Héctor Elizondo is an American character actor. He is known for playing Phillip Watters in the television series Chicago Hope and Ed Alzate in the television series Last Man Standing.

Héctor Elizondo parents: Meet Martín Echevarría Elizondo & Carmen Medina Reyes

Héctor Elizondo was born on December 22, 1936, in Harlem, New York City, USA. Both his father, Martín Echevarría Elizondo, a notary public and accountant, and his mother, Carmen Medina Reyes, had migrated from Puerto Rico to the USA sometime in the early 1930s. He has a younger sister named Emma.

In 1950, he entered The High School of Music & Art, now known as Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. Concurrently, he also attended regular high school, excelling in basketball and baseball, being scouted both by the San Francisco Giants and the Pittsburgh Pirates.
In 1954, he entered City College of New York.

But in that very year, he had to drop out of college to look after his wife and child, working full time, initially as a conga player, and later as a classical guitarist cum singer, a weightlifting coach, and a manager of a bodybuilding gym.