Benicio del Toro

Infobox actor

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imagesize = 180px
caption =
birthname = Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez
birthdate = birth date and age|1967|02|19
birthplace = Santurce, Puerto Rico
yearsactive = 1987 - present
deathdate =
deathplace =
othername =
website =
academyawards = Best Supporting Actor
2000 "Traffic"
goldenglobeawards = Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
2001 "Traffic"
baftaawards = Best Actor in a Supporting Role
2001 "Traffic"
sagawards = Best Actor - Motion Picture
2000 "Traffic"
Best Cast - Motion Picture
2000 "Traffic"
awards = Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor
1997"Basquiat"
1996"The Usual Suspects"
awards = Silver Bear for Best Actor - Berlin Film Festival
2001 "Traffic"
Best Actor Award - Cannes Film Festival
2008 "Che"

Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez (born February 19, 1967) is a Puerto Rican actor and film producer. His awards include the Academy Award, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award and British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award. He is known for his roles as Fred Fenster in "The Usual Suspects", Javier Rodríguez Rodríguez in "Traffic", Jack 'Jackie Boy' Rafferty in "Sin City", Dr Gonzo in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", and Franky Four Fingers in "Snatch".

Biography

Early life

Benicio del Toro was born and grew up in Santurce, Puerto Rico, a district of San Juan. He is the son of Gustavo Adolfo del Toro Bermúdez and Fausta Sánchez Rivera, who were both lawyers. [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/58/Benicio-DEL-Toro.html Benicio DEL Toro Biography (1967-) ] ] He has an older brother, Gustavo, who is a pediatric oncologist. Del Toro's childhood nicknames were "Skinny Benny" and "Beno". He was raised Catholic [ [http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Content?oid=24285&category=34029 Feature - Features - Benicio Del Toro's "Let's Have Some Fun, Okay?" Page - Portland Mercury ] ] and attended Academia del Perpetuo Socorro (The Academy of Our Lady of Perpetual Help), a Roman Catholic school in Miramar, Puerto Rico. When he was nine years old, his mother died of hepatitis. At the age of thirteen, del Toro's father moved his two sons to Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, where del Toro was enrolled at the Mercersburg Academy. He spent his adolescence and high school there.Stated in interview on "Inside the Actors Studio"]

After graduation, del Toro followed the advice of his father and pursued a degree in business at the University of California, San Diego. Success in an elective drama course encouraged him to drop out of college and study with noted acting teachers Stella Adler and Arthur Mendoza in Los Angeles, as well as at the Circle in the Square Theatre School in New York.

Career

Del Toro began to surface in small television parts during the late 1980s, playing mostly thugs and drug dealers on programs like "Miami Vice" and the NBC miniseries, '. He had a cameo in Madonna's 1987 music video clip "La Isla Bonita" as a background character. Work in films followed, beginning with his debut in "Big Top Pee-wee" and in the 007 film "Licence to Kill", in which 21-year-old del Toro held the distinction of being the youngest actor ever to play a Bond villain. Although both films were considered box office disappointments, del Toro continued to appear in movies like "The Indian Runner" (1991), "China Moon" (1991), ' (1992), "Money for Nothing" (1993), "Fearless" (1993) and "Swimming with Sharks" (1994).

His career gained momentum in 1995 with his breakout performance in "The Usual Suspects", where he played the mumbling, wisecracking Fred Fenster. The role won him an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor and established him as a character actor. This led to more strong roles in independent and major studio films, including playing Gaspare in Abel Ferrara's "The Funeral" (1996) and winning a second consecutive Best Supporting Actor Independent Spirit Award for his work as Benny Dalmau in "Basquiat" (1996), directed by his friend, artist Julian Schnabel. Del Toro also shared the screen with Robert De Niro in the big budget thriller "The Fan", in which he played Juan Primo, a charismatic Puerto Rican baseball star. - - For "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", the 1998 film adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's famous book, he packed on more than 40 lbs. (about 18 kg) to play Dr. Gonzo (a.k.a. Oscar Zeta Acosta), Thompson's lawyer and drug-fiend cohort. The surrealistic film, directed by Terry Gilliam, has earned a cult following over the years. Returning from a two-year hiatus after "Fear and Loathing", del Toro would gain a mainstream audience in 2000 with a string of performances in four high-profile films. First up was "The Way of the Gun", a crime yarn that reunited him with "The Usual Suspects" screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie, making his directorial debut. A few months later, he stood out among a first-rate ensemble cast in Steven Soderbergh's "Traffic", a complex dissection of the North American drug wars. As Javier Rodriguez — a Mexican border cop struggling to remain honest amid the corruption and deception of illegal drug trafficking — del Toro, who spoke most of his lines in Spanish, gave a performance that dominated the film and earned him his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.Stated in interview on "Inside the Actors Studio"]

His praised work swept all of the major critics awards in 2001, as well as the Golden Globe, and the Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. In addition to the critical accolades, "Traffic" was also a success at the box office, bringing to del Toro real Hollywood clout for the first time in his career. While "Traffic" was still playing in theaters, two other del Toro films were released in late 2000/early 2001. He had a brief role as the diamond thief Franky Four Fingers in Guy Ritchie's hip caper comedy "Snatch", and played a mentally-challenged Native American man in "The Pledge", directed by his old friend Sean Penn.

In 2003, del Toro appeared in two films: "The Hunted", co-starring Tommy Lee Jones, and the drama "21 Grams", an acting tour-de-force, co-starring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts. He went on to garner another Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his work in the latter.

His most recent roles were in the film adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel "Sin City", directed by Robert Rodriguez, and "Things We Lost in the Fire", the English language debut of celebrated Danish director Susanne Bier. "Things We Lost in the Fire" co-starred Halle Berry, Alison Lohman, and John Carroll Lynch. On May 25, 2008, del Toro received the "Best Actor" award at the Cannes Film Festival for his characterization of Che Guevara in "The Argentine" and "Guerrilla" (Together known as "Che"). [cite web| url=http://www.primerahora.com/noticia/cine/espectaculosasi/benicio_del_toro_gana_premio_a_mejor_actor_en_cannes/193848| title=Benicio del Toro gana premio a mejor actor en Cannes| author=Associated Press| publisher=Primera Hora| language=Spanish| date=2008-05-25| accessdate=2008-05-25]

Academy Award

In 2001, del Toro won Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in "Traffic", thereby becoming the fourth Oscar winner whose winning role was a character who speaks predominantly in a foreign language (most of del Toro's dialogue in "Traffic" is in Spanish). Sophia Loren, Robert De Niro, and Roberto Benigni are the other three (Marion Cotillard became the fifth winner of an Academy Award for a character who speaks in a foreign language). Del Toro is also the third Puerto Rican actor to win an Oscar, after Jose Ferrer and Rita Moreno. The night he won his Oscar, it was the first time that two actors born in Puerto Rico were nominated in the same category (The other actor was Joaquin Phoenix for his role in "Gladiator"). In his acceptance speech, del Toro thanked the people of both Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora and dedicated his award to them. It was the actress Angelina Jolie, who handed the award to him. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfUvVhTCaH8] In 2004, Benicio del Toro was again nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, for his performance in the film "21 Grams".

Personal life

In October 2008, Del Toro traveled to Puerto Rico in order to attend the funeral ceremonies of his godmother, Sarah Torres. [cite web| url=http://www.primerahora.com/noticia/farandula/espectaculosasi/benicio_deja_salir_su_profundo_dolor/236075| title=Benificio deja salir su profundo dolor| author=Russell Rúa| publisher="Primera Hora"| language=Spanish| date=2008-10-04| accessdate=2008-10-11]

Filmography

Films

Awards

This list includes some awards of Benicio del Toro:

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
title=Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
years=2000
for "Traffic"
before=Michael Caine
for "The Cider House Rules"
after=Jim Broadbent
for "Iris"succession box
title=Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
years=2001
for "Traffic"
before=Tom Cruise
for "Magnolia"
after=Jim Broadbent
for "Iris"succession box
title=BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
years=2001
for "Traffic"
before=Jude Law
for "The Talented Mr. Ripley"
after=Jim Broadbent
for "Moulin Rouge!"succession box
title=Award for Best Actor - Cannes Film Festival
years=2008
for "Che"
before=Konstantin Lavronenko
for "The Banishment"
after=Incumbent

ee also

* List of Best Supporting Actor nominees
* List of Puerto Ricans
* List of James Bond villains
* List of Navy-Vieques protesters and supporters
* List of Puerto Rican Academy Award winners and nominees

References

External links

*
* [http://www.beniciodeltoro.ca/Biography.htm This Is My Life: Benicio Del Toro - Miami Herald (October 10, 1997)]
* [http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/film/biographies/benicio_del_toro_biog.html All About Benicio - Biography]
* [http://www.beniciodeltoro.ca The World of Benicio del Toro]
* [http://www.sohood.com/1/content/view/4375/1/ Benicio Del Toro's Portrayal of Che Guevara]
* [http://www.premiere.com/features/4732/benicio-del-toro-on-che-man-on-a-mission.html Benicio Del Toro on 'Che': Man on a Mission]
* [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/london_film_festival/article4866882.ece Benicio Del Toro Gets to the Man Behind the T-Shirt Myth in "Che"]