Who is Ricardo Chavira? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: Ricardo Antonio Chavira

Age: 52 Years, 52 Year Old Males

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Marcea Dietzel (m. 2007)

father: Juan Antonio Chavira

mother: Elizabeth Ries Chavira

children: Belen Elysabeth Chavira, Tomas Antonio Chavira

Born Country: United States

Actors American Men

Height: 5'11" (180 cm), 5'11" Males

City: Austin, Texas

U.S. State: Texas

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Career

Chavira got his start in the industry as a teenager. He appeared in two Mexican short films in 1987: ‘De Vaqueros, aventuras y mas cosas’ and ‘Así sucede en los pueblos.’ In 2001, he appeared in his first film, ‘Barstow 2008’. After playing the guest role of Kenny Sotomayor in a 2001 episode of the ABC series ‘NYPD Blue’, he portrayed minor roles in TV shows like ‘Philly’ and ‘24’. In 2002, he was cast in the recurring role of Ramon in the HBO series ‘Six Feet Under’. That year, he also played the role of Bernard in two episodes of ‘The Division’.

Between 2004 and 2012, Chavira starred as Carlos Solis in the ABC series ‘Desperate Housewives’. Carlos and his wife Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) are shown to continuously argue with each other and both have extramarital relationships at one point during their marriage. Despite this, the relationship endures the entire run of the show. Chavira won two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2005 and 2006) for ‘Desperate Housewives’.

In 2013, he starred as Miguel Hernandez in the short-lived NBC sitcom ‘Welcome to the Family’. In 2017, he starred in the recurring role of Dan Palmer in the Netflix horror-comedy series ‘Santa Clarita Diet’. Between 2016 and 2017, he appeared in eight episodes of The CW satirical telenovela ‘Jane the Virgin’ and 15 episodes of the ABC political thriller ‘Scandal’.

He played various characters in films like ‘The Alamo’ (2004), ‘Cosmic Radio’ (2007), ‘Saving God’ (2008), ‘Piranha 3D’ (2010), ‘Being Charlie’ (2015), ‘Powder and Gold’ (2015), and ‘Tournament’ (2018). He is set to star in the upcoming films ‘Narco Soldiers’ and ‘Reefa’. As a voice actor, he has worked on projects like 2011 animated sci-fi horror film ‘Dead Space: Aftermath’ and 2013 video game ‘Dead Space 3’.

On stage, Chavira has performed in Los Angeles’ Odyssey Theatre’s production of ‘Tracers’ as well as a co-production of ‘Living Out’. From July 3 to August 21, 2010, he essayed the role of Stanley Kowalski in a production of Tennessee Williams' 'A Streetcar Named Desire' at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.

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Family & Personal Life

Born on September 1, 1971, in Austin, Texas, USA, Ricardo is the son of Elizabeth Ries and Juan Antonio Chavira. A second-generation Mexican-American, he was raised in San Antonio. He is also part German and Irish. His father served as a Bexar County judge. After studying at Robert E. Lee High School and the University of the Incarnate Word, he enrolled at the University of California San Diego's Professional Actor Training Program. He earned his Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting in 2000, which effectively made him a '00 UC San Diego Alumnus. Chavira subsequently settled in Los Angeles, where he has since established himself both as a screen and stage actor.

Chavira exchanged wedding vows with his high-school sweetheart Marcea Dietzel on September 22, 2007. Their first child, a son whom they named Tomas Antonio, was born in January 2003. On July 28, 2008, Marcea gave birth to their daughter, Belen Elysabeth.

The family predominantly resides in San Antonio, though Chavira spends a considerable amount of his time in Los Angeles for his work.

One of the causes that Chavira supports is breast cancer research. His mother passed away at the age of 43 after losing her battle with both breast and ovarian cancers. He serves as San Antonio's honorary spokesman for the charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure and was appointed the National Team Captain for the Race for the Cure in Washington, D.C. at one point. In 2005, he and ‘Desperate Housewives’ co-star James Denton were made spokespeople for the Lee National Denim Day breast cancer fundraiser.

In October 2019, after another ‘Desperate Housewives’ castmate, Felicity Huffman, was given a relatively light sentence for her involvement in the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal, Chavira tweeted out his displeasure, dubbing the judgement as “white privilege”.

Ricardo Chavira Biography