Biography
After his near battle to the death against Sean Penn in "Bad Boys," Morales landed what would be his biggest cinematic success with the role of Richie Valens' mercurial older brother in the rock-n-roll box office hit "La Bamba" (1987). He stretched himself as an actor with admirable turns in films such as "Rapa-Nui" (1994), before finding his comfort zone as a member of generational ensemble pieces like the drama "Mi Familia" ("My Family") …
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Career Milestones
| Enrolled in NYC's High School of Performing Arts | ||
| Professional stage debut, "El Hermano" at the Ensemble Theater in NYC | ||
1978 | Ran away from home at age 15 when his mother objected to his theatrical ambitions; became a voluntary ward of the state (date approximate) | |
1981 | Off-Broadway debut at age 17 in NY Shakespeare Festival production of "The Tempest" | |
1983 | Feature debut, "Bad Boys" opposite Sean Penn | |
1984 | TV acting debut, "The Great Love Experiment", an "ABC Afterschool Special" | |
1985 | First feature starring role, "Rainy Day Friends" (released on video 1988) | |
1986 | TV miniseries debut, "On Wings of Eagles" starring Burt Lancaster | |
1987 | Played the ex-convict/half-brother of 1950s rock and roll singer Ritchie Valens in "La Bamba" | |
1992 | Broadway debut as a young Syrian in love with the titular temptress in "Salome" | |
1994 | TV directorial debut, "America's Most Wanted" | |
1995 | Appeared in "My Family/Mi Familia" | |
1996 | Co-starred in ABC TV-movie "Dying to Be Perfect: The Ellen Hart Pena Story" | |
1997 | Had leading role in "The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca" | |
2000 | Played recurring role in the Showtime drama series "Resurrection Blvd." | |
2001 | Joined regular cast of the ABC series "NYPD Blue" as Lt. Tony Rodriguez | |
2002 | Had recurring role on the PBS drama "American Family" as an ex-convict | |
2005 | Cast in the lead role of Cesar Castillo in the Broadway-bound musical staging of "The Mambo Kings" | |
2006 | Cast as part of an ensemble in "Fast Food Nation," Richard Linklater's adaptation of Eric Schlosser's non-fiction book | |
2006 | Cast in the short-lived Fox drama, "Vanished" as an FBI agent | |
2007 | Joined the CBS series "Jericho" in a recurring role, as Col. Hoffman, a career military officer and Iraq War veteran | |