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Benicio del Toro

Benicio del Toro has earned critical accolades throughout his career, winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Steven Soderbergh's Traffic as well as an Oscar nomination for his work in Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu's 21 Grams. Del Toro recently reteamed with Soderbergh to take the title role in Che: Part One and Part Two, a biography of Ernesto Che Guevara, for which he won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008 and at Spain's Goya Awards in 2009.

Del Toro was recently seen in Susanne Bier's Things We Lost in the Fire, opposite Halle Berry. His previous works include the film adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel Sin City, directed by Robert Rodriquez; Peter Weir's Fearless; George Huang's Swimming With Sharks; Abel Ferrara's The Funeral; Guy Ritchie's Snatch; Sean Penn's The Indian Runner and The Pledge; Christopher McQuarrie's The Way of the Gun; William Friedkin's The Hunted; and playing Dr. Gonzo in Terry Gilliam's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Del Toro made his motion picture debut in John Glen's License to Kill, opposite Timothy Dalton's James Bond, and has earned critical acclaim for his performances ever since. In addition to winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Steven Soderbergh's Traffic, his performance also garnered him a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a BAFTA and the Silver Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, as well as citations from the New York Film Critics Circle, the National Society of Film Critics and the Chicago Film Critics Association. His work in 21 Grams also earned Del Toro the Audience Award for Best Actor at the 2003 Venice Film Festival. He earned Independent Spirit Awards for his performances as Fred Fenster in Bryan Singer's The Usual Suspects and as Benny Dalmau in Julian Schnabel's Basquiat.

Born in Puerto Rico, Del Toro grew up in Pennsylvania. He attended the University of California, San Diego, where he appeared in numerous student productions, one of which led to his performing at a drama festival at the Lafayette Theatre in New York. Del Toro studied at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting under the tutelage of Arthur Mendoza.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2010.
Read earlier biographies on this page.

Benicio del Toro Facts

Birth Name Benicio Monserrate Rafael Del Toro Sanchez
OccupationActor, Producer
BirthdayFebruary 19, 1967 (57)
SignPisces
BirthplaceSanturce, Puerto Rico
Height6' 2" (1m88)  How tall is Benicio del Toro compared to you?
Awards2001 Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor (for Traffic)
2001 Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Motion Picture (for Traffic)
2001 Screen Actors Guild Awards: Best Male Actor in a Leading Role (for Traffic)
2001 BAFTA Awards: Actor in a Supporting Role (for Traffic)

Selected Filmography

Sicario
Guardians of the Galaxy
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
A Perfect Day
Snatch
The Usual Suspects
Savages
Sin City
Continue » Find more details on the Benicio del Toro Movies page