Lieutenant Tony Rodriguez on the ABC Television Network’s "NYPD Blue"

Currently portraying Lt. Tony Rodriguez on the highly acclaimed ABC drama series "NYPD Blue," Esai Morales has accomplished what many actors can only dream of. Along with his work on "Blue", he also has recurring roles on the Showtime drama series "Resurrection Blvd.," and in the PBS broadcast of Gregory Nava's drama series, "American Family." Always conscious of maintaining positive portrayals of Latinos in entertainment, Esai's diverse characters include a police lieutenant and firefighter. He recently finished filming one of the lead roles in Cinematropical Pictures' new romantic comedy, "Isla Bella," opposite A Martinez and Rosanna DeSoto and directed by Martia Karrell.

Born to Puerto Rican parents in Brooklyn, New York, Esai ran away from home at the age of 13 because his mother did not approve of his desire to pursue acting. He attended New York's prestigious High School for the Performing Arts while living in a group home as a voluntary ward-of-the-state. Shortly after he finished his studies, Esai debuted on stage in "El Hermano" at the Ensemble Studio Theater, and in Joe Papp's production of "The Tempest," with Raul Julia, for New York's Shakespeare in the Park festival. Other theater performances include "Tamer of Horses" for the Los Angeles Theater Center, for which he was awarded the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, and Oscar Wilde's "Salome," with Al Pacino, at New York's Circle in the Square Theater on Broadway.

Esai made his film debut opposite Sean Penn in "Bad Boys," the 1983 drama about youth violence. His next major film role as Ś50s rock musician Richie Valen's half-brother, Bob, in the Luis Valdez-directed film La Bamba" (1987), caught the attention of the entertainment industry and stole the hearts of audiences. "La Bamba" remains the most commercially successful Latino-themed motion picture to date.

Esai has starred in numerous feature films, television movies and drama series. His credits include the miniseries "On Wings of Eagles," where he played Iranian pro-American Rasheed, opposite Burt Lancaster; "Southern Cross"; "Dog Watch," with Sam Elliott; ABC's "Dying to Be Perfect: The Ellen Hart Pena Story" (portraying Denver mayor Federico Pena, who became U.S. Secretary of Transportation); and "Atomic Train," a movie-of-the-week with Rob Lowe. Esai's portrayals of ordinary men struggling under extraordinary circumstances and conflicts always rise above convention. In "Rapa Nui" (produced by Kevin Costner), Esai is chosen to represent his servant-class tribe to compete in a contest for control of the island. As an Amazonian rubber tapper, he risks his life in civil disobedience in the award-winning HBO film "The Burning Season ­ The Chico Mendes Story" (with Raul Julia). In the Gregory Nava film "Mi Familia," he joins an ensemble cast which includes Jimmy Smits and Edward James Olmos as a loving yet troubled son of a working class Mexican American family trying to achieve the American dream. And in "The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca," he's a young journalist who returns to Spain in search of the truth behind the death of the famous Spanish poet/playwright.

Describing himself as an "actorvist," Esai has combined art and activism to build bridges of understanding. In 1997 he co-founded the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts (NHFA), created to advance the presence and quality of Latinos in media, telecommunications and entertainment. He is a founding board member of ECO (Earth Communications Office), a global clearinghouse for environmental information. He's worked for the Wildlife Preservation Fund in Costa Rica and is active with "alternative AIDS" and H.E.A.L. (Health Education AIDS Liaison). In the late Ś80s Esai used his heightened public profile to organize an Oscar night benefit for El Rescate/The Rescue, a Central American refugee service agency. This contributed to the promotion of the concept of benefit events on the film industry's most important night of the year and led to the current trend of Academy Award night benefits.

Esai currently resides in Los Angeles.

PERSONAL INFORMATION

HOMETOWN: Brooklyn, New York

BIRTHDATE: October 1

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