Hector Elizondo
- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Hector Elizondo was born in New York City, New York, where he was raised on the Upper West Side
of Manhattan. He is the son of Carmen Medina Reyes and Martín Echevarría
Elizondo. Hector is of Basque and Puerto Rican descent, and "Elizondo" means "at
the foot of the church" in Basque. His lifestyle in his days before acting
was as diverse as the roles he plays today. He was a conga player with
a Latin band, a classical guitarist and singer, a weightlifting coach,
a ballet dancer and a manager of a bodybuilding gym. In his teens, he
played basketball and baseball, and was scouted by the New York Giants
and Pittsburgh Pirates farm teams. After a knee injury ended his dance
career, he switched to drama. Since then, he has frequently appeared on
Broadway, most notably with
George C. Scott in
Arthur Penn's production of "Sly
Fox" for which he received a Drama Desk nomination and for his role as
"God" in "Steambath", which won him an Obie Award. Other theatre
credits include; "The Prisoner of Second Avenue"; "The Great White
Hope"; "Dance of Death" with
Robert Shaw and "The Rose Tattoo"
opposite Cicely Tyson. Countless starring
roles in television include:
Foley Square (1985);
Medal of Honor Rag (1982);
Casablanca (1983) (in which he
recreated the Claude Rains role of police
chief "Capt. Renault");
Freebie and the Bean (1974);
Popi (1975) and as
Sophia Loren's husband in the CBS special
Courage (1986). Guest
appearances include: Kojak (1973);
Kojak: Ariana (1989);
A Case of Immunity (1975);
Baretta (1975);
All in the Family (1971);
The Rockford Files (1974)
and Bret Maverick (1981). In
addition, he also directed
a.k.a. Pablo (1984), the first
show to utilize seven cameras instead of the usual four. On the big
screen, he has been seen in, among others,
American Gigolo (1980);
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974);
Cuba (1979);
Valdez Is Coming (1971) and in
four films directed by Garry Marshall:
Young Doctors in Love (1982);
The Flamingo Kid (1984);
Nothing in Common (1986) and
Overboard (1987). Elizondo starred with
Dan Aykroyd and
Michelle Pfeiffer in PBS'
Tales from the Hollywood Hills: Natica Jackson (1987)
(based on a collection of
John O'Hara stories) and made his
debut as a stage director with a production of "Villa!" starring
Julio Medina. In addition, he
performed in the 50th anniversary production of "War of the Worlds"
co-starring Jason Robards and the TV-movie
Addicted to His Love (1988)
with Barry Bostwick.
