Isadore "Izzy" Moreno

Isadore "Izzy" Moreno
Affilation	Small-time thief and entrepreneur Informant to Crockett and Tubbs
Born	1947
Status	Alive
Episode(s)	"The Great McCarthy" "Made for Each Other" "Nobody Lives Forever" "Whatever Works" "Bought and Paid For" "Phil the Shill" "When Irish Eyes Are Crying" "Walk-Alone" "Better Living Through Chemistry" "Lend Me an Ear" "By Hooker by Crook" "Knock, Knock... Who's There?" "Viking Bikers from Hell" "The Big Thaw" "Missing Hours" "The Cows of October" "Deliver Us from Evil" "Over the Line" "Freefall" "Miracle Man" "Too Much, Too Late"
Played By	Martin Ferrero

Isadore Francisco Moreno (born 1947), better known as Izzy, was a small-time thief, conman and petty street criminal who served as an informant for Crockett and Tubbs on numerous cases. Despite his endlessly enthusiastic and eternally optimistic personality, Izzy was nonetheless an incompetent criminal and possessed somewhat limited intelligence.

While Crockett and Tubbs employed numerous informants as part of their job, Izzy in particular was a regular (if often begrudging) source of intelligence for the Vice cops.

Biography

Early life

Izzy originally came to America from Cuba as part of the Mariel boatlift (he would later refer to himself as "one of the great minds of the South Florida refugee experience"). Upon his arrival in the United States he turned to petty crime, and by 1984 was well-known to the Metro-Dade Police Department, having three felony counts to his name. During this time had also served as an informant for Crockett, although the Vice cop considered him to be a "wet rag" that had "dried up a long time ago".

McCarthy Case

Izzy when the Vice team first catch him, covered in anti-theft dye

Following a botched bank robbery in Downtown Miami -- perhaps his only foray into serious crime -- Izzy was arrested again, by Crockett and Tubbs. Facing his fourth felony, he hastily began offering up information on "everybody he's known since the sixth grade", including Louis McCarthy, who, fortunately for Izzy, happened to be the subject of a major OCB investigation. As a result, Crockett and Tubbs offered Izzy immunity from prosecution in return for further assistance with the case, and the information he provided eventually led to McCarthy's arrest for drug smuggling. Moreover, Izzy also helped to solve the murder of McCarthy's accountant Dale Gifford, providing both a witness statement and the murder weapon that proved McCarthy's girlfriend Vanessa had been responsible.

Working with the Vice team

From then onward, Izzy Moreno became a regular source of information for Crockett and Tubbs (despite his constant pleas that he could be killed for the facts he divulged). In return, the Vice cops turned a blind eye to his numerous and often ridiculous criminal ventures, which included auto theft (of a cement mixer), interior design, celebrity dog walking, erotic photography, dealing in jewellery (presumably stolen), street serenade, B-movies, dance classes with complimentary financial advice, and even an ill-advised attempt at kidnapping and extortion, among many others. Occasionally, he was assisted in his scams by his mute chauffeur/associate Manny. More rarely, he would team up with fellow streetperson Noogie Lamont, a partnership that only served to heighten the ridiculous nature of his schemes.

Throughout their professional relationship with Izzy, Crockett and Tubbs continually used the threat of jail time as a means of extracting information from the often-reluctant informant, who was apparently unable to recognize that the (generally) minor nature of his crimes was unlikely to land him in serious trouble. Despite this outwardly antagonistic arrangement, Izzy nevertheless developed some degree of friendship with the Vice cops, and Crockett in particular -- as demonstrated when he he went out of his way to save Crockett's beloved Ferrari Daytona from being repossessed by pencil-pushers from the Metro-Dade Police Department, his concern when passing on information on particularly dangerous individuals, or his genuine grief when Crockett was shot and almost killed in the line of duty. While the Vice cops typically seemed to mask any appreciation of their own, they nevertheless revealed a degree of appreciation when they approached him for one last piece of information on what would prove to be Crockett and Tubbs' final case together -- unable to face threatening the hapless Izzy with jail any more, Crockett simply paid him for the details (much to Izzy's surprise), and once the Vice cops had what they wanted to know, they released him from their threats of prosecution and let him go (but not before Crockett took his money back).

Despite this degree of mutual respect, Izzy would not hesitate to cross the Vice team if he imagined he might acquire some financial gain from it, such as when he stole the Bug Van, landing Switek and Zito in trouble with Castillo.

Personal Life

Izzy had a cousin, Jorge Esteban, better known as Georgie; Georgie's death at the hands of drug dealers hit Izzy hard, although Crockett and Tubbs were able to help him through his depression.

Notes

• Throughout the series, Izzy frequently (and often incorrectly) quotes the likes of Ernest Hemingway, Lee Iacocca and Phil Collins, among others. His broken English, thick Cuban accent and tendency to misquote are often the basis of the comic relief the character provides.
• Izzy is the only character outside of the principal cast who has the distinction of appearing in every season of Miami Vice.
• Izzy is said to have come to America as part of the Mariel boatlift. This is something he shares with the character Trini DeSoto from "Brother's Keeper", who was also played by Martin Ferrero.

Quotes

• "We move in the same social matrix!" -- "The Great McCarthy"
• "We Hispanics don't know the meaning of danger! But we're very familiar with the word compensation..." -- "Made for Each Other"
• "Like they say, man - 'He who hesitates... don't get any monitors'." -- "Made for Each Other"
• "All I got left is sizes eight... eight and a half..." "I wear eleven." "That's perfect!" -- "Nobody Lives Forever"
• "This man plunges hisself into the murky waters of the underworld... to risk life and limb to try and stem the crime flow... and keep us all from drowning in a cesspool of lawlessness... susussudia!" -- "Whatever Works"
• "Amigos. What looks like a room full of yuppies trying to refine their hormonal readjustment is in actuality the control center for my hand-picked operatives who have blanketed the city in search of this... What was her name?" -- "Bought and Paid For"
• "Hey, man, you can't go in there with those brown shoes, this party is color-cooperated!" -- "Phil the Shill"
• "Hombres! Didn't realise that you guys were connoisseurs of the air guitar." -- "Walk-Alone"
• "I conglomerate only with intellectuals -- knowledge is power!" -- "Better Living Through Chemistry"
• "The slightest barometric altercation in the atmospheric pressures tend to affect my paranasal digestive systems." --"Lend Me an Ear"
• "Like a lawyer and a priest, when I'm immoralizing women... [zips lips]." -- "By Hooker by Crook"
• "I am completely impervious to any kind of ridicule." -- "The Big Thaw"
• "I just started casting Red River Part 2, but I can always get my calendar..." -- "The Cows of October"
• "Gabrielle and I had a very special relationship, she taught me how to use the bullwhip. It's a tragic coincidence that we were divorced right after I got my green card." -- "The Cows of October"
• "Madre de Dios, Sonny... What have they done to you, man?" -- "A Bullet for Crockett"
• "He comes in here, tries to break things up. He thinks he's a fighter, he likes to fight, he thinks he's Mike Tyson..." -- "Deliver Us from Evil"
• "You are ruining your skins! The ultra-veelet rays are destroying the epidermal cortex as we speak!" -- "Over the Line"
• "You don't just catch fish... You achieve a oneness with them, because... where's there's plankton, there's fish." -- "Freefall"
• "Dr. Trautman, yes... He only handles the phisotropic symptoms, I was called in to deal with the psycho-kinetic diseases, the neural consciousness frontier." -- "Miracle Man"
• "Esto es un tango... and also financial advice." -- "Too Much, Too Late"