Early life

Born Esteban Ernesto Echevarría Samson in Havana, Cuba, the son of Lillian Samson Agostini, a schoolteacher, and Esteban Echevarria, a pilot who worked for Cubana Airlines. Bauer's maternal grandfather was a Jewish refugee from Germany, and Bauer's maternal grandmother was a Cuban of partial Italian ancestry. His stage surname comes from his maternal great-grandmother. Bauer's parents fled from Cuba to Miami, Florida, on July 4, 1960, following Fidel Castro's Revolution. He graduated from Miami Coral Park High School in 1974. Originally intending to become a musician, Bauer turned to acting while attending Miami-Dade Community College, but then transferred to the University of Miami, where he studied in its Department of Theater Arts and performed at its Jerry Herman Ring Theatre where he became friends with actor Ray Liotta.

Acting career

Bauer's first substantial role was in the PBS bilingual sitcom ¿Qué Pasa, USA?, playing the teenage son of a Cuban exile family in Miami, from 1977 to 1979. He also appeared in the 1980 TV miniseries From Here to Eternity. He was credited in these and a few other early projects as Rocky Echevarría. In 1981, Bauer starred in the television movie She's in the Army Now, where he met his first wife, actress Melanie Griffith. They both moved to New York City and stayed at Ray Liotta's apartment, while Liotta moved to Los Angeles and stayed at theirs. Both Bauer and Griffith studied under famed acting teacher Stella Adler, and he appeared in several off-Broadway productions. During this time he briefly adopted the stage name Rocky Echevarria, before settling on "Steven Bauer".

Bauer was given the role of Manny Ribera, the part played by George Raft in the original 1932 version, in the 1983 movie Scarface, even though (like Raft) he was a relatively unknown actor at the time. The producers of Scarface were convinced that he was right for the role based on his strong audition, as well as his authentic Cuban background. His performance drew a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor. In 1986 he had two other important roles. The first was as Det. Frank Sigliano in the Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines cop comedy Running Scared. The second was as an Israeli soldier named Avner in the Canadian CTV television movie Sword of Gideon, which tells the story of Mossad agents hunting down terrorists in the aftermath of the 1972 Munich massacre. The Sword of Gideon script was the basis for Steven Spielberg's later film Munich, which follows the same storyline and borrows heavily from the Sword of Gideon story and script. In 1990 Bauer played the role of Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena in the television miniseries Drug Wars: The Camarena Story alongside Benicio Del Toro and Craig T. Nelson. That same year, Bauer took over the series lead of the television show Wiseguy from Ken Wahl for the fourth and final season, playing US Attorney Michael Santana after Wahl's character disappears.

Since then, Bauer has made his career primarily, though not exclusively, in action films and crime dramas on both the big and small screens, including such motion pictures as Primal Fear and Traffic. He also made an appearance in the video game spin-off Scarface: The World Is Yours, playing drug dealer The Sandman. In 2007 he appeared on an episode of Burn Notice. In 2011, Bauer appeared on the show Breaking Bad playing Mexican drug lord Don Eladio. He stars with Julianne Michelle in the feature film Awakened, a supernatural thriller touching on Life After Death, a Supernova Media motion picture. He currently appears as ex-Mossad agent turned private investigator "Avi" in the Showtime series Ray Donovan.

Personal life

Bauer married Melanie Griffith on September 8, 1981. The couple had a son, Alexander Bauer, on August 22, 1985, before divorcing in 1989. That same year he married Ingrid Anderson, with whom he had another son, Dylan, born in 1990. His second marriage ended in divorce in 1991. A year later, he married his third wife, Christiana Boney, but the couple eventually divorced. On December 18, 2012, Bauer was arrested in the Miami, Florida, area, accused of driving with a suspended license.

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1983	Valley Girl	Guy in Pink Shirt	Uncredited
1983	Scarface	Manny Ribera
1984	Thief of Hearts	Scott Muller
1984	Body Double	Assistant Director	Uncredited
1986	Sword of Gideon	Avner
1986	Running Scared	Det. Frank Sigliano
1988	Wildfire	Frank
1988	The Beast of War	Taj
1989	Gleaming the Cube	Al Lucero
1991	A Climate for Killing	Paul McGraw
1991	Raising Cain	Jack Dante
1992	Drive Like Lightning	Charlie Robinson
1993	Woman of Desire	Jonathan Ashby/Ted Ashby
1993	Snapdragon	David
1994	Terminal Voyage	Reese
1994	Improper Conduct	Sam
1994	Stranger by Night	Bobby Corcoran
1995	Codename: Silencer	Vinnie Rizzo
1995	Wild Side	Tony
1996	Primal Fear	Joey Pinero
1996	Navajo Blues	Nick Epps/John Cole
1997	Miami
1997	Kickboxing Academy	Carl
1997	The Blackout	Mickey's Studio Actor
1997	Plato's Run	Sam
1998	Star Portal	Dr. Ray Brady
1998	The Versace Murder	FBI Agent John Jacoby
1998	Naked Lies	Kevin Dowd
2000	El Grito	Ibarra
2000	Glory Glory	Jack
2000	Forever Lulu	Lou
2000	Rave	Antonio
2000	Traffic	Carlos Ayala
2001	Speed Limit	Jeff
2001	The Learning Curve	Mark York
2002	Malevolent	Capt. Greg Pruitt
2003	Masked and Anonymous	Edgar
2003	Nola	Leo
2004	Doing Hard Time	Det. Anthony Wade
2005	The Nowhere Man
2005	How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer	Victor Reyes
2005	Keeper of the Past	The Mayor
2005	Hitters Anonymous	Theodore Swan
2005	Pit Fighter	Manolo
2005	La fiesta del Chivo	Viñas
2005	The Lost City	Castel
2006	Dead Lenny	Lenny Long
2006	Ladrones & Mentirosos	Oscar
2007	Natural Born Komics
2007	The Last Sentinel	Drone Scientist
2008	Dark World	Rick
2008	Mutants	Santiago
2008	Didn't Know How I Was	Mr. Hernandez
2009	Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia	General Manuel Valez
2009	The Intruders	Michael Foster
2009	Venus & Vegas	Francis
2009	Charlie Valentine	Ferucci
2009	Raven	William
2009	Boyle Heights	Tino
2009	From Mexico with Love	Tito
2009	Fast Lane	Lt. Baynes
2009	A Numbers Game	Neal Black
2009	Disarmed	Caine
2009	Camouflage	Bobb
2010	Bulletface	Ned Walker
2010	Toxic	Conrad
2010	Zenitram	Frank Ramírez
2010	Crumble	Reda
2010	One in the Gun	Arthur
2010	Suicide Dolls	Hank
2010	Promises	Detective Stevens
2010	Session	Jake Tellman
2010	Enemies Among Us	Senator Edmonds
2011	Shadows in Paradise	Agent Stubbs
2011	The Last Gamble	Steven	2011 "Mommy and Me"
2011	Pimp Bullies	Mr. Watson
2012	A Dark Truth	Tony Green
2012	Werewolf: The Beast Among Us	Hyde
2013	Real Gangsters	"Big" Nick Salens
2013	Once Upon a Time in Queens	P.O. Ramirez
2013	Seasick Sailor	Waldorf	Short film
2014	The Lookalike
2016	JL Ranch		Filming

Music Video

Song	Year	Artist	Role	Notes
"Noche de Copas"	1984	Maria Conchita Alonso	Main Lover Interest
"Would I Lie to You?"	1985	Eurythmics	Biker Boyfriend
"Conga"	1985	Miami Sound Machine	Crowd Dancer
"Secret Admirer"	2007	Pitbull
"Hold On, We're Going Home"	2013	Drake	Kidnapper

Television

Year	Show	Role	Notes
1977-1979	¿Qué Pasa, U.S.A.?	Jose "Joe" Peña	28 episodes (as Rocky Echevarría)
1978	The Rockford Files	Jesus Hernandez	1 episode (as Rocky Echevarría)
1980	From Here to Eternity	Private Ignacio Carmona	1 episode (as Rocky Echevarría)
1981	Hill Street Blues	Officer Fuentes	2 episodes (as Rocky Echevarría)
1981	She's in the Army Now	Nick Donato	Television film (as Rocky Bauer)
1982	An Innocent Love	Duncan Widders	Television film (as Rocky Bauer)
1985	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Gambler	1 episode
1986	Sword of Gideon	Avner	Television film
1987	Tales from the Hollywood Hills: A Table at Ciro's	Tony Montoya	Television film
1990	Drug Wars: The Camarena Story	Enrique "Kiki" Camarena	Miniseries
1990	Wiseguy	Michael Santana	9 episodes
1991	Sweet Poison	Bobby	Television film
1991	False Arrest	Detective Dan Ryan	Television film
1992	Drive Like Lightning	Charlie	Television film
1992	Red Shoe Diaries	Michael	1 episode
1997	Sisters and Other Stranger	Anthony Quintana	Television film
1998	The Outer Limits	Sergeant Waylon Dumar	1 episode
1998	Welcome to Paradox	Detective Angel Cardenas	1 episode
1999	Walker, Texas Ranger	Lorenzo Cabral	1 episode
2000	For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story	Angel	Television film
2000-2001	Relic Hunter	Tony	2 episodes
2001	Nash Bridges	Lima	1 episode
2001	V.I.P.	Blake Thompson	1 episode
2001	Boss of Bosses	Vito Genovese	Television film
2001	UC: Undercover	Carlos Cortez	3 episodes
2002	King of Texas	Menchaca	Television film
2004	Raptor Island	Azir	Television film
2005	Sex, Love & Secrets	Stefano	1 episode
2006	South Beach	Lieutenant Rivera	3 episodes
2007	Kings of South Beach	Allie Boy	Television film
2007	Planet Raptor	Captain Mace Carter	Television film
2007	Burn Notice	Reyes	1 episode
2007	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Raphael Gardner	1 episode
2009	Cold Case	Osmany "Oz" Leon	1 episode
2009	American Dad!	Fernando Jaramillo	1 episode
2009	Mental	Diego Suarez	1 episode
2010	Hacienda Heights	Mayor Eduardo Garcia	11 episodes
2011	Breaking Bad	Don Eladio Vuente	2 episodes
2012	Common Law	Miguel Avila	1 episode
2013	The Mentalist	Don Clyde	1 episode
2013-present	Ray Donovan	Avi	36 episodes
2013	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Bobby Esposito	1 episode
2014	The Night Shift	Milo Osborne	2 episodes
2014	Hawaii Five-0	Jimmy Sykes	1 episode
2015	Battle Creek	Roderigo	1 episode
2015	Blue Bloods	Gerry Guerrero	1 episode

Video game

Game	Year	Role	Notes
Scarface: The World is Yours	2006	The Sandman
Hitman: Absolution	2012	Birdie

Awards and Nominations

• Nominated - Golden Globe Award - Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Scarface (1984)
• Nominated - Golden Globe Award - Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for TV - Drug Wars: The Camarena Story (1990)
• Won - Screen Actors Guild Award - Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture - Traffic (2000)
• Won - Short Film Award - Best Supporting Actor - Crumble (2010)
• Won - Festival Award - Best Actor - The Last Gamble (2011)
• Won - Feature Film Award - Best Actor - The Last Gamble (2012)
• Nominated - Saturn Award - Best Guest Starring Role on Television - Breaking Bad

[ Source: Wikipedia ]