Andr?s Arturo Garc?a Men?ndez – Andy Garcia – was born in Cuba on April 12, 1956, and immigrated to Florida with his family when he was five years old. After struggling for a time, the Garcias built up a successful cosmetics company. Garcia began acting in college, and his first notable on-screen role was in the pilot episode of Hill Street Blues in 1981. He guest-starred in several television programs, and had small roles in a number of films, when he was chosen to play Agent George Stone in The Untouchables, in 1987. From there he drew acclaim in roles in movies such as, Stand and Deliver, Black Rain, Internal Affairs, and The Godfather, Part III. He also starred in Hero, When A Man Loves a Woman, The Man From Elysian Fields, and Ocean's 11 (and its sequels), Confidence and Smokin' Aces, among other films.
Garcia's fierce loyalty to his Cuban heritage propelled him to make movies that would bring the Cuban story to the screen, such as, Cachao... Like His Rhythm There Is No Other, For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story, and The Lost City, all of which he produced as well as acted in.
Garcia and his wife, Maria Victoria, have three daughters.
Best Known As: Young Vincent in The Godfather: Part III
Name at birth: Andrés Arturo Garcia-Menendez
Movie star Andy Garcia is a Cuban American leading man known especially for his Oscar-nominated role as Vincent Mancini, the hot-headed nephew from Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather: Part III (1990). Garcia emigrated to the U.S. as a boy; his family fled Cuba in 1961 after that country's takeover by Fidel Castro. After school in Florida, Garcia headed to Hollywood to make it as an actor in the late 1970s. He finally began getting regular work as an actor in the mid-1980s and had memorable roles in the feature films 8 Million Ways to Die (1986, starring Jeff Bridges) and The Untouchables (1987, starring Kevin Costner). He was the lead in 1990's Internal Affairs (opposite Richard Gere) and his appearance in The Godfather made him an international star, and during the 1990s he had a steady career on the big screen. His movies have included Jennifer Eight (1992, with Uma Thurman);
When a Man Loves a Woman (1994, with Meg Ryan and Ellen Burstyn); Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995); The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca (1997); and Desperate Measures (1998, with Michael Keaton). While playing both nice guys and villains in the movies, Garcia has worked on personal projects about Cuba. He directed the 1993 documentary Cachao... Como Su Ritmo No Hay Dos (1993) and was nominated for an Emmy as trumpet player Arturo Sandoval in the TV movie For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story (2000; Garcia was also executive producer). In recent years audiences have come to know him as Terry Benedict -- the casino owner who put the "ick" in slick -- in Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven (2001, starring George Clooney). Since then he has appeared in Confidence (2003), The Lost City (2005; Garcia also director, executive producer and composers), Smokin' Aces (2006) and the Ocean's Eleven sequels in 2004 and 2007.
Born Andrés Arturo García-Menéndez, actor Andy Garcia was five-years-old when he fled with his family from his native Cuba to Miami, where Garcia's father, a former lawyer, established a successful cosmetics business upon becoming an American citizen. Following his graduation from Florida International University, Garcia moved to L.A. and performed briefly as a standup comic, working as a furniture expediter and waiter when jobs were scarce. While his TV debut was a small role in the 1981 pilot of Hill Street Blues, Garcia did not have to travel far from his adopted hometown for his film bow, Blue Skies Again (1983), which was shot on location in Florida. (Also making her first screen appearance in this forgettable baseball comedy was actress Mimi Rogers).
It was not until he was cast as a drug kingpin in Hal Ashby's 8 Million Ways to Die (1985) that Garcia's career really took off. After turning in strong roles in both The Untouchables (1987) and Stand and Deliver (1988), he achieved an additional degree of stardom when he was cast as Michael Corleone's hot-headed nephew in The Godfather Part III (1990), a role for which he earned Best Supporting Actor Oscar and Golden Globe nominations. The range of Garcia's talents was impressive enough for screenwriter Henry Bean to write the script for the 1990 police-corruption drama Internal Affairs with the actor specifically in mind. But after several years of on-the-edge characters, Garcia softened his screen image as the too-good-to-be-true husband of an alcoholic (Meg Ryan) in When a Man Loves a Woman (1994).
Garcia's career waned a bit during the second half of the '90s, and the actor concentrated some of his energies on starring in various made-for-TV movies and such Spanish-made films as Death in Granada (1997). Although Garcia found his place in American cinema -- indeed, he was one of the few Latino stars to successfully cross over into Hollywood films -- his deep connection and loyalty to his Cuban heritage was illustrated by his involvement in projects that reflect that sentiment. He has produced and directed a tribute to Cuban mambo artist Cachoao entitled Cachoao: Like His Rhythm There Is No Other, and, at one time, he planned to direct and star in a film adaptation of The Lost City, an epic novel of revolution and exile by Cuban writer Guillermo Cabrera Infante. A devoted family man, Garcia lives outside of the spotlight with his wife Maria Victoria (also a Cuban immigrant) and their three daughters. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
García was born Andrés Arturo García Menéndez in Havana, Cuba.[1] His mother, Amelie Menéndez, was an Englishteacher, and his father, René García Núñez, was an avocado farmer and attorney in Cuba, and later owned a fragrance business in the United States.[2][3] García has an older brother, René. When García was five years old, the family moved to Miami, Florida, after the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion. Over a period of several years, they built up a million-dollar perfume company. García was raised as a Roman Catholic[4] and attended Miami Beach Senior High School, where he played on the basketball team. During his last year in high school, he became ill with mononucleosis,[5] which convinced him to pursue a career in acting. He began his acting career taking a drama class with Jay W. Jensen in his senior year at Miami Beach Senior High School. He graduated from Florida International University in Miami.[6]
One of his most well-known performances was as the ruthless Las Vegas casino owner Terry Benedict in 2001's Ocean's Eleven, a remake of the 1960 Rat Pack caper movie. García reprised the role for the 2004 sequel, although the part was significantly smaller than the one in the first film. He also appeared briefly in Ocean's Thirteen (2007).
In 1982, García married María Victoria Lorido.[7] He is the father of four children: Dominik Garcia-Lorido (b. 1983), an actress, Daniella (b. 1988), Alessandra (b. 1991) and Andres (b. 2002).[8][9]
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