Name	John Ortiz
Height
Naionality	American
Date of Birth	21-November-1969
Place of Birth	Brooklyn, New York, United States
Famous for	Acting

John Ortiz is an American actor and artistic director/co-founder of LAByrinth Theater Company. John made his film debut as Al Pacino's young cousin Guajiro in Carlito's Way. He went on to appear in over 30 films including El Cantante, Take the Lead, Before Night Falls, Amistad, Ransom, and Narc. His recent film performances include those in Ridley Scott's American Gangster, as Russell Crowe's partner Javy Rivera, and Michael Mann's Miami Vice as drug lord Jose Yero.

Among Ortiz television roles, he has most recently played the lead in J.J. Abrams Hope Against Hope for HBO, a series regular on Denis Leary's The Job and CBS’ Clubhouse as well as the NBC cop drama Blue Blood, directed by Brett Ratner. He currently stars in Luck. In 1992, Ortiz formed Latino Actors Base with 13 other Latino actors to provide themselves with a place to work and an opportunity to become a tightly knit ensemble. Today, that ensemble is known as LAByrinth Theater Company: an award winning troupe of over 100 artists from a wide range of cultural backgrounds and creative disciplines.

In 2003, Ortiz made his Broadway debut in Nilo Cruz Pulitzer Prize winning play Anna in the Tropics. He appeared in three world premiere plays by Jose Rivera: The Adoration of the Old Woman at La Jolla Playhouse, Sueno at MCC Theater and The Street of the Sun at Mark Taper Forum. He was also featured in two New York premieres of Rivera's plays: References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot at the Public Theater (OBIE Award) and Cloud Tectonics at Playwrights Horizons. Ortiz also appeared in The Skin of Our Teeth and De Donde at the Public Theater; the world tours of The Merchant of Venice and The Persians directed by Peter Sellars; House Arrest at Arena Stage; and the national tour of A Few Good Men; Pentecost at Yale Repertory Theatre.