Biography for
Hector Elizondo More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

22 December 1936, New York City, New York, USA

Height

5' 10" (1.78 m)

Mini Biography

Hector Elizondo was born in West Harlem in New York and grew up on 107th Street in Manhattan. He won an Obie for his leading role in Bruce Jay Friedman's "Steambath" in 1969. He is also an accomplished guitarist, singer and dancer. His wife, Carolee Campbell is an actress and noted binder of fine books.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Ted Thompson

Mini Biography

Hector Elizondo was born on December 22, 1936, in New York's Upper West Side. His father was Martin Echevarria Elizondo, a Basque who was born at sea on a cargo ship sailing from Spain to Puerto Rico, and his mother was Carmen Medina from Puerto Rico. His parents married in Puerto Rico and moved to New York, before Hector and his younger sister Emma were born. At age 10, Hector was discovered by the legendary W.C. Handy (1873-1958), who was portrayed by 'Nat 'King' Cole' in St. Louis Blues (1958) (1958). Hector appeared with W.C. Handy on local radio and TV. Hector attended public high school, and also took voice lessons. He was quite an athlete, his high school baseball skill was so good he was scouted by the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1954, Hector went to the City College of New York, wanting to become a history teacher. Around 1955 Hector got married for the first time, and had a son; the marriage ended in divorce in 1957. Hector also studied dance at the Ballet Arts Company at Carnegie Hall. From 1962-63 he was briefly married a 2nd time, to a young secretary. Hector continued acting, and met actress Carolee Campbell at the Actor's Studio, she was a star on the NBC soap "The Doctors" (1963). They got hitched in 1969 and have been happily married ever since. Hector made the transition from acting on the stage to movies, and since 1970 has been in over 80 movies and TV-movies. Director Garry Marshall considers Hector to be his "good luck charm" and Hector has appeared in 12 of Garry's movies, which included appearing with both Richard Gere and Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman (1990), for which Hector got a [Golden Globe] [award] nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He appeared again with Gere and Roberts in Runaway Bride (1999) which was a runaway success at the box office. Hector's son Rodd Elizondo is a school teacher, and Hector also has a granddaughter. Hector's hobbies include Kendo (a type of Japanese fencing), playing the guitar and singing, and he still plays the bongos.

IMDb Mini Biography By: kdhaisch@aol.com

Mini Biography

Hector Elizondo was born in New York and raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Elizondo, the name is Basque and means "at the foot of the church". His lifestyle in his pre-acting days 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 Giants and 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) (TV); "Casablanca" (1983) (in which he recreated the Claude Rains role of police chief Renault); Freebie and the Bean (1974); "Popi" (1976) and as Sophia Loren's husband in the CBS special Courage (1986) (TV). Guest appearances include: "Kojak" (1973); Kojak: Ariana (1989) (TV); "Columbo: A Case of Immunity (#5.2)" (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 utilise 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) (TV) (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 movie for television Addicted to His Love (1988) (TV) with Barry Bostwick.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous

Spouse

Carolee Campbell	(13 April 1969 - present)
?	(1962 - 1963) (divorced)
?	(195? - 1957) (divorced) 1 son

Trivia

Hector received a Tony for his role in Bruce Jay Friedman's "Steambath".

Hector is a fine guitarist and singer. Wife Carolee Campbell is a noted bookbinder, photographer and actress.

Considered by director/producer Garry Marshall to be his "good luck charm", and as such is offered a role in each of his movies.

Appears in so many Garry Marshall films that his credit in the beginning of _Exit To Eden (1994)_ was "As Usual... Hector Elizondo".

Often works with director Garry Marshall.

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