Biography
An actor of seemingly boundless range, New York-born Hector Elizondo began his career as a dancer. His initial training was at the Ballet Arts school of Carnegie Hall, from which he moved on to the Actors Studio. After several years' stage work, Elizondo made an inauspicious movie debut as "The Inspector" in the low-budget sex film
The Vixens (1969). He was shown to better advantage in his next film,
Hal Ashby's
The Landlord (1970), which he followed up with strong character parts in such Manhattan-based productions as
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) and
Thieves (1977). With
Young Doctors in Love (1982), Elizondo began his long association with director
Garry Marshall, who has since cast the actor in all of his films, in roles both sizable (
Matt Dillon's dad in
The Flamingo Kid [1984], the cafe owner in
Frankie and Johnny [1991]), and microscopic (
Overboard [1987]). Elizondo's screen roles have run the gamut from scrungy garbage scow captains to elegant concierges (
Pretty Woman). In addition, he has been a regular on several mediocre television series:
Popi,
Freebie and the Bean,
Casablanca (in the old
Claude Rains role of Inspector Renault), a.k.a. Pablo, Foley Square, and
Down and Out in Beverly Hills, In 1994, Elizondo took on a co-starring role as a demanding chief of surgery on the popular TV medical drama
Chicago Hope. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide