Del Toro, Benicio, << dehl TAWR oh, buh NEES ee oh >> (1967-…), is a Puerto Rican-born motion-picture actor known for his intense performances. He won an Academy Award for best supporting actor for his performance as a Mexican policeman who intercepts drug traffic on the United States border in Traffic (2000). Del Toro also won acclaim for his role as a reformed ex-convict in 21 Grams (2003) and for his portrayal of the Argentine revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara in Che (2008).
Benicio Monserrate Rafael Del Toro Sanchez was born on Feb. 19, 1967, in Santurce, Puerto Rico. He moved to Pennsylvania with his family when he was a child. He graduated from Mercersburg Academy in 1985 and later attended the University of California, San Diego. Del Toro studied acting at the Circle in the Square Acting School in New York City and then won a scholarship to study under the distinguished acting teacher Stella Adler in Los Angeles. He acted in television in the late 1980’s and made his film debut as Duke the Dog-Faced Boy in the comedy Big Top Pee-wee (1988). The following year, Del Toro starred as a villain in the James Bond film License to Kill.
Del Toro’s other notable films include Swimming with Sharks and The Usual Suspects (both 1995); Basquiat, The Fan, and The Funeral (all 1996); Excess Baggage (1997); Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998); Snatch and The Way of the Gun (both 2000); The Pledge (2001); The Hunted (2003); Things We Lost in the Fire (2007); The Wolfman (2010); Savages (2012); Jimmy P. (2013); Escobar: Paradise Lost (2014); and Sicario (2015).
