Andy Garcia was born in Cuba on April 12, 1956, not long after Fidel Castro came to power. He was born into a prosperous family on the island, his father being a lawyer. Garcia actually was a conjoined twin at the time of his birth, although they were surgically separated.

The Garcia family was forced to leave Cuba following the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion. They settled in Miami where the family struggled to make ends meet ... for a short time. However, within several years, the family had created a multi-million dollar perfume company.

Garcia was raised and Catholic and continues to practice this religion to this very day. As a younger man, he was very interested in sports -- although he abandoned athletics for acting when he developed a serious case of hepatitis.

Garcia has had a successful career in the American cinema. Some of his major credits include roles in Ocean's Eleven and Ocean's Twelve. He has other major film credits as well and also is a regular performer on U.S. television.

Recently, he co-wrote, directed and starred in The Lost City with Dustin Hoffman and Bill Murray. The film portrays Fidel Castro and Che Guevara as blood thirsty killers and has been banned, as a result, in many parts of Latin America where Castro and Guevara are revered. Garcia is a strong critic of Fidel Castro and Cuban government, as are many Cuban exiles now living in the United States.