Early years

Elizondo was born in New York City, the son of Carmen Medina Reyes and Martín Echevarría Elizondo, a notary public and accountant. His father was of Basque and Canarian ancestry and his mother was Puerto Rican; his parents moved from Puerto Rico to New York City with the hope of finding a better life.

At a young age, Elizondo demonstrated a talent in sports and music. He sang for the Frank Murray Boys' Choir when he was 10 years old. Upon graduating from Jr. High School in 1950, he enrolled in the High School of the Performing Arts. He also attended another public high school where he excelled in basketball and baseball. His baseball skills were good enough for him to be scouted by both the San Francisco Giants and the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1954, Elizondo enrolled in City College of New York, intending to become a history teacher. However, during his freshman year he became a father and dropped out of college, going to work full-time in order to support his family. Later, he divorced and gained full custody of his son, Rodd.

Career

From 1962-63, Elizondo studied dance at the Ballet Arts Company at Carnegie Hall. In 1965 he landed a part in the Off-Broadway show Kill the One-Eyed Man. In 1968, he got a part in the play The Great White Hope. His first major success came when he played "God" in the guise of a Puerto Rican steam room attendant in Steambath, for which he won an Obie Award for his performance. Many of his roles involve playing a friend or sympathizer to the lead character. As a voice-actor, he played Bane, one of the more aggressively themed characters in Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman.

In 1974, Elizondo played an ex-mafioso-turned-subway hijacker "Mr. Grey" in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. He starred as a Puerto Rican widower on the CBS television series, Popi (1975-76). The short-lived series, which ran for eleven episodes, was one of the first American network television series to feature a Latino theme and cast. He was a member of the cast of the 1985-86 CBS situation comedy Foley Square, starring Margaret Colin.

In the 1980s, Elizondo befriended Garry Marshall; Marshall was impressed with his talent and it was to become a lifelong friendship, which would bring benefits for both. Their first movie together was Young Doctors in Love. In some of the movies in which Elizondo appeared, he went uncredited. In Pretty Woman, however, Marshall insisted on crediting him. His role in Pretty Woman only lasted 10 minutes, but it led to his receiving a Golden Globe nomination. In 1999, he co-starred in Runaway Bride as Fisher, the husband of the male protagonist's ex. Elizondo has participated in more than 80 movies (17 of which have been Marshall's). He has appeared in every movie that Marshall has directed, including a brief appearance as a fisherman in the movie Overboard, which starred Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn.

In 2001, he was featured in the short-lived television drama Kate Brasher and portrayed security head Joe in the movie The Princess Diaries, a role he reprised in the 2004 sequel, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.

He may be best known to television audiences as Dr. Phillip Watters on the CBS television series Chicago Hope created by well known television creator David E. Kelley. He has won both an Emmy and ALMA award and was nominated for a Satellite Award and several SAG Awards for playing this role. He is one of only two people to remain on the show for its entire run, the other being Adam Arkin.

On April 30, 2008, it was announced by USA Network that Elizondo would be cast on Monk as Dr. Neven Bell, Adrian Monk's new psychiatrist, following the sudden death on April 8, 2008 from a heart attack of Stanley Kamel, who played Monk's original psychiatrist.

In 2011, Elizondo became a main cast member on the new ABC comedy Last Man Standing, starring Tim Allen.

Personal life

Elizondo has been married three times. He has a son from his first marriage. Since 1969 he has been married to Carolee Campbell, an Emmy Award winning actress, photographer and publisher. They live in Sherman Oaks, California.

In April 2013, Elizondo participated in the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, held at the University of Southern California, promoting children's reading. Elizondo does not accept roles which he feels are stereotypical and/or demeaning in any way.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1963	Fat Black Pussycat, TheThe Fat Black Pussycat
1969	Vixens, TheThe Vixens	Inspector
1970	Landlord, TheThe Landlord	Hector
1971	Valdez Is Coming	Mexican Rider
1971	Born to Win	Vivian
1972	Deadhead Miles	Bad Character
1972	Pocket Money	Juan
1972	Stand Up and Be Counted	Lou Kellerman
1974	Taking of Pelham One Two Three, TheThe Taking of Pelham One Two Three	Mr. Grey
1975	Report to the Commissioner	Captain D'Angelo
1976	Diary of the Dead	Stan
1977	Thieves	Man Below
1979	Cuba	Capt. Raphael Ramirez
1980	American Gigolo	Det. Sunday
1981	Fan, TheThe Fan	Police Insp. Raphael Andrews
1982	Young Doctors in Love	Angelo/Angela Bonafetti
1984	Flamingo Kid, TheThe Flamingo Kid	Arthur Willis
1985	Private Resort	The Maestro
1986	Nothing in Common	Charlie Gargas
1987	Overboard	Garbage Scow Skipper	Uncredited
1988	Astronomy		Short film
1988	Beaches	Judge	Uncredited
1989	Leviathan	G.P. Cobb
1990	Pretty Woman	Barnard Thompson
1990	Taking Care of Business	Warden Toolman
1991	Final Approach	Dr. Dio Gottlieb
1991	Necessary Roughness	Coach Ed Gennero
1991	Frankie and Johnny	Nick
1992	There Goes the Neighborhood	Norman Rutledge
1992	Samantha	Walter
1993	Being Human	Dom Paulo
1994	Backstreet Justice	Steve Donovan
1994	Beverly Hills Cop III	Jon Flint
1994	Getting Even with Dad	Lt. Romayko
1994	Exit to Eden	Dr. Martin Helifax
1995	Perfect Alibi	Det. Ryker
1996	Dear God	Vladek Vidov
1997	Turbulence	Lt. Aldo Hines
1999	Other Sister, TheThe Other Sister	Ernie
1999	Entropy	The Chairman
1999	Runaway Bride	Fisher
2001	Tortilla Soup	Martin Naranjo
2001	Princess Diaries, TheThe Princess Diaries	Joe
2001	How High	Bill the Crew Coach
2003	Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman	Bane (voice)	Direct-to-video release
2004	Raising Helen	Mickey Massey	Uncredited
2004	Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, TheThe Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement	Joe
2006	I-See-You.Com	Greg Rishwain
2006	Celestine Prophecy, TheThe Celestine Prophecy	Cardinal Sebastian
2007	Music Within	Ben Padrow
2007	Georgia Rule	Izzy
2007	Love in the Time of Cholera	Don Leo
2010	Valentine's Day	Edgar
2010	New York Street Games	self/narrator	Documentary
2011	New Year's Eve	Kominsky
2014	The Book of Life	Carlos Sanchez (voice)
2016	Mother's Day	Lance Wallace

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1967	Edge of Night, TheThe Edge of Night	Dimitri	Unknown episodes
1968	Doctors, TheThe Doctors	waiter	was in 2 episodes
1969	Jackie Gleason Show, TheThe Jackie Gleason Show		Episode: "The Honeymooners: Mexican Hat Trick"
1971	Impatient Heart, TheThe Impatient Heart	Mr. Hernandez	Television film
1972	All in the Family	Carlos Mendoza	Episode: "The Elevator Story
1973, 1976	Kojak	Det. Nick Ferro Carl Dettrow	Episode: "Web of Death" Episode: "A Need to Know"
1974	Maude	Cop	Episode: "Speed Trap"
1975	Baretta	Jerry Damon	Episode: "The Fire Man"
1975	Columbo: A Case of Immunity	Hassan Salah	Television film
1975, 1978	Rockford Files, TheThe Rockford Files	John Micelli Frank Falcone	Episode: "Say Goodbye to Jennifer" Episode: "A Good Clean Bust with Sequel Rights"
1976	Popi	Abraham Rodriguez	11 episodes
1976	Wanted: The Sundance Woman	Pancho Villa	Television film
1978	Dain Curse, TheThe Dain Curse	Ben Feeney	Television film
1978	Eddie Capra Mysteries, TheThe Eddie Capra Mysteries	Strickland	Episode: "Dying Declaration"
1980	Freebie and the Bean	Det. Sgt. Dan 'Bean' Delgado	7 episodes
1982	Medal of Honor Rag		Television film
1982	Bret Maverick	Mr. Gomez	Episode: "The Hidalgo Thing"
1982	Honeyboy	Emilio Ramirez	Television film
1983	Feel the Heat	Monkey Moreno	Unknown episodes
1983	Casablanca	Capt. Louis Renault	5 episodes
1983	Woman of San Quentin	Capt. Mike Reyes	Television film
1984	a.k.a. Pablo	Jose Sanchez/Shapiro	6 episodes
1984	Hill Street Blues	Insp. Joe Keenan	Episode: "Ewe and Me, Babe"
1985	Murder: My Reason of Insanity	Ben Haggarty	Television film
1985	Out of the Darkness	Father George	Television film
1985-1986	Foley Square	Jesse Steinberg	14 episodes
1986	Courage	Nick Miraldo	Television film
1986	Amazing Stories	Meadows	Episode: "Life on Death Row"
1986	Matlock	Det. Joe Peters	Episode: "The Cop"
1987	Tales from the Hollywood Hills: Natica Jackson	Morris King	Television film
1987	Night Heat	Detective Hector Gurvin	Episode: "The Kid"
1987	Down and Out in Beverly Hills	Dave Whiteman	13 episodes
1988	Addicted to His Love	Det. Currigan	Television film
1989	Kojak: Ariana	Edson Saunders	Television film
1989	Equalizer, TheThe Equalizer	Ray Quintero	Episode: "Past Imperfect"
1989	Your Mother Wears Combat Boots	Sergeant Burke	Television film
1990	Sparks: The Price of Passion	Vic Ramos	Television film
1990	Dark Avenger	Capt. David Strauss	Television pilot
1990	Forgotten Prisoners: The Amnesty Files	Hasan Demir	Television film
1991	Chains of Gold	Lt. Ortega	Television film
1991	Finding the Way Home	Ruben	Television film
1991-93	Pirates of Dark Water, TheThe Pirates of Dark Water	Ioz	Season 1 only
1992	Burden of Proof, TheThe Burden of Proof	Alejandro 'Sandy' Stern	Miniseries
1992	Fish Police	Don Calamari	Episode: "Beauty's Only Fin Deep"
1992	Mrs. Cage	Lt. Angel	Television film
1993	Jonny's Golden Quest	Atacama	Television film
1993	Tales from the Crypt	Leo Burn	Episode: "As Ye Sow"
1993	Animaniacs	Stradivarius (voice)	Segment: "The Cat and the Fiddle"
1994	Picket Fences	Dr. Phillip Watters	Episode: "Rebels with Causes"
1994-95	Aladdin	Malcho (voice)	Episodes: "Rain of Terror" & "The Return of Malcho"
1994-2000	Chicago Hope	Dr. Phillip Watters	141 episodes
1995	Batman: The Animated Series	Sheldon Fallbrook (voice)	Episode: "The Terrible Trio"
1995	Jonny Quest vs. The Cyber Insects	Attacama	Television film
1996	Gargoyles	Zafiro (voice)	Episode: "The Green"
1997	Borrowed Hearts	Javier Del Campo	Television film
1998	Mikhail Baryshnikov 's Stories from My Childhood	Voice	Episode: "Ivan and His Magic Pony"
1998	Early Edition	Dr. Phillip Watters	Episode: "Mum's the Word"
1998	Safe House	Dr. Simon	Television film
2001	Kate Brasher	Joe Almeida	6 episodes
2001-04	American Experience	Narrator	Episodes: "Zoot Suit Riots" & "Remember the Alamo"
2002	Fidel	Eddie Chibas	Miniseries
2002	West Wing, TheThe West Wing	Dr. Dalton Millgate	Episode: "Dead Irish Writers"
2002	Street Time	Fariz Hammoud	Episodes: "No Excuses", "Betrayal" & "Reversal of Fortune"
2002	What's New, Scooby-Doo?	Dr. Guitirrez	Episode: "3-D Struction"
2003	Dating Experiment, TheThe Dating Experiment	Narrator	Unknown episodes
2003	Without a Trace	Father Henry Stevens	Episode: "Revelations"
2003	Miracles	Father 'Poppi' Calero	4 episodes
2004	Century City	Martin Constable	9 episodes
2004	Jack & Bobby	Gerald Cruz	Episode: "Chess Lessons"
2004-06	Justice League	Lt. Kragger (voice)	Episodes: "Starcrossed (1-3)", "Hunter's Moon" & "Ancient History"
2006	Avatar: The Last Airbender	Wan Shi Tong (voice)	Episode: "The Library"
2006	10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America	Narrator	Episodes: 10
2007	Cane	Pancho Duque	13 episodes
2007-13	Grey's Anatomy	Carlos Torres	5 episodes
2008-09	Monk	Dr. Neven Bell	14 episodes
2011	American Dad!	Himself (voice)	Episode: "Fartbreak Hotel"
2011-present	Last Man Standing	Ed Alzate	Main character
2013	The Legend of Korra	Wan Shi Tong (voice)	Episode: "A New Spiritual Age'"

Awards and nominations

OBIE Award

• 1971: Won, "Distinguished Performances" - Steambath

Hector Elizondo ALMA Awards

• 1998: Nominated, "Outstanding Individual Performance in a Television Series in a Crossover Role" - Chicago Hope
• 1998: Nominated, "Outstanding Individual Performance in a Television Series in a Crossover Role" - Turbulence
• 1998: Won, "Outstanding Actor in a Made-for-Television Movie or Mini-Series" - Borrowed Hearts
• 1999: Nominated, "Outstanding Individual Performance in a Television Series in a Crossover Role" - Chicago Hope
• 2000: Nominated, "Outstanding Actor in a Feature Film" - Runaway Bride
• 2000: Won, "Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series" - Chicago Hope
• 2002: Nominated, "Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture" - Tortilla Soup

Emmy Awards

• 1992: Nominated, "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special" - Mrs. Cage
• 1995: Nominated, "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series" - Chicago Hope
• 1996: Nominated, "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series" - Chicago Hope
• 1997: Won, "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series" - Chicago Hope
• 1998: Nominated, "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series" - Chicago Hope

Golden Globe Awards

• 1991: Nominated, "Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture" - Pretty Woman

Imagen Foundation Awards

• 2005: Nominated, "Best Supporting Actor in a Film" - The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

NCLR Bravo Awards

• 1996: Nominated, "Outstanding Television Series Actor in a Crossover Role" - Chicago Hope

Satellite Awards

• 1997: Nominated, "Best Performance By an Actor in a Television Drama Series" - Chicago Hope

SAG Awards

• 1995: Nominated, "Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series" - Chicago Hope
• 1997: Nominated, "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series" - Chicago Hope
• 1998: Nominated, "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series" - Chicago Hope

Temecula Valley International Film Festival

• 2006: Won, "Lifetime Achievement Award"

[ Source: Wikipedia ]