Early life

Of Puerto Rican descent, Morales was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Esai Morales, Sr., a welder, and Iris Margarita (née Declet), a union activist involved with the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Morales began his pursuit of an acting career by attending the School of Performing Arts in Manhattan.

Career

His first professional performances were in theater and television in New York. His first film was Bad Boys (1983), about teenagers in juvenile correction facility. He played the ex-convict and biker half-brother of 1950s rock and roll singer Ritchie Valens in La Bamba (1987). Some of his other roles have reflected his socio-political interests, such as The Burning Season in 1994, My Family/Mi Familia in 1995, The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca (1997) and Southern Cross (1999). In the latter three films, as well as in others such as Bloodhounds of Broadway (1989) and Rapa Nui (1994), Morales saw increased amounts of screen time, starting with a role in the Pauly Shore film In The Army Now (1994). He portrayed a police officer in the film Dogwatch (1996) and Father Herrera in The Virgin of Juarez (2006).

Morales appeared on television in the mid-1980s on Fame. He co-starred with Burt Lancaster in the NBC-TV miniseries, On Wings of Eagles, playing the Iranian Rashid, the hero of a true story about Ross Perot. Morales also appeared in Miami Vice, The Equalizer, and 24.

In the 1990s, he guest-starred on episodes of The Outer Limits, Tales from the Crypt, and two shorter-lived series, L.A. Doctors and The Hunger. He was a featured TV actor, seen in a two-part episode of Family Law in 2000. His tenure on NYPD Blue as the head of the 15th precinct detective squad began in mid-season 2001 and continued until 2004, when he decided to cancel his contract.

The film Paid in Full was scheduled for release in October 2002. It marked a return to a criminal character such as those in his previous roles - in this case playing a drug dealer named Lulu. In 2005, he (along with Mercedes Ruehl) received the Rita Moreno HOLA Award for Excellence from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA). That same year, he contributed his vocal talents to the video game True Crime: New York City, playing Sgt. Victor Navarro.

Morales was cast in the film American Fusion (2005), and on June 19, 2006, he joined the cast of the Fox series Vanished, as FBI agent Michael Tyner alongside actors Gale Harold and Ming-Na. The series was later canceled. In 2007, he completed filming for Kill Kill Faster Faster, a contemporary film noir inspired by the critically acclaimed novel of the same name by Joel Rose. Also in 2007, Morales appeared in an episode of the USA Network drama series Burn Notice, as a Cuban shopkeeper being shaken down for "protection" money by local criminals. In early 2008, Morales had a role in the CBS drama Jericho, as Major Edward Beck. He appeared in all seven episodes of the shortened second season.

In May 2008, it was announced that Morales would play the role of Joseph Adama in the science fiction television series Caprica - Syfy's prequel to the series Battlestar Galactica. The series premiered on January 22, 2010. In 2009, he served as an official festival judge for the Noor Iranian Film Festival in Los Angeles.

In 2011, Morales starred in the drama film Gun Hill Road, as Enrique, and in the web drama Los Americans airing on PIC.tv. In March 2015 Robert Rodriguez cast him as Lord Amancio Malvado for the horror drama series From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series.

Actor Esai Morales, known for his advocacy work on education and the environment, was selected by the Arpa Foundation to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award because of his impact as an actor and role model. Moreover, his ideals align themselves with those of the Foundation and his exemplary body of work spans over 3 decades.

Personal life

Morales has described himself as an "actorvist", primarily as one of the founders of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, taking inspiration from his mother, who was an organizer for the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. He is also interested in environmental issues and was a founding board member of E.C.O. (Earth Communications Office).

In the February 28, 2007, all-star benefit reading of "The Gift of Peace" at UCLA's Freud Playhouse, he portrayed a hopeful member of a struggling immigrant family, and plays alongside actors Ed Asner, Barbara Bain, Amy Brenneman, George Coe, Wendie Malick, and James Pickens, Jr.. The play was an open appeal and fundraiser for passage of U.S. House Resolution 808, which sought to establish a Cabinet-level "Department of Peace" in the U.S. government, to be funded by a two percent diversion of the Pentagon's annual budget.

Morales is a vegetarian. He and girlfriend Elvimar Silva had a daughter, Mariana Oiveira, on September 24, 2010.

Morales's first name is frequently used in crossword puzzles because its rare construction (it is a four-letter word in English that is seventy-five percent vowels, including the first and last letters) makes it a prize for crossword constructors. One crossword clue website estimated that between 1994 and 2016, ESAI had been used as a crossword answer over 100 times in American papers such as The New York Times, The LA Times, and The Washington Post.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982	Forty Deuce	Mitchell
1983	Bad Boys	Paco Moreno
1986	Rainy Day Friends	Neekos Valdez
1987	La Bamba	Roberto "Bob" Morales
1987	The Principal	Raymi Rojas
1989	Bloodhounds of Broadway	Handsome Jack
1990	Naked Tango	Zico Borenstein
1990	Amazon	Jack	Uncredited
1992	Ultraviolet	Nicholas Walker
1992	Freejack	Ripper
1993	The Waiter	Julius
1993	Living and Working in Space: The Countdown Has Begun	Kenny	Direct-to-video
1994	Rapa Nui	Make
1994	Don't Do It	Charles
1994	In the Army Now	Sgt. Stern
1995	My Family	Chucho
1996	Livers Ain't Cheap	Collin
1996	Death in Granada	Ricardo
1996	The Real Thing	Collin
1996	Dog Watch	Murrow	Direct-to-video
1996	Scorpion Spring	Astor
1997	The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca	Ricardo	Nominated Alma Award
1998	The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit	Dominguez
1999	Southern Cross	Philip Solano
1999	Live Virgin	Jim the Director
2000	American Virgin	Jim the Director
2000	Spin Cycle	Nickens
2000	Doomsday Man	Mike	second unit director
2002	The Adventures of Tom Thumb & Thumbelina	Vergas Mouse (voice)	Direct-to-video
2002	Paid in Full	Lulu
2005	Once Upon a Wedding	Pineda
2005	American Fusion	Jose	VC Film Fest Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Best Actor Award Winner
2006	The Virgin of Juarez	Father Herrera
2006	Fast Food Nation	Tony
2006	How to Go Out on a Date in Queens	Frankie
2008	Kill Kill Faster Faster	Markie
2008	La Linea	Pelon
2010	Cherry	Wes
2010	King of the Avenue	Natas
2011	Gun Hill Road	Enrique	FilmOut San Diego ,US Best Actor Award Winner
2011	Lives of the Saints	n/a	in production
2012	Atlas Shrugged Part 2	Francisco d'Anconia
2012	Seattle Superstorm	Tom Reynolds
2013	Playing for Love	Principle Jose Martin
2014	Jarhead 2: Field of Fire	Captain Jones	Direct-to-video
2015	Spare Parts	Mr. Santillan	Nominated Imagen Foundation Award Best Supporting Actor
2016	Never Back Down: No Surrender		Direct-to-video

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	ABC Afterschool Special	Miguel Rados	Episode: "The Great Love Experiment"
1985	The Equalizer	Officer Miguel Canterra	Episode: "Lady Cop"
1985	Fame	George	Episode: "Savage Streets"
1985-1987	Miami Vice	Pete Romano/Felipe Cruz	Episodes: "The Home Invaders" "God's Work"
1986	On Wings of Eagles	Rashid	TV mini-series
1989	The Twilight Zone	Jesse Cardiff	Episode: "A Game of Pool"
1991-1992	The Legend of Prince Valiant	n/a (voice)	Episodes: "The Visitor" "The Trap"
1992	Bay City Story	Jim Duran	TV movie
1994	The Burning Season	Jair	TV movie
1994	Tales from the Crypt	Puck	Episode: "The Bribe"
1995	Deadlocked: Escape from Zone 14	Tony Archer	TV movie
1996	Dying to Be Perfect: The Ellen Hart Pena Story	Federico Peña	TV movie
1997	The Outer Limits	Frank Kelton	Episode: "Heart's Desire"
1997	The Hunger	Tony	Episode: "I'm Dangerous Tonight"
1998	Adventures from the Book of Virtues	Guillermo (voice)	Episode: "Charity"
1998	Circle of Deceit	Jeff Silva	TV movie
1999	L.A. Doctors	Vince Duralde	Episode: "The Life Lost in Living"
1999	Atomic Train	Noris MacKenzie	TV movie
2000	A Family in Crisis: The Elian Gonzales Story	Juan Miguel Gonzalez	TV movie
2000	Family Law	Mr. Santiago	Episode: "Telling Lies, Conclusion"
2000-2002	Resurrection Blvd.	Paco Corrales	7 episodes
2001-2004	NYPD Blue	Lt. Tony Rodriguez	Series regular Outstanding Actor in a Television Series Alma Award Winner
2002	American Family	Esteban Gonzalez	8 episodes Nominated Prism Award Nominated Imagen Foundation Award Best Actor in a supporting role
2002	George Lopez	Manny Lopez	Episode: "Who's Your Daddy?"
2002-2003	Dora the Explorer	Papi	Episodes: "El Dia De Las Madres" "A Present for Santa" "Super Map" "Click" "Egg Hunt"
2004	Sudbury	n/a	TV movie
2005	Heartless	Rick Benes/David Lopez	TV movie
2005	Freddie	Carlos	Episode: "The Courtship of Freddie's Father"
2005	Behind the Mask of Zorro	Narrator	TV documentary (co-producer)
2005	True Crime:New York City	Captain Victor Navarro	Voice video game
2006	Company Town	Ray Dupre	TV movie
2006	Vanished	Michael Tyner	11 episodes
2006	Jurukan	Guest	1 episode
2007	The Cure	Jorge	TV movie
2007	24: Day 6 Debrief	Agent Jorge Ramirez	Episodes: "9:00 p.m." "9:42 p.m." "10:31 p.m." "10:33 p.m." "10:37 p.m."
2007	Burn Notice	Ernie Paseo	Episode: "Broken Rules"
2008	Jericho	Major Edward Beck	7 episodes Nominated Alma Award
2009-2010	Caprica	Joseph Adama	Series regular
2010	CSI: Miami	Stephen Madsen	Episode: "All Fall Down"
2011	Los Americans	Lee Valenzuela	8 episodes (producer)
2011	Fairly Legal	D.A. Aaron Davidson	Episode: "Bo Me Once"
2011	Seattle Superstorm	Tom	TV movie
2011	17th Precinct	Liam Butterfield	TV movie
2011	We Have Your Husband	Eduardo Valseca	TV movie Nominated Image Award
2012	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Jimmy Vasquez	Episode: "Home Invasions"
2012	Hola	Guest	1 episode
2013	Major Crimes	Deputy Diaz	Episode: "Jailbait"
2013-present	Criminal Minds	BAU Section Chief Mateo Cruz	Recurring character
2013	Teachers	Manny	TV Movie
2013	Magic City	Carlos Ruiz "el tiburon"	Series regular 6 episodes
2014	Cleaners	Father Brooks	Series regular 3 episodes
2015	The Brink	President Julian Navarro	Series regular
2015	From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series	Lord Amancio Malvado	Series regular (Season 2)
2015	Mozart in the Jungle	Juan Delgado	Series Rugular 2 episodes
2015	Blue Bloods	Sgt. Trey Delgado	1 episode
2016	L.A. Series	El Mono	TV Movie
2016	Casa Vita	Rodrigo Vita	TV Movie

Video games

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	True Crime: New York City	Captain Victor Navarro	voice

Charities

Esai Morales supports the following charitable causes: Environment, Smoking & Smoking-Related Illnesses.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]