Hector Elizondo

Hector Elizondo was born on December 22, 1936, in New York City, New York. Raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, he is of Basque and Puerto Rican descent. In his early life, Elizondo pursued diverse interests including playing conga with a Latin band, classical guitar and singing, weightlifting coaching, and ballet dancing. He was also scouted by the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates farm teams for his basketball and baseball skills. After a knee injury ended his dance career, he transitioned to drama, marking the beginning of a prolific acting journey.

Elizondo’s acting career began in theatre, most notably with George C. Scott in Arthur Penn’s production of “Sly Fox,” which earned him a Drama Desk nomination. He received an Obie Award for his role as ‘God’ in “Steambath.” His extensive stage credits also include “The Prisoner of Second Avenue,” “The Great White Hope,” “Dance of Death” with Robert Shaw, and “The Rose Tattoo” opposite Cicely Tyson. He made his debut as a stage director with a production of “Villa!” starring Julio Medina. In television, Elizondo has had numerous starring roles and guest appearances, including “Foley Square” (1985), “Casablanca” (1983) where he recreated Claude Rains’ role, and “Courage” (1986).

On the big screen, Elizondo has appeared in over 80 films. He is well-known for his collaborations with director Garry Marshall, appearing in all of Marshall’s films, starting with “Young Doctors in Love” (1982) and including “Pretty Woman” (1990), “Runaway Bride” (1999), and “The Princess Diaries” (2001) and its sequel (2004). His role in “Pretty Woman” earned him a Golden Globe nomination. Elizondo also gained significant recognition for his portrayal of Dr. Phillip Watters in the CBS television series “Chicago Hope” (1994–2000), for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award and two ALMA Awards. From 2011 to 2021, he was a main cast member on the Fox comedy “Last Man Standing” as Ed Alzate. Most recently, he reprised his role as Dr. Neven Bell in “Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie” (2023) and lent his voice to animated series like “Star Wars: The Bad Batch” (2023) and “Green Eggs and Ham” (2022).