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Garcia, a Cuban-American actor and director, who has created some iconic characters in his career till date, is known as one of Hollywood's most private and guarded leading men. Here are 50 interesting facts about the actor famous for his role as Vincent Mancini in the movie 1990 “Godfather – III,” and Michael Green in the 1994 film “When a Man Loves a Woman.”
- Born as Andres Arturo Garcia Menendez on April 12, 1956 in Havana, Cuba.
- He was born to Amelie Menendez an English Teacher and Rene Garcia Nunez an avocado farmer and an attorney in Cuba.
- He has two older siblings: sister Tessi and a brother Rene.
- After the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion, the family moved to Miami, Florida. He was five years old at that time.
- After migrating to the United States, his father started a fragrance business, which over a period of years developed into a million dollar company.
- He played for his basketball team during his high school days at Miami Beach Senior High School.
- He took acting classes with Jay. W. Jensen during his senior year at the high school.
- He graduated from Florida International University in Miami.
- He got married to Marivi Lorido in 1982.
- Garcia has four children: Dominik Garcia-Lorido born in the year 1983, Daniella Garcia-Lorido born in 1988, Alessandra Garcia-Lorido born in the year 1991 and Andrés Garcia-Lorido in 2002.
- His first acting role was in 1984 as a "1st white tough" in the TV series “Murder, She wrote.”
- His first important role was in the movie “The Untouchables” in 1987, directed by Briande Palma. He played the character of Stone.
- The director first noticed Garcia in “8 Million Ways to Die” and wanted him to do as a villain, but Garcia insisted on doing Stone.
- He along with Sean Connery and Kevin Costner took weapons training and police tactics lessons for the movie.
- He got the role of Vincent Mancini, the illegitimate son of Sonny Corleone in the movie “Godfather – III.”
- During a fight scene in the “Godfather – III,” a stuntman got severe cut and required stitches. This was due to Garcia using a real pistol instead of a prop pistol.
- He received an Academy Award nomination for the “Best Supporting Actor,” for his performance as Vincent Mancini.
- He was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a Chicago Film Critics Association Award in the same category.
- In the year 1990, he acted alongside Richard Gere in the movie “Internal Affairs.”
- It seems like he did not get along well with Gere, during the shoot.
- An elevator scene in the movie, where Gere and Garcia hit each other is said to be real.
- He was nominated for MTV Movie Award for Most Desirable Male for his role as Michael Green in the movie “When a Man Loves a Woman” in 1994.
- His character name Jimmy 'The Saint' Tosnia in the 1995 movie "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead," was taken from the 1973 song "Lost in the Flood" by Bruce Springsteen.
- In 1996, he played the role of a lawyer in the movie “Night Falls on Manhattan” based on a true story.
- The novel “Tainted Evidence” which was converted into the movie “Night Falls on Manhattan” has a female as lead character.
- His performance as Sean Casey in the movie, earned him an ALMA Award nomination for “Outstanding Actor in a Feature Film.”
- He played as Las Vegas Casino owner Terry Benedict in “Ocean’s Eleven” in 2001.
- Garcia’s character is said to be loosely inspired by Vegas mogul Steve Wynn. Wynn is the real owner of the Bellagio, a place where much of the action takes place.
- A scene in the movie, when Garcia warns Brad Pitt’s character Rusty, "If you should be picked up buying a $100,000 sports car in Newport Beach, I'm going to be extremely disappointed," refers to the 1993 kidnapping of Wynn's daughter Kevyn.
- Kidnappers of Kevyn were picked up in Newport Beach buying an expensive car by cash.
- Garcia received an ALMA Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for his performance as Terry Benedict.
- He reprised his role in the sequel “Ocean’s Twelve” in 2004 as well as in the movie “Ocean’s Thirteen” in 2007.
- For the sequel "Ocean's Twelve," Garcia agreed for the role, just as he got the offer, without even looking at the script. He also didn't mind how important his role was in the movie.
- He had worked with one of the stars in “Ocean’s Thirteen” – Al Pacino, even before the film in the movie “Godfather – III.”
- In the year 2005, he co-wrote, directed and acted in the movie “The Lost City,” starring alongside Dustin Hoffman and Bill Murray.
- It took the crew only 35 days in total to shoot the movie.
- Initially, Garcia drafted the script of 306 pages, which was trimmed down to just 120 pages eventually.
- He was sued by Carole Lee Shulman $2.5 million for, at the Los Angeles Superior Court, on claims that Garcia stole Eddie "Shu" Shulman's identity in the movie. He was accused of mimicking the Californian man's life, according to Contact Music. https://www.contactmusic.com/andy-garcia/news/garcia-sued-for-identity-theft_1043638
- In 2006, Garcia appeared in the last episode of the Turkish TV series “Kurttar Vardisi.”
- His second directorial venture is an upcoming movie “Hemingway and Fuentes,” with Jon Voight and Annette Bening as his co-stars.
- Initially, it was Anthony Hopkins cast in the role of Hemingway, but he dropped out due to the delay in the shoot, which was supposed to start by Jan 2013.
- Garcia has a number of movies in the pipeline including "Max Steel," "Headlock," and "Geostorm," movies in the post production stage, while "Ghostbusters" and "What About Love" are slated for a release next year.
