2011]