Benjamin Bratt
Bratt in May 2010
Born	(1963-12-16) December 16, 1963 (age 48) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1987–present
Spouse	Talisa Soto (2002–present)

Benjamin Bratt (born December 16, 1963) is an American actor. He is most famous for his role as Rey Curtis on the TV series Law & Order; and his appearances in the movies Miss Congeniality, Demolition Man, Blood in Blood Out, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Traffic, and Piñero.

Early life[link]

Bratt was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Eldy (née Banda), a nurse, and Peter Bratt, Sr., a sheet metal worker.^[1][2][3] Bratt's mother is a Peruvian Indigenous activist of the Quechua ethnic group; born in Peru, she moved to the U.S. at age nine.^[4][5][6] His father was an American of German and English descent.^[7] They married December 30, 1960, in San Francisco,^[8] but divorced in September 1967.^[9] Bratt's paternal grandfather, George Cleveland Bratt (March 5, 1893 – March 29, 1984), was a Broadway actor who married his grandmother Wiltrude Hildner on August 6, 1920, in Detroit, Michigan.^[10][11][12]

As a child, Bratt went with his mother and siblings to participate in the 1969 Native American occupation of Alcatraz.^[13] Today Bratt is an active supporter of such Native American causes as the American Indian College Fund^[13] and We Shall Remain, a mini-series and multi-media project, narrated by Bratt, that establishes Native history as an essential part of American history from PBS' acclaimed series American Experience.^[14]

His brother, Peter Bratt, wrote and directed the 1996 film Follow Me Home, casting Benjamin as Abel. In 2009 Peter wrote and directed the independent film La Mission also starring Benjamin as Che Rivera, an inhabitant of the Mission District.

Bratt has for years been a strong supporter and board member of San Francisco Bay Area's Friendship House Association of American Indians and Native American Health Center.^[15]

Schooling[link]

In San Francisco, Bratt attended Lowell High School, where he developed his dramatic and oratory skills as a member of the Lowell Forensic Society. Bratt earned a B.F.A. at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he also joined the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. Although accepted into the M.F.A. program at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, he left before receiving his degree to star in the television series Juarez.

Career[link]

Bratt's best-known role has been that of Detective Reynaldo Curtis on the television show Law & Order. In 1999, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his work on the series. His more popular films include Miss Congeniality, Blood in Blood out and Traffic. On June 23, 2009, Bratt appeared on The View to promote The Cleaner.

On October 23, 2009, it was announced that Bratt will return as Detective Curtis on Law & Order. Curtis reunited with his former boss, Lt. Anita van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson), which aired on December 11, 2009. He left the show that same year to continue his film career.^[16]

In 2009, Bratt performed in The People Speak, a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States.^[17]

Personal life[link]

In 1998, he began dating actress Julia Roberts. He escorted her to the March 25, 2001, Academy Awards ceremony, at which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Three months later, in June 2001, they announced that they were no longer a couple.^[18]

In 2002, he (along with Priscilla López) received the Rita Moreno HOLA Award for Excellence from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA).

Less than a year later, he married his pregnant girlfriend, actress Talisa Soto, on April 13, 2002, in San Francisco. The two met ten years earlier during the casting audition of Blood In Blood Out and afterwards off and on they saw each other. It was not until while filming Piñero that they began to develop a relationship. Their first child, daughter Sophia Rosalinda Bratt, was born on December 6, 2002; their second child, son Mateo Bravery Bratt, was born on October 3, 2005, in Los Angeles.

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

ALMA Awards[link]

2009 Category: Best Actor in Drama (Year in Television) for The Cleaner (2008) (TV)

2002 Category: Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture for Pinero (2001)

1999 Category: Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series for Law & Order (1990)

1999 Category: Outstanding Actor in Made-for-Television Movie or Mini-Series for Exiled (1998) (TV Movie)

1998 Category: Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series for Law & Order (1990)

Blockbuster Entertainment Awards[link]

2001 Category: Favorite Supporting Actor – Comedy for Miss Congeniality (2000)

Emmy Awards[link]

1999

Category: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Law & Order (1990)

HOLA Awards[link]

2002

Rita Moreno HOLA Award for Excellence

Imagen Foundation Awards[link]

2009

Category: Best Actor – Television for The Cleaner (2008) (TV)

NCLR Bravo Awards[link]

1996

Category: Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series for Law & Order (1990)

PRISM Awards[link]

2009

Category: Performance in a Drama Series Multi-Episode Storyline for The Cleaner (2008) (TV)

Screen Actors Guild Awards[link]

2001

Category: Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture for Traffic (2000) shared with Steven Bauer; James Brolin; Don Cheadle

2000

Category: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series for Law & Order (1990) shared with Angie Harmon; Steven Hill; Jesse L. Martin

1999

Category: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series for Law & Order (1990) shared with Angie Harmon; Steven Hill; Carey Lowell

1998

Category: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series for Law & Order (1990) shared with Steven Hill; Carey Lowell; S. Epatha Merkerson

1997

Category: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series for Law & Order (1990) shared with Jill Hennessy; Steven Hill; Carey Lowell

1996

Category: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series for Law & Order (1990) shared with Jill Hennessy; Steven Hill; S. Epatha Merkerson

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Benjamin Bratt

External links[link]

• Benjamin Bratt at the Internet Movie Database
• Benjamin Bratt at AllRovi
• Benjamin Bratt profile at NNDB
• Rare 1989–1990 Footage of Benjamin Bratt Behind the Scenes of Dick Wolf's "Nasty Boys"
• Article "Emmy-Nominated Actor Benjamin Bratt"
• http://articles.latimes.com/2009/dec/12/entertainment/la-et-people-speak12-2009dec12