Steven Bauer (born Esteban Ernesto Echevarría Samson; December 2, 1956) is a Cuban-American actor.
Bauer began his career on PBS, portraying Joe Peña, the son of Cuban immigrants on the situation comedy ¿Qué Pasa, USA? (1977–1979). He played Manolo "Manny" Ribera, the best friend and right-hand man of Cuban drug lord Tony Montana, in the 1983 crime drama Scarface, and his performance earned him widespread critical acclaim and drew a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture.
He received further recognition in 2000 as part of the multi-narrative ensemble cast of Steven Soderbergh's crime drama Traffic, sharing in the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. He later played Don Eladio Vuente in the crime dramas Breaking Bad (2011) and Better Call Saul (2017–2022), and the retired Mossad agent Avi Rudin in the crime drama Ray Donovan (2013–2017).
Early life and education Bauer was born Esteban Ernesto Echevarría Samson, on December 2, 1956, in Havana, Cuba, the son of Lillian Samson Agostini, a schoolteacher, and Esteban Echevarría, a commercial pilot who worked for Cubana Airlines. Bauer's maternal grandfather, whose family names were Samson and Bauer, was Jewish, and immigrated to Cuba from Germany, a refugee looking to United States he married a Cuban of Italian descent.
Bauer's family emigrated from Cuba to the United States on Independence Day, 1960, when he was three years old, shortly after the end of the Cuban Revolution, settling in Miami, Florida. Once in the United States, he began using the name Steven, an English form of his given name, Esteban. He graduated from Miami Coral Park High School in 1974 and went on to study acting at Miami Dade Community College and then at the University of Miami, where he befriended Ray Liotta.Steven Bauer's official MySpace profile
Acting career 1979–99 Bauer's first substantial role was in the PBS bilingual sitcom ¿Qué Pasa, USA?, playing the teenage son of a Cuban exile family in Miami, from 1977 to 1979. He also appeared in the 1980 TV miniseries From Here to Eternity. He was credited in these and a few other early projects as Rocky Echevarría. In 1981, Bauer starred in the television movie She's in the Army Now, where he met his first wife, actress Melanie Griffith. They both moved to New York City and stayed at Ray Liotta's apartment, while Liotta moved to Los Angeles and stayed at theirs. Both Bauer and Griffith studied under acting teacher Stella Adler, and he appeared in several off-Broadway productions. During this time he adopted the stage name Steven Bauer.
Bauer was given the role of Manny Ribera (the part played by George Raft in the original 1932 version) in the 1983 epic crime drama movie Scarface, even though (like Raft) he was a relatively unknown actor at the time. The producers of Scarface were convinced that he was right for the role based on his strong audition, as well as his authentic Cuban background. His performance earned him widespread critical acclaim, and drew a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
In 1986 he had two other important roles. The first was as Det. Frank Sigliano in the Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines buddy cop action comedy Running Scared. The second was as an Israeli soldier named Avner in the 1986 Canadian CTV television movie Sword of Gideon, which tells the story of Mossad agents hunting down terrorists in the aftermath of the 1972 Munich massacre. The Sword of Gideon script was the basis for Steven Spielberg's later 2005 historical drama film Munich, which follows the same storyline and borrows heavily from the Sword of Gideon story and script. In 1990 Bauer played the role of DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena in the television crime drama miniseries Drug Wars: The Camarena Story alongside Benicio Del Toro and Craig T. Nelson. That same year, Bauer took over the series lead of the crime drama television show Wiseguy from Ken Wahl for the fourth and final season, playing U.S. Attorney Michael Santana after Wahl's character disappears.
2000–present Since then, Bauer has made his career primarily, though not exclusively, in action films and crime dramas on both the big and small screens, including the movie The Lost City where he served in a minor role alongside the film's star and director Andy Garcia. He also appeared in the motion pictures Primal Fear and the crime drama Traffic (2000), for which he shared the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
In 2007 he appeared on an episode of Burn Notice. In 2011, Bauer appeared on the crime drama series Breaking Bad playing Mexican drug lord Don Eladio. He garnered significant praise from critics for his portrayals in both Breaking Bad and its prequel Better Call Saul.
He starred with Julianne Michelle in the 2013 feature film Awakened, a supernatural horror film in which Bauer's performance was met with mixed-to-negative critical reactions from mainstream publications.
More recently, Bauer appeared as ex-Mossad agent turned private investigator Avi in the Showtime crime drama series Ray Donovan. Bauer also reprised his Breaking Bad role in 2017 in AMC's prequel series Better Call Saul. In addition, he played El Santo in the crime drama American version of Queen of the South.
Personal life Bauer has married four times: first to Melanie Griffith, from 1981 until 1989; second to Ingrid Anderson, from 1989 until 1991; third to Christiana Boney, from 1992 until 2002; and fourth to Paulette Miltimore, from 2003 until 2012. He has two sons: Alexander Griffith Bauer (born August 22, 1985) with Griffith, and Dylan Dean Steven Bauer (born May 14, 1990) with Anderson.
In 2010, Bauer was mistakenly named as the driver of a vehicle that struck and killed 24-year-old Brent Rosenberg of Malibu. Rosenberg was walking on Pacific Coast Highway toward his parked car on the east side of the road when he was struck by a sport utility vehicle. Initial reports said Bauer was the driver of the vehicle but police officials later said it was a different person of the same name.
Filmography
Film Year Film Role Notes 1981 She's in the Army Now Nick Donato TV movie 1982 An Innocent Love Duncan Widders TV movie 1983 Valley Girl Guy in Pink Shirt Scarface Manolo "Manny Ray" Ribera 1984 Body Double Assistant Director Thief of Hearts Scott Muller 1986 Running Scared Detective Frank Sigliano Sword of Gideon Avner TV movie 1987 Tales from the Hollywood Hills: A Table at Ciro's Tony Montoya TV movie 1988 Wildfire Frank The Beast of War Khan Taj 1989 Gleaming the Cube Al Lucero 1991 A Climate for Killing Paul McGraw Sweet Poison Bobby TV movie False Arrest Detective Dan Ryan TV movie 1992 Drive Like Lightning Charlie TV movie Raising Cain Jack Dante 1993 Snapdragon Dr. David "Doc" Hoogstraten 1994 Woman of Desire Jonathan Ashby/Ted Ashby Improper Conduct Sam Stranger by Night Bobby Corcoran Video Terminal Voyage Reese 1995 Codename: Silencer Vinnie Rizzo Wild Side Tony 1996 Primal Fear Joey Pinero Navajo Blues Nick Epps/John Cole 1997 Plato's Run Sam Video Sisters and Other Strangers Anthony Quintana TV movie The Blackout Mickey's Studio Actor Star Portal Dr. Ray Brady Video Miami – Kickboxing Academy Carl 1998 The Versace Murder FBI Agent John Jacoby Naked Lies Kevin Dowd 2000 Warm Texas Rain Rush Video Forever Lulu Lou Rave Antonio For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story Angel TV movie Traffic Carlos Ayala El Grito Ibarra Glory Glory Jack 2001 Boss of Bosses Vito Genovese TV movie The Learning Curve Mark York 2002 King of Texas Menchaca TV movie Malevolent Captain Greg Pruitt 2003 Masked and Anonymous Edgar Nola Leo 2004 Raptor Island Azir TV movie Doing Hard Time Detective Anthony Wade Video 2005 How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer Victor Reyes Keeper of the Past The Mayor Short Hitters Anonymous Theodore 'Teddy' Swan Pit Fighter Manolo The Lost City Castel La fiesta del Chivo Juan Jose Viñas 2006 Ladrones & Mentirosos Oscar Dead Lenny Lenny Long Video 2007 Kings of South Beach Allie Boy TV movie The Last Sentinel Drone Scientist Category 4 Robert Short Planet Raptor Captain Mace Carter TV movie Natural Born Komics – Video 2008 Smother Carl Short Mutants Marcus Santiago I Didn't Know Who I Was Mr. David Hernandez Short Dark World Rick 2009 Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia General Manuel Valez Video Charlie Valentine Ferucci From Mexico with Love Tito Camouflage Bobby The Intruders Michael Foster 2010 Bulletface Ned Walker Fast Lane Lt. Baynes Toxic Conrad Shadows in Paradise Agent Stubbs A Numbers Game Neal Black Enemies Among Us Senator Fred Edmonds Zenitram Frank Ramírez Suicide Dolls Hank Raven William Disarmed Col. Caine Venus & Vegas Francis Promises Detective Stevens One in the Gun Arthur Crumble Reda Short Boyle Heights Tino 2011 The Last Gamble Steven Session Jake Tellman Joshua Tree Jefferey Mommy & Me Brad Johnson Pimp Bullies Mr. Watson Jackie Goldberg Private Dick Mr. Lincoln Driving by Braille Rudolf Corso 2012 Paloma Enrique Short Sins Expiation Williams ATypical Love Brad Johnson For the Love of Money Hector Garbage Steven A Dark Truth Tony Green Werewolf: The Beast Among Us Hyde Video Gothic Assassins VOX Success Driven The Husband Short Showstopper Detective Vinnie Randall Revan Shadow Knuckleheads Manny 2013 Day of Redemption Jeffrey Cambell Counterpunch Tomas Real Gangsters Nick "Big Nick" Salens Once Upon a Time in Queens P.O. Ramirez Five Thirteen Ernesto Esteban Chavez Cage of Glory Brother Jose Awakened Lucas Drake Seasick Sailor Waldorf Short 2014 The Lookalike Frank Killing Frisco Esteban 2015 Sweet Lorraine Lou 2016 Beyond the Game Eric Restored Me Armando J.L. Family Ranch Hector Arrieta Toyed Mr. Martinez Short King of LA Adrian TV movie 2017 Andover Father Gregory Culture of Fear Vega Avenge the Crows Ronaldo Blue Eyes Russian TV movie 2020 Deported Male INS Agent 2021 Flinch Joseph Doyle Women Is Losers Don Juan My Dead Dad Uncle Tommy Love on the Rock Claudio Fairbanks Mister Mayfair Mike Mister Mayfair 2 – A Song to Kill For Mike 2022 Nothing Is Impossible Archie Touraine TBA Barracuda TBA Post-production
Television