Who is Benjamin Bratt?

American actor and producer Benjamin Bratt, was born in San Francisco, California USA, on 16 December 1963, making Sagittarius his zodiac sign. He’s appeared in nearly 70 TV series and movies, but is probably still known best for starring as Eric Matthews in the 2000 action crime comedy movie “Miss Congeniality”, directed by Donald Petrie, and which also starred Sandra Bullock and Michael Caine. It follows an FBI agent who’s entered the Miss US beauty pageant, trying to stop a terrorist group from bombing the event; the movie won seven of its 15 award nominations.

Image source

Education and early life

Benjamin was raised in San Francisco alongside his two older and two younger siblings, by their father Peter Bratt Sr. who was a sheet metal worker, and mother Eldy (nee Banda) who was a political activist and nurse; Eldy’s Peruvian, and she moved to the US with her family when she was 14.

Benjamin became interested in acting while attending Lowell High School; he was a member of its drama club and part of its Lowell Forensic Society, while he was also into playing sports with his peers, excelling in baseball.

Benjamin matriculated in 1982 and then enrolled at University of California, Santa Barbara from which he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in 1986; he was a member of the fraternity Lambda Chi Alpha. He continued his education at the American Conservatory Theatre, but quit half a year before he could earn his Master of Fine Arts degree, wanting to pursue acting.

Roles in movies

Benjamin’s debut film role was playing Sergeant Rosendo Juarez in the 1988 crime drama “Juarez”, and some of his following roles were also in 1988, in the crime drama “Lovers, Partners & Spies” and the drama “Police Squad: Gladiator School”, then in the 1990 crime action “Chains of Gold”.

He gained recognition in 1991, when cast to play Felix in the crime action “One Good Cop”, written and directed by Heywood Gould, and which starred Michael Keaton, Rene Russo and Anthony LaPaglia. It follows the life of a New York Police Department detective, and the movie was nominated for only a single award. Some of Benjamin’s following roles were in the 1993 crime drama “Bound by Honor”, the 1996 drama “Follow Me Home” and the 1996 thriller “Woman Undone”.

In 2000, Benjamin played Santen in the action science fiction thriller “Red Planet”, directed by Antony Hoffman, and which starred Val Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss and Tom Sizemore. It follows a group of astronauts as they’re exploring Mars, and the film was nominated for a Sierra Award for Best Song at the 2000 Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards. Some of Benjamin’s most notable performances in the decade were in the 2002 romantic mystery “Abandon”, the 2004 crime action fantasy “Catwoman”, and the 2009 drama “La Mission”.

The year 2013 heard him voice one of the main characters Eduardo Perez – aka El Macho – in the hit animated adventure comedy “Despicable Me 2”, which Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin directed, and which also starred Kristen Wiig and Steve Carell. It follows the life of super-villain Gru, and the movie won 12 of its 80 award nominations, including two Oscar nominations for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year and Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song.

Benjamin’s three most recent film roles have been in the 2019 crime action “A Score to Settle”, the 2020 musical “Best Summer Ever” and the 2022 western thriller “Dead for a Dollar”.

Roles in TV series

Benjamin made his debut TV series appearance in 1988, when cast to star as Tony Maldonado in all the nine episodes of the crime drama “Knightwatch”, which also starred Calvin Levels and Don Franklin, and follows a group of vigilantes who call themselves The Knights.

In 1990, Benjamin played Eduardo Cruz in 13 episodes of the crime action “Nasty Boys”, but the ‘90s then saw him appear in only two more series: an episode of the musical comedy talk-show “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”, and the crime mystery “Homicide: Life on the Street”. but from 1995 through 2009, he played Detective Reynaldo ‘Rey’ Curtis in 95 episodes of the crime mystery “Law & Order”.

In 2005 and 2006, Benjamin starred as Lieutenant Colonel Tim Tisnewski in the action thriller “E-Ring”, created by David McKenna and Ken Robinson, and which also starred Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Dennis Hopper. It follows the life of Special Forces commando Jim Tisnewski, and the series won two of its four award nominations. In 2008 and 2009, Benjamin starred as William Banks in all the 26 episodes of the drama “The Cleaner”, and from 2016 through 2018, he portrayed Jahil Rivera in the musical drama “Star”, which starred Ryan Destiny, Brittany O’Grady and Jude Demorest, and was created by Tom Donaghy and Lee Daniels. It follows three women from Atlanta, Georgia who’ve founded a musical group, and the series was nominated for seven awards.

Benjamin’s since appeared in only three TV series: he played Javier Delgado in six episodes of the romantic comedy “Modern Family” (2010-2020), Parco Delgado in all the four episodes of the 2022 action adventure mini-series “DMZ” and Cliff Legrand in five episodes of the 2023 crime mystery “Poker Face”.

Benjamin Bratt returns to #ModernFamily this Wednesday on ABC! pic.twitter.com/8pjB6zaKOs

— Modern Family (@ModernFam) May 3, 2015

Other credits

Benjamin received special thanks for the 2004 episode “Goodnight, Seattle: Part 2” of the comedy “Frasier”.

He has five producing credits, which include the 2009 drama movie “La Mission”, the 2009 episode “Hello America” of the drama series “The Cleaner” and the 2017 biographical historical documentary movie “Dolores”.

Some of Benjamin’s most recent talk-show appearances have been in “The Kelly Clarkson Show”, “Morning Joe” and “Live with Kelly and Ryan”.

Awards and nominations

Benjamin’s won 12 of his 30 award nominations. Some of his wins include a 2001 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture, for his and his colleagues’ performance in “Traffic”, five ALMA Awards between 1998 and 2009, for his performance in series such as “Law & Order”, “Exiled” and “The Cleaner”, and two Behind the Voice Actors Awards in 2018, for his and his colleagues’ performance in “Coco”.

Love life and relationships

Benjamin avoids speaking about his love life in public, but has still openly identified two women whom he’s been with.

He and famous American actress Julia Fiona Roberts began dating in 1998, but for unknown reasons separated in 2001.

Benjamin began dating American former actress and model Miriam Talisa Soto in 2002; she’s probably still known best for playing Bond girl Lupe Lamora in the 1989 spy action movie “Licence to Kill”. The two exchanged vows on 13 April 2002, after having dated for only three months, and she gave birth to their daughter Sophia Rosalinda Bratt on 6 December that year, while their son Mateo Bravery Bratt followed on 3 October 2005.

Their decision was obviously a good one, as Benjamin’s still married to Miriam Talisa Soto as of April 2023, and they have two children together.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CbYDxDOOYjK/

Interesting facts and hobbies

Benjamin’s brother Peter Bratt wrote and directed the 1996 movie “Follow Me Home” and the 2009 film “La Mission”, in both of which Benjamin starred.

He’s been a philanthropist since the launch of his acting career, and is today active with the American Indian Movement, while he supports the American Indian College Fund. Benjamin narrated the 2009 documentary mini-series about Native Americans “We Shall Remain”, and is today a board member of both the Native American Health Center and the Friendship House Association of American Indians.

He enjoys being active on Instagram, and has posted nearly 500 pictures and videos, while more than 260,000 people are following him on the social media network today.

Benjamin’s favorite actor is Orlando Bloom, while some of his favorite movies include “Kingdom of Heaven”, “Tour de Pharmacy” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”.

Height, eyes and wealth

Benjamin’s age is 59. He has brown eyes and black hair, is 6ft 2ins (1.88m) tall and weighs around 185lbs (84kgs).

Benjamin’s net worth’s been estimated at over $12 million, as of April 2023.

Lymari Nadal is a Puerto Rican actress, scriptwriter and producer, who became famous for her role as the wife of Harlem drug dealer, Frank Lucas, in “American Gangster” in 2002, and in real life for being the third wife of actor Edward James Olmos.

Early life and family

Lymari Nadal Torres was born on 11 February 1978, in Ponce, Puerto Rico, to Anaida Torres and Daniel Nadal. She grew up in Ponce along with her sisters, Anaida, Dania, and Azarel.

Education background

Lymari matriculated from Santa Maria Reina Academy in 1994, and graduated from Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico.

She then completed her Master’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus (UPRM) at age 22. However, Nadal always wanted to become an actress, so she also took Acting I, II, and III at the same university. Wanting to hone her skills further, she said she went to Mexico and London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts for that, then attended a two-year program at the Sanford Meisner Center for the Arts I Los Angeles, under Martin Barter as well as Marlon Brando’s “Lying for a Living” Actors Workshop. She also had a voice coach and dialect coach.

Career

First steps

Lymari went to Los Angeles, California in 2001 to pursue an acting career, and had a hard time at first.

She decided to try theatre work, and was part of several stage productions including “Shadow of Anthropology,” “Yerma,” “Celestial Flesh,” and “Miss Julie.”

She joined Edward James Olmos’ company as a producer. Her debut on television was in 2002 with the minor role of Linda in PBS’ story about a Latino family living in L.A., “American Family” starring Edward Olmos and Sonia Braga. It was followed by another support role of Giana in the three-hour sci-fi drama miniseries “Battlestar Galactica,” a remake of the 1978 movie of the same name. It aired in December 2003 on Syfy channel, and was said to be the network’s third most watched series with 4.5 million viewers.

Lymari Nadal

In 2006, she made her film debut in “Thieves and Liars,” which was Puerto Rico’s entry into the 79^th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, but it didn’t make the cut.

Further success

Lymari was cast for the role of Eva, the wife of Frank Lucas played by Denzel Washington, in the crime film, “American Gangster,” in 200; the movie was said to be based on a true story about Lucas, his life of crime as a drug trafficker and a Harlem gang leader, as well as arrest by detective Richie Roberts played by Russell Crowe. It was a box-office success, grossing more than $250 million worldwide against a $100 million production budget, and it also earned nominations for Academy and Golden Globe Awards.

Nadal’s role was said to be a fictionalized version of the real wife, and those involved in the case said that the movie was not an accurate account of what happened – Lucas said that only a small part in the movie was true, and former DEA agents even filed a lawsuit against the production company, but it was dismissed by the court.

She reprised her role of Giana in “Battlestar Galactica: The Plan,” which was a reimagined version that had new material as well as clips from the 2003 miniseries and 2004 TV series. It premiered on DVD and digital download in 2009, and then on Syfy in 2010.

Lymari then appeared in the “Sangre por Sangre” episode of “CSI: New York” in 2010, and in 2011 was the lead in “America”, that was based on the 1996 novel of Esmeralda Santiago entitled “El Sueño de America” (America’s Dream).

She was presented with the script and liked it, and as part of the production team made some changes to the script, to present a more realistic depiction of Latinos. It was also chosen as Puerto Rico’s entry at the 84^th Academy Awards, but was disqualified because the Academy no longer accepted an entry from a US protectorate.

Other movies she has appeared of include “Light from the Darkroom” (2014), “The Blackout” (2014), and “Kreep” (2016) for which she was also the executive producer.

Personal life

Despite a 31-year age gap, Lymari and Edward Olmos were married in 2002, but separated in 2013. She was Edward’s third wife.

Who is Edward James Olmos?

Edward Huizar Olmos was born on 24 February 1947, in L.A. to a Mexican immigrant, Pedro Olmos, and Mexican-American, Eleanor Huizar. He was raised by his grandparents because his parents were busy working, and then separated when he was seven, which much affected him, so he started playing baseball every day, and improved to the extent that he became a California State batting champion, and was in the farm team of the Los Angeles Dodgers by the time he was 13.

However, in 1960 he quit playing baseball because he wanted to become a rock ‘n’ roll singer instead – actually he wasn’t much of a singer, but he knew how to dance because his father taught him from when he was 10.

When he was able to get a job as a performer, he put himself through high school and college. In 1964 in his first year of college, he took acting classes and started appearing in plays.

His big break in theatre came when he played the role of El Pachuco in “Zoot Suit”, which earned him a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in A Play. The play was written by Luiz Valdes and it premiered at Mark Taper Forum in L.A. in April 1978, then debuted on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre in March 1979. A film adaptation was made in 1981 in which Olmos reprised his role.

He made his television debut in 1974 in “Cannon” as an unnamed character, and continued accepting various projects from minor to lead roles.

In 1984, he was part of the main cast as he played the role of Detective Lieutenant Martin “Marty” Castillo in the crime drama series “Miami Vice,” which ran for five seasons (1984-1990) and 112 episodes – Olmos was in 106 of them. He also appeared in numerous popular television series, including “American Family” (2002-2004), “Battlestar Galactica” (2003-2009), “Dexter” (2011), and “Mayans M.C.” (2018- present).

His movie debut was also in 1974 as he had an uncredited role of a junkie in the bathroom in “Black Fist.” After a series of portraying minor and supporting roles, he was cast as Jaime Escalante in 1988 in “Stand and Deliver”, which earned him a nomination for Best Actor at the 61^st Academy Awards.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDPNWsllaHg/

He was then part of several hit movies, including “Selena” (1997), “The Green Hornet” (2011), “El Americano: The Movie” (2016), and “Coco” (2017).

Edward was in more than 120 movies and television series from 1974 to 2019, and a few more are yet to be released. He produced and directed some of them as well.

He married Kaija Keel in 1971 they divorced in 1992, having had two kids, Bodie and Mico, and adopted four more, namely Tamiko, Brandon, Michael, and Daniela. His second wife was the actress, Lorraine Bracco, whom he married in 1994, but they divorced in 2002.

Excited to be a part of @StoriesFromTomorrow! Kids from all around the world have written poems, stories & Self-expression lets the world know what is inside you! @StoriesFromTomorrow Text TOMORROW to 707070 to make a donation change children's lives. #StoriesFromTomorrow pic.twitter.com/L5Ke9mIbHE

— Here Reddit Stories (@hereredditstory) June 21, 2020

Interesting facts and rumors

• Lymari was involved in a controversy in Ponce, when she was hired to render her services for consultation, promotion of art films, and offering acting workshops for 11 months for $55,000. The legislator Vilma Flores, a member of the Ponceño Autonomous Movement (MAP), accused Mayor Maria Melendez Altieri of hiring Nadal when there are non-profit organizations that can do those things at no cost to the government.
• It was said that ABC developed a sitcom that was to be her TV debut, supposedly about her grad school life, but it was never picked up.

Appearance

She is 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall and weighs around 117lbs (53kg); her dress size is 8. She has brown hair and green eyes..

Net worth

Lymari has an estimated net worth of over $3 million as of June 2020, according to sources.

Who is Ellie Kemper’s husband? Michael Koman Wiki Bio

Michael Koman was born in San Diego, California USA, on 2 February 1977 – his zodiac sign is Aquarius and he holds American nationality. He is a comedian, TV producer, and screenwriter, but perhaps best known for being the husband of Ellie Kemper, a famous American actress and comedian.

Childhood and education

Michael was raised in San Diego an only child by his father who was the owner of a small store, and his mother who was a teacher at a local high school. Michael started watching TV with his father at a very early age, and became interested in comedy after he watched the comedy sketch show “Second City Television “(SCTV). He attended a local high school where he was physically active playing soccer and tennis, but spent his time after school at The Comedy Store where he found a job.

Upon matriculation in 1995, he enrolled at the University of California, San Diego where he listened to the university’s collection of comedy albums – he graduated in 1999 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Michael’s career

Michael launched his career in 1999 when he and his friend wrote and produced the sketch comedy show “Todd’s Coma”, which was performed at the HBO Workspace while the tape was sent to the directors of the American sketch series “MADtv”, who promptly hired Michael as their screenwriter.

After Greg Cohen recommended Michael, he started working as a screenwriter for the show “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”, alongside some of the show’s other writers such as Brian Stack and Andrew Weinberg.

He is credited with the creation of several popular characters in the series such as “The Interrupter” and “Hannigan the Traveling Salesman”. He was part of the show from 2001 to 2008, and occasionally made appearances in it, including the time in 2004 when he portrayed an accountant who offered a rather strange solution to the debate about gay marriage, which was then talked about in the media all around America.

When the show was supposed to change to “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” and move to Los Angeles from New York City, Michael decided to leave, and he then became the head writer of the variety sketch show “Important Things with Demetri Martin”, and also worked as a writer for several months for the late night talk show “The Colbert Report”.

While writing for the former, he became friends with Nathan Fielder who became their writer shortly after Michael, and they went on to create the action comedy series “Eagleheart” together, which starred Chris Elliott and was quite popular as it aired from 2011 to 2014.

Shortly after “Eagleheart” ended, Michael and Nathan created the show “Nathan for You”, when Comedy Central asked Nathan to come up with a pilot episode for a new comedy show. The two men created a show in which Nathan who is a business manager comes to the owners of small companies and offers then strange and funny solutions to their problems. The series was a huge hit, and won Nathan a Canadian Comedy Award for Best Performance by a Male – Television while it was nominated for five others.

While still helping Nathan with his show, Michael worked on the sitcom “The Jack and Triumph Show”, and contributed to the creation of the show “Triumph’s Election Watch 2016”. In 2017, he started writing for “Saturday Night Live” (SNL).

Michael has won one Primetime Emmy Award and six Writers Guild of America Awards, while he’s been nominated for nine other Emmy Awards.

Love life and marriage with Ellie

Michael met Ellie Kemper backstage while they were both working on the show “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”, and where Michael was flirting with her. They started dating just days later, and could had been seen appearing together in more than one sketch in the show.

Ellie Kemper and Michael Koman

They became engaged in 2011, and on 7 July 2012 they married in a small ceremony attended by only their closest friends and family. Ellie gave birth to their first son James in July 2016, while their second son Matthew followed in September 2019. Michael is Jewish and Ellie is Roman Catholic, but they’ve decided to raise their sons in Ellie’s faith. The family of four is living together in New York City.

Both Michael and Ellie were in a long-term relationship several years before they met, Michael dating his college sweetheart for two years, while Ellie was dating her college sweetheart for three years before their split.

Hobbies and other interests

Michael is a huge fan of animated comedy series – some of his favorites are “The Simpsons”, “Rick & Morty”, and “Family Guy”, while he is also keen on watching animated movies such as “Shrek” and “Emperor’s New Groove”.

Some of his favorite actors and actresses are the late Robin Williams, Eddie Murphy and Julia Roberts, while some of his favorite movies are “Dead Poets Society”, “Meet Dave”, and “Runaway Bride”. Michael likes to attend comic conventions as well as cosplay events (although he doesn’t dress up), and is keen on playing video games, with his favorite being “Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt”. One of Michael’s favorite hobbies is travelling and he has been all around the US and also to Europe on several occasions, visiting places such as London in England and Paris in France.

Michael is not very sporting, but enjoys playing golf with his friends.

Appearance and net worth

Michael is 43 years old. He has short brown hair and brown eyes, is 5ft 10ins (1.78m) tall, and weighs around 163lbs (74kgs).

As of May 2020, his net worth is estimated at over $2 million, while Ellie’s net worth is reputedly over $4 million.

Who is Ellie Kemper? Wiki Bio

Elizabeth Claire Kemper was born in Kansas City, Missouri USA, on 2 May 1980 – her zodiac sign is Taurus and she holds American nationality. She is perhaps best known for starring in the title role in the comedy series “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”, which aired from 2015 to 2020 and which also starred Jane Krakowski and Tituss Burgess. It follows a woman who, after being a member of a doomsday cult, decides to change her life and moves to New York City. The series was a huge success, winning 17 awards while it was nominated for 86 others, including 18 Primetime Emmys.

Ellie was raised alongside her three siblings in Kansas City by their mother Dorothy Ann ‘Dotty’ Kemper who was a housewife, and their father David Woods Kemper who served as the CEO and chairman of the bank holding company Commerce Bancshares, Inc.

When she turned five, Ellie and her family moved to St. Louis where she studied at Conway Elementary School, before enrolling at John Burroughs School where she became interested in theatre and doing stand-up comedy. Upon matriculation in 1998, she enrolled at Princeton University from which she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 2002. She also studied at Worcester College, Oxford prior to her graduation.

Ellie made her debut TV series appearance in 2006 when she portrayed Cindy in the drama comedy “Sexual Intercourse: American Style” followed by her roles in “Mister Glasses” in 2007 and “Important Things with Demetri Martin” in 2009.

https://twitter.com/EllieKemperSite/status/1256420825948880898

She gained recognition in 2009 when she was invited to portray the lead character, Kelly Erin Hannon in the comedy series “The Office”, which also starred Steve Carell and Jenna Fischer. It was a huge hit worldwide, as it won 48 awards including a Golden Globe, while it was nominated for 186 other awards. Some of her latest roles in TV series have been in the comedy sketch history series “The Who Was? Show” in 2018, the live TV special “Live in Front of a Studio Audience” in 2019, and she served as a guest judge in the talent show competition “America’s Got Talent” in 2019 as well.

She made her debut film appearance in 2009 when she played Jamie in the comedy movie “Mystery Team”, which starred Donald Glover, D. C. Pierson and Dominic Dierkes, and which follows several child detectives who are trying to solve a mystery.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CAHEqW9AxHx/

Some of her following roles were in the comedy movie “Get Him to the Greek” in 2010, the drama “Somewhere”, and the comedy film “Bridesmaids” both in 2011, while some of her most notable performances have been in the movies “21 Jump Street” in 2012 and the satirical romantic comedy “They Came Together” in 2014. After this she became focused on voice roles, lending her voice to characters in movies such as “The Lego Batman Movie” and “Smurfs: The Lost Village” both in 2017, and “The Secret Life of Pets 2” in 2019.

Ellie has won five awards, including a 2010 Golden Nymph Award for Outstanding Actress – Comedy Series in for “The Office”, and an MTV Movie Award for Best Jaw Dropping Moment for “Bridesmaids”; she’s been nominated for 11 other awards too.