1. Esai Morales has had notable roles in the films Bad Boys with Sean Penn and La Bamba with Lou Diamond Phillips.
18 Facts About Esai Morales
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Esai Morales began his pursuit of an acting career by attending the School of Performing Arts in Manhattan.
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Esai Morales appeared in a 1985 episode of the TV series Fame.
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Esai Morales co-starred with Burt Lancaster in the 1986 NBC miniseries On Wings of Eagles, playing the Iranian Rashid, the hero of a true story about Ross Perot.
5.
Esai Morales played Bob Morales, the real-life ex-convict and biker half-brother of 1950s rock and roll singer Ritchie Valens, in La Bamba.
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Esai Morales portrayed a police officer in the film Dogwatch and Father Herrera in The Virgin of Juarez.
7.
Esai Morales appeared in a two-part episode of Family Law in 2000.
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Esai Morales was part of the main cast of the long-running series NYPD Blue for three and a half seasons, from 2001 to 2004, as the head of the 15th precinct detective squad.
9.
Esai Morales played a drug dealer named Lulu in the 2002 film Paid in Full.
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Esai Morales was cast in the film American Fusion, and in 2006, he joined the cast of the Fox series Vanished, as FBI agent Michael Tyner; the series ran for one season.
11.
In 2007, Esai Morales appeared in an episode of the USA Network drama series Burn Notice, as a Cuban shopkeeper being shaken down for "protection" money by local criminals.
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In 2008, Esai Morales had a role in the CBS drama Jericho, as Major Edward Beck.
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Esai Morales appeared in all seven episodes of the shortened second season.
14.
Esai Morales worked with Tony Plana, Yvonne DeLaRosa, Lupe Ontiveros, and JC Gonzalez in Los Americans, an Internet program launched in 2011.
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In 2023, Esai Morales starred in the western thriller Cottonmouth, which is set for release in 2024.
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In 2005, Esai Morales received the Rita Moreno HOLA Award for Excellence from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors.
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Esai Morales received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arpa Foundation for Film, Music and Art, for his impact as an actor and role model.
18.
Esai Morales has described himself as an "actorvist", primarily as one of the founders of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, taking inspiration from his mother, who was an organizer for the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.