Héctor Elizondo

Héctor Elizondo is a Golden Globe-nominated and Emmy Award-winning American actor.

Wan Shi Tong

 * 2.10	"The Library"

Television work

 * Monk
 * Cane
 * Century City
 * Street Time
 * Kate Brasher
 * Chicago Hope

Filmography

 * Valentine's Day (2010)
 * Love in the Time of Cholera (2007)
 * Music Within (2007)
 * Raising Helen (2004)
 * Miracles (2003)
 * The Princess Diaries (2001)

Other credits

 * Knight to D7 (Short)
 * Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu (Video game)

Personal Life
Elizondo was born in New York City, the son of Carmen Medina Reyes from Puerto Rico and Martin Echevarria Elizondo of Basque descent. His parents who moved to New York City, like many other Hispanics at the time, with the hope of finding a better way of life. At a young age, Elizondo demonstrated a talent in sports and music. He sang for the Frank Murray Boys' Choir when he was 10 years old. 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.

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. He and his wife Carolee Campbell, an Emmy-Award winning actress, photographer and celebrated publisher, live in Sherman Oaks, California.

Career
From 1962-1963, 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. 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.

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. 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 his receiving a Golden Globe nomination. Elizondo has participated in over 80 movies and 12 of them have been Marshall's.

In 2001, he had the role as Renaldi's head of security "Joe" in the movie, The Princess Diaries, and he reprised the role in the sequel, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, which was made in 2004.

Trivia

 * The name Elizondo is Basque and means "at the foot of the church."
 * He has appeared in so many Garry Marshall films that his credit in the beginning of Exit to Eden (1994) was "As Usual... Hector Elizondo".

Гектор Элизондо