Not only has Smits enjoyed an exemplary career on television, but he has met with equal success on the big screen. His film credits include "Running Scared," "The Believers," co-starring Martin Sheen; "Old Gringo," co-starring Gregory Peck and Jane Fonda; "Vital Signs," with Diane Lane; "The Fires Within," directed by Gillian Armstrong and co-starring Greta Scacchi and Vincent D'Onofrio; and Blake Edwards' "Switch," with Ellen Barkin.

Smits' theater credentials are also notable. Having studied drama at Brooklyn College and earning an MFA degree from Cornell University, he worked in New York in several off-Broadway productions, and is especially proud of his work with the New York Shakespeare Festival. Under the direction of Joe Papp, he appeared in "Hamlet" and later in the Public Theater production of Michael Weller's "Ballad of Soapy Smith." He also co-starred with Linda Hunt in "Little Victories" at the American Place Theatre and in regional theater, appeared as a guest artist with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival and at the Center Stage in Baltimore. In 1993, Smits completed a three-month run in Los Angeles of Ariel Dorfman's searing drama, "Death and the Maiden."

A native of Brooklyn and a second-generation American, Smits traces his Hispanic roots to Puerto Rico on his mother's side and to Surinam, South America, on his father's. His family moved several times during his childhood, and he spent his early adolescence in Puerto Rico, where he learned to speak Spanish.

The father of two, Smits divides his time between New York and Los Angeles.

VITAL STATISTICS

BIRTHPLACE: Brooklyn, NY
BIRTHDATE: July 9
HEIGHT: 6'3"
HAIR: Brown
EYES: Brown