| Actor Date of Birth: 12.04.1956 Country: Cuba |
Andy García, born Andres Arturo García Menéndez on April 12, 1956, in Havana, Cuba, came into the world with a conjoined twin brother the size of a tennis ball. Surgical separation left García with a scar on his shoulder as the only physical reminder of his sibling. In 1961, his affluent lawyer parents emigrated to Miami due to the political regime change.
Growing up, García harbored dreams of a basketball career, but a severe illness hindered those aspirations. After school, he pursued acting in a small Florida theater company before moving to Los Angeles in 1978. He honed his craft in independent theater and appeared sporadically on television. His cinematic debut came in 1983, but it was not until Hal Ashby's final film, "8 Million Ways to Die" (1986), that García gained attention for his role as a ruthless narcotics dealer.
Throughout the 1980s, García primarily starred in action films, alternating between roles as a police officer and a criminal. His breakthrough came with Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather Part III" (1990), where he played Vincent Mancini, the nephew of Don Corleone. This performance earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
García's puritanical demeanor extended to both his personal and professional life. He has remained a devoted husband to Marivi, his Cuban-American wife, for nearly two decades and is the father of three daughters. His aversion to explicit sex scenes may have hindered his rise to superstardom.
Despite his puritanism, García flourished in the 1990s, collaborating with diverse talents. He starred in Stephen Frears' satirical comedy "Hero" alongside Dustin Hoffman and Geena Davis. For Mexican filmmaker Luis Mandoki, he appeared in the sobering "When a Man Loves a Woman" about the ravages of alcoholism. In Gary Fleder's independent film "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead," García portrayed a gangster struggling to escape his criminal past.
In 1993, García made his directorial debut with the documentary "Cachao ... Como Su Ritmo No Hay Dos" ("Cachao... There's No Other Rhythm Like His"), a tribute to Cuban musician Israel "Cachao" López. His planned narrative film "Lost City" delved into Havana during the tumultuous 1950s era before the revolution. In 2000, García collaborated with Michelangelo Antonioni on the preparatory stages of the European classic's "Just To Be Together."