Benjamin Bratt biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Actor. Born in San Francisco, California, on December 16, 1963, Bratt is the third of five children. He is the grandson of Broadway actor George Bratt and the son of a Peruvian Quechua Indian mother from Lima, who moved to the United States at age 14. His father, a sheet-metal worker, and his mother divorced in 1968. In 1969, Bratt's mother, a Native American activist, participated in the takeover of Alcatraz Island. She brought along the five-year-old Benjamin and his brother and sisters. For over a year, they went to Alcatraz two or three times a week, Bratt has said. Bratt grew up in San Francisco, where he attended Lowell High School.

Acting Debut

Bratt showed no interest in acting until college. In 1986, he graduated with honors from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He then attended the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, but did not complete the master's program; instead he began his professional acting career at the Utah Shakespearean Festival. His first two pilots, Juarez and Lovers, Partners & Spies, did not sell, but in 1998 he starred in the short-lived Knightwatch on ABC as an ex-gang leader who becomes the leader of an anti-crime patrol. In 1990, Bratt joined another drama with a short life, NBC's Nasty Boys, which was produced by Dick Wolf, who also created and produced Law & Order.

Bratt's debut film roles came in 1990. First he was cast in Bright Angel and then in Chains of Gold, starring Joey Lawrence and John Travolta, in which he played a vicious drug dealer. Bratt also had supporting roles in One Good Cop (1991), Bound by Honor (1993), and Demolition Man (1993).

Breakthrough Roles

Bratt gained Hollywood's attention with two 1994 releases: In The River Wild, he portrayed a Native American ranger, and in Clear and Present Danger, he was the field officer for American soldiers sent by the CIA to infiltrate the Colombian countryside. Soon after, he was cast as the lead in the ABC miniseries James A. Michener's Texas (1995). That year was also Bratt's first as the conservative detective Rey Curtis on Law & Order.

Personal Life

From 1990 until 1996, Bratt dated documentary filmmaker Monika. After actress Jennifer Esposito made a guest appearance on Law & Order in 1996, she and Bratt began a relationship that ended eight months later.