Ricardo Antonio Chavira (born September 1, 1971,
Austin, Texas) is an
American actor, perhaps best known for his role as
Carlos Solis on
Desperate Housewives.
Early life
Chavira was born in
Austin, Texas, the son of a
Bexar County judge, Juan Antonio Chavira. Raised in
San Antonio, Texas, he graduated from
Robert E. Lee High School, now the Performing Arts School, and the
University of the Incarnate Word. He is a '00
UC, San Diego Alumnus and received his
Master of Fine Arts in Acting from the
UC San Diego's Professional Actor Training Program in 2000, and moved to Los Angeles shortly thereafter. Since then he has worked in film, television and theatre.
Career
Film credits include Touchstone's
The Alamo. Television credits prior to
Desperate Housewives include a series regular role on
The Grubbs, recurring roles on
Six Feet Under and
The Division, and guest star roles on
Joan of Arcadia,
Kingpin,
Monk,
24 and
JAG, as well as
NYPD Blue and two other
Steven Bochco series,
Philly and
City of Angels. He also guest starred on
ABC's
The George Lopez Show.
Chavira starred in a production of
Tracers at the Odyssey Theatre in
Los Angeles, and also starred in a co-production of Living Out. Since 2004, Chavira has starred in
Desperate Housewives. He plays
Gabrielle Solis's (played by
Eva Longoria Parker) husband
Carlos.
Breast cancer advocate
- Chavira is a supporter of breast cancer research as his mother, Elizabeth Ries Chavira, died of breast and ovarian cancer when she was 43 years old.
Personal life
Chavira has two children, Tomas Antonio Chavira (b. 2003) with partner Marcea Dietzel, who gave birth to their second child, daughter Belen Elysabeth Chavira (b. July 28, 2008). The couple had been together for several years when they decided to marry on September 22, 2007 in a small ceremony at their
San Antonio, Texas home, reportedly wearing pajamas.
[Herald Tribune report on Chavira's marriage]
