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Martin Ferrero
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Miami Vice Character
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Born
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September 29, 1947 (age 77)
Brockport, New York, United States |
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Active
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1979-present
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Martin Ferrero (born September 29, 1947) is an American actor known for his semi-regular role as Isadore "Izzy" Moreno in Miami Vice and in Jurassic Park as the lawyer Donald Gennaro.
Early Career[]
Ferrero was born in Brockport, New York. He moved to California in the late 1970s to join the California Actor's Theater and begin his acting career. He made his TV debut in 1979 with a small part in the comedy The Ropers. He then appeared in other classic shows as Soap, The White Shadow, Happy Days, Mork & Mindy, Alice, Cheers, and in five episodes on Hill Street Blues, where he worked with Anthony Yerkovich.
Miami Vice[]
In 1984, Yerkovich cast Ferrero in his new police drama, Miami Vice, as a cross-dressing assassin, Trini DeSoto, lieutenant to a drug lord Calderone, in the pilot episode, "Brother's Keeper". After the show was picked up, Ferrero was recast in a recurring role of a two-bit hustler (turned informant) named Izzy Moreno, whose knowledge of the street and Miami's underworld helped Crockett and Tubbs solve many cases, turning the other way on his scams in exchange for his information. His first appearance as Izzy was in "The Great McCarthy" and he returned for 20 further episodes.
After Vice[]
Ferrero crossed over into Michael Mann's other crime drama Crime Story for two episodes, including the pilot. Since his Vice role was recurring, he appeared in other shows such as Moonlighting (with Bruce Willis), The Bronx Zoo (with Mykelti Williamson), and L.A. Law (with Jimmy Smits). After Vice's cancellation, he jumped into movie roles, landing on Modern Girls (with Clayton Rohner and Peter Dobson), Stop, Or My Mom Will Shoot! (with Ving Rhames), Planes Trains and Automobiles, his aforementioned role in Jurassic Park, Get Shorty (with Dennis Farina), and Heat (with Williamson and Xander Berkeley) before returning to TV, reuniting with Don Johnson on Nash Bridges, then appearing on The X-Files, and The Practice. He has not appeared on TV or movies since 2001, though he is now a member of the Antaeus Company, a classical theater ensemble in Los Angeles.