Height: 6' 4"
Nationality: Puerto Rican
Date: February 19, 1967
Birth Place: San German, Puerto Rico
Occupation: actor
Education: Mercersburg Academy boarding school
University of California in San Diego (majored in Business)
Circle in the Square Acting School in New York
Stella Adler Acting Conservatory in Los Angeles on scholarship
Relationship: Claire Forlani (actress), Alicia Silverstone (actress), and Chiara Mastroianni.
Claim to fame: as Fred Fenster in The Usual Suspects (1995)

Facts about Benicio Del Toro:

Attended Mercersburg Academy (graduated in 1985). He was a basketball star and artist there, but not an actor.

Benicio badly injured his wrist during a stunt fight during the filming of William Friedkin's THE HUNTED. He fell on his wrist as he dove for a knife and actor Tommy Lee Jones fell on top of him. He was injured so badly that he reportedly will be out of work for months, even though the film was virtually completed. He requires 3 hours of therapy daily and reportedly there is question whether he will regain full usage of the wrist.

Burned himself with cigarettes repeatedly for the elevator scene in FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS because the real Oscar Zeta Acosta did as well. The shots of the burn were cut.

Dated Alicia Silverstone, Chiara Mastroianni, Valeria Golino.

Del Toro enrolled at the University of California at San Diego with the intention of becoming a lawyer. Family urged him to become a lawyer because they felt there was no future in acting.

Offered the role of Reinaldo Arenas in BEFORE NIGHT FALLS (2000) that eventually went to Javier Bardem. He turned it down to be in friend Christopher McQuarrie's THE WAY OF THE GUN (2000).

Benicio is passionate about painting.

Reportedly turned down the role of Frida Kahlo's husband Diego Rivera in FRIDA KAHLO (2001) because of the weight gain that would be required

Trade mark: Slurred, mumbling voice and odd mannerisms.

Benicio Del Toro is one of only four actors to have won an Academy Award for a part spoken mainly in a foreign language (most of Del Toro's dialogue is in Spanish). Sophia Loren, Robert De Niro, and Roberto Begnini are the other three.

Broke his wrist while filming a fight scene in THE FIGHT (2001) with Tommy Lee Jones halting production for four months and pushing back the release date.

Benicio Del Toro won the Best Supporting Actor in the 73rd Academy Awards 2000 from his appearance in TRAFFIC.
Won the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role in 7th Annual Screen Actors Guild Award 2001 through TRAFFIC.

Awarded The 58th Annual Golden Globe Awards 2000 as the Best Actor in a Supporting Role in TRAFFIC.
Voted the Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role at the British Academy Award 2001 through his appearance in TRAFFIC.

His delivery of the line He'll flip ya'. Flip ya' for real is straight from the movie THELONIOUS MONK: STRAIGHT, NO CHASER (1989) about jazz pianist Thelonius Monk. Monk says the line himself. (THE USUAL SUSPECTS)

In the scene of THE WAY OF THE GUN (2000) where he and Ryan Phillippe, Ryan are flipping through radio stations in the car, one of the brief news reports on the radio says something to the effect of: Director Singer was found molesting adolescents... - a reference to charges brought against Singer during the production of APT PUPIL (1998).

He gained 40 pounds for his role as Dr. Gonzo in FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS (1998)

Personal quotes
"I'm not Jack Nicholson. I'm not Brando. But I do mumble."

"My career went into the hole after Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. People might have seen what saw on screen and subconsciously, people in the business might have taken what they saw literally. I think people thought, he got fat. He got weird. His mumbling increased tenfold. I was trying to do an interpretation of a masterpiece of a book, and that's what the character was - an animal!"

"Before I was ever in high school, I had dark circles under my eyes. The rumor was I was a junkie. I have dark circles under my eyes, deal with it."