Hector Elizondo

Director Gary Marshall calls him his good luck charm; others just call him a very good actor. Born Dec. 22, 1936, in New York, Hector Elizondo studied to be a dancer before an injury forced him to switch his focus to acting.

Making his Broadway debut in the early 1960s, Elizondo moved to the big screen later that decade with the sexploitation flick The Vixens. A variety of strong character parts in films such as The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) and Thieves (1977) followed. In 1982, the actor began his long collaboration with Marshall with Young Doctors in Love. Since then, he's appeared in almost every Marshall film, including The Flamingo Kid and Frankie and Johnny.

No stranger to the small screen, Elizondo won an Emmy for his portrayal of a hospital administrator on "Chicago Hope." Recent films for Elizondo include The Princess Diaries (2001) and The Celestine Prophecy (2006).

Filmography