Bio
Steven Bauer is a Cuban-born American actor best known for his role as Manny Ribera in the 1983 feature film Scarface and for his recurring role as Don Eladio in the television drama series Breaking Bad.
He also has a starring role as Avi, Ray's right-hand man and the principle "muscle" of his operation who is a tough Israeli and one of the very few capable of reasoning with Ray, in the television drama series Ray Donovan.
Bauer was born Esteban Ernesto Echevarria in Havana, Cuba. Originally intending to become a musician, Bauer turned to acting while attending Miami-Dade Community College, but then transferred to the University of Miami, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts for Acting.
Bauer's first substantial role was in the PBS bilingual sitcom ¿Qué Pasa, U.S.A.? (from 1977 to 1979), playing the teenage son of a Cuban exile family in Miami. 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. Both Bauer and Griffith studied under famed acting teacher Stella Adler in New York City, and he appeared in several off-Broadway productions.
Bauer was given the substantial role of Manny Ribera in the 1983 movie Scarface, even though 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 drew a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role In A Motion Picture.
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 such motion pictures as Primal Fear, Traffic, Raising Cain and stellar indie films including The Last Gamble, where he plays a sports gambling addict whose life falls apart around him.
Bauer has also made several guest appearances on network TV in series such as Breaking Bad and The Mentalist.