Jimmy Smits was born on the 9th of July, 1955 in New York City to Cornelius Smits, a Surinamese immigrant from Dutch Guiana and Emilina, a Puerto Rican nurse. Smits was educated at Brooklyn College and Cornell University where he earned his master's degree in fine arts. He is a seasoned actor who has garnered awards such as an Emmy in 1990 for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Victor Sifuentes in L.A. Law and a Golden Globe in 1996 for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series - Drama for his role as Detective Bobby Simone in NYPD Blue. Another notable role he played is that of Matt Santos in
The West Wing . Smits has also appeared in films such as Bless the Child and Star Wars: Episode 3 - Revenge of the Sith.
Alex Vega is played by Jimmy Smits in the new CBS series,
Cane . Alex is the family oriented man who loves his wife, Isabel, dearly. He and Pancho, Isabel's father, are into the family's rum and sugar business. Unlike Pancho's son Frank, Alex also mistrusts the Samuels, their greatest rivals in the business. The Samuels strike a lucrative but questionable deal, and it is in deciding whether or not to push through with it that Pancho is torn between Frank and Alex's opinions.
(Photo courtesy of CBS)