Andy Garcia was born Andrés Arturo García Menéndez on April 12, 1956, in Havana, Cuba, to Amelie Menéndez, a teacher of English, and René García Núñez, an attorney and avocado farmer. Garcia's family was relatively affluent, but they fled to Miami Beach when he was two years old, following Fidel Castro's rise to power.
The family started a fragrance company that eventually became worth over a million dollars. Andy attended Nautilus Junior High School and later Miami Beach Senior High School, where he was a popular student, good basketball player, and good-looking. He dreamed of playing professional baseball, but after contracting mononucleosis and hepatitis in his senior year, he turned his attention to acting.
Garcia studied acting with Jay W. Jensen, a South Florida legend who had also taught Brett Ratner, Roy Firestone, Mickey Rourke, and Luther Campbell. He continued his drama studies at Florida International University and soon headed to Hollywood. His first break came as a gang member on the TV series Hill Street Blues (1981).
Garcia's breakthrough role came in 8 Million Ways to Die (1986),where he played a cocaine kingpin. This caught the attention of Brian De Palma, who was casting for The Untouchables (1987). Garcia initially wanted to play the role of George Stone, the Italian cop, instead of typecasting as a gangster.
He then co-starred with Richard Gere in Internal Affairs (1990) and appeared in Black Rain (1989) with Michael Douglas. In 1989, Francis Ford Coppola was casting for The Godfather Part III (1990),and Garcia landed the role of Vincent Mancini, the hot-headed son of Sonny Corleone. His performance earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor and international stardom.
Garcia went on to star in Jennifer 8 (1992),Hero (1992),When a Man Loves a Woman (1994),Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995),Night Falls on Manhattan (1996),Hoodlum (1997),and Desperate Measures (1998). He also starred in Ocean's Eleven (2001),directed by Steven Soderbergh, and portrayed Arturo Sandoval in For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story (2000).
Garcia is an extremely private man, married to his wife Maria Victoria since 1982, and has three daughters. He is a strong believer in old-fashioned chivalry and has stayed true to his own ideals and thoughts on acting, never compromising for the sake of fame or fortune.
