A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame honoring Emmy- winning actor Jimmy Smits will be unveiled Wednesday in a virtual ceremony, one day before the premiere of his latest film, "In The Heights."
Set to join Smits in speaking at the ceremony are Lin-Manuel Miranda, a producer of "In The Heights," which is based on the Broadway musical he co-wrote, and Paris Barclay, who directed episodes of the groundbreaking ABC police drama "NYPD Blue" in which Smits starred, including his final one.
The ceremony will be streamed on all of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce's social media platforms. There will not be a public ceremony.
The star at 6100 Hollywood Blvd., near Gower Street, is the 2,696th since the completion of the Walk of Fame in 1961 with the first 1,558 stars.
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Born July 9, 1955, in Brooklyn, Smits received a bachelor's degree from Brooklyn College in 1980 and a master's degree from Cornell University in 1982. He made his television debut in a 1983 episode of the ABC daytime drama "Ryan's Hope" and his prime-time debut in the pilot of "Miami Vice," portraying the partner of Detective Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) who was killed by a car bomb in the episode's first five minutes.
Smits' first series role was as attorney Victor Sifuentes in the NBC legal drama "L.A. Law," which brought him supporting actor in a drama series Emmy nominations in each of his six seasons on the series and his only win, which came in 1990.
After leaving "L.A. Law" in 1992, Smits joined the cast of "NYPD Blue" in 1994, receiving lead actor in a drama series Emmy nominations all five seasons he was on the series.
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Smits was also a cast member of "The West Wing" for its final two seasons as Rep. Matt Santos. His other television credits include "How To Get Away With Murder," "Sons of Anarchy," "Brooklyn Nine Nine" and "Dexter," which brought him his most recent Emmy nomination, for outstanding guest actor in a drama series in 2009.
On the big screen, Smits' credits include three "Star Wars" films -- "Attack of the Clones," "Revenge of the Sith" and "Rouge One"; "Old Gringo"; "Switch"; "My Family/Mi Familia"; "The Jane Austen Book Club"; and "Mother and Child."
Smits portrays taxi company owner Kevin Rosario in "In The Heights," which premieres Friday at the TCL Chinese Theatre as part of the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival and opens in theaters and begins streaming June 11 on HBO Max
