Paul Calderón (born 1959) is a Puerto Rican-American actor. He is a founding member of the Touchstone Theatre, the American Folk Theatre and the LAByrinth Theater Company. He is also a member of the Actors Studio, auditioning and accepted as a member in 1984 alongside Melissa Leo and two other actors.

Life and career

Calderón was born in Puerto Rico. His mother was Puerto Rican and his father was of African descent from another Caribbean country who had settled in Puerto Rico. Calderón moved with his family at the age of six to New York, where he grew up on the streets and sidewalks of the Lower East Side and Spanish Harlem. Following some time in college, studying anthropology, he enlisted in the United States Army and served overseas as an Infantryman. After his discharge, he worked as a trail cutter in the Amazon jungle for a team of anthropologists stationed in the border between Peru and Brazil. After his stint as trail cutter, he traveled extensively throughout Peru on train and foot, visiting and living in such places as Iquitos, Cuzco and Puno. After his South American venture, he lived in Mexico City for three months and traveled to Tasco, Tijuana; Baja California; and Mazatlán.

Career

Returning to the United States, Calderón worked as a demolition man, Latin dance instructor (he was one of the original Eddie Torres dancers). At the same time he began studying and performing in many Off-Off-Broadway productions as well as Regional Theatre. He got his big break in 1984 in a revival of Miguel Piñero's Short Eyes directed by Kevin Conway at the Second Stage Theatre. In 1995 he won an Obie and an Audelco Award for his performance in Blade to the Heat at the Public Theater. His most notable Broadway role was opposite Robert De Niro in Cuba and His Teddy Bear. Calderón also appeared off-Broadway in such plays as Requiem for a Heavyweight; "Two Sisters and a Piano" and "Dancing on Her Knees", both written by Nilo Cruz; Troilus and Cressida at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, in the role of Achilles; and Divine Horsemen for the LAByrinth Theater Company, a play which he wrote, directed, produced and acted in.

Writing and acting

Calderón also co-wrote Abel Ferrara's 1992 crime drama Bad Lieutenant, starring Harvey Keitel. He has had various short stories published in literary journals. His last published story was "Primitive Grace" for the international e-magazine Noir Nation.

Calderón's more than four dozen film appearances include Q&A, directed by Sidney Lumet; King of New York, starring Christopher Walken; Sea of Love, starring Al Pacino; The Last Castle starring Robert Redford and James Gandolfini; The Firm starring Tom Cruise; Bad Lieutenant, starring Harvey Keitel; Out of Sight directed by Steven Soderbergh; In the Life directed by and starring Laurence Fishburne; Clockers directed by Spike Lee; Quentin Tarantino's Four Rooms, and Pulp Fiction; Abel Ferrara's Addiction; Joshua Crook's La Soga; James Mangold's Cop Land, Alejandro González Iñárritu's 21 Grams; and Canadian filmmaker Sanzhar Sultanov's 2010 period crime drama Burnin' Daylight; Bolaetrapo, directed by Guillermo Duenas and shot in Baranquilla, Colombia. In addition, he has made numerous guest appearances on television series, including recurring roles on Dream Street, Law & Order and Miami Vice.

In 2012, he guest-starred in "Domestic Disturbance" the 2nd episode of the 3rd season of the CBS police procedural drama Blue Bloods playing the role of Lieutenant Martin Perez; as well as working on two films: West End, directed by Joe Basille; and Biodegradable, a futuristic film shot in the Dominican Republic with an all Latin cast, directed by Juan Basanta.

In 2014, he played the role of Arquimedes, the bodyguard of Enoch "Nucky" Thompson played by actor Steve Buscemi who's character was based on the late former Atlantic City, New Jersey political boss Enoch "Nucky" Johnson in 7 episodes of the 5th and final season of Martin Scorsese's HBO hit series Boardwalk Empire.

In 2016, he reprised the role of Lt. Martin Perez guest-starring in "Back in the Day" the 11th episode of the 6th season of the CBS hit series Blue Bloods.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]