This versatile film, television and stage actor spent
many years in Argentina getting all the legal permits
ready to migrate to the land of his dreams – THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. He landed in New York during the
wild 60’s: Psychedelic posters, bell-bottoms and disco music. He was in heaven! After 18 months of unrelenting work in advertising as a graphic designer he saved enough money to go to Europe for four months. There, he visited nine countries while being transformed emotionally and spiritually by the compelling beauty of the greatest art in the world. On his return home he started to think about his secret dream – being a professional actor (or least a sex symbol) owning a home, and driving a white Cadillac convertible like Rock Hudson in the film Magnificent Obsession.
After countless hours of speech lessons he developed enough courage to study acting in New York’s renowned acting school, The Herbert Berghof Studio. There, he was privileged to study acting with one of the greatest teachers in America UTA HAGEN, the author of “RESPECT FOR ACTING”. Slowly, through the years, while still doing free-lance work in advertising, Hector began (with great fear) to audition for small plays and TV commercials. Having been fired from his first play and after being decimated in the second one by the New York Times critic, he realized that his career was finished before it began.
God intervened – he was offered the lead, Jerry, in Edward Albee’s one act masterpiece The Zoo Story at Theatre at Noon. Performances at 12 noon and 1 p.m. “You bring your lunch and we perform a play.” With a few more plays and a bunch of TV commercials under his belt Hector landed a part in a major hit on Broadway: STICKS AND BONES. After 246 performances on Broadway in 1974 he moved to Hollywood. Within a week he landed a guest-starring role in the number one comedy in America – ALL IN THE FAMILY. Two weeks later he tried to rape Angie Dickinson in POLICE WOMAN. Work continued on a regular basis but, his secret dream of being desired by the masses was smashed to pieces when he joined Milton Katselas master class. The most beautiful creatures on earth populated this class:
Michele Pfeiffer, Barbi Benton, playmate of the year, Lois Chiles, a James Bond girl. Tom Selleck and Harry Hamlin, both, People’s Magazine Sexiest men alive! He was crushed! OK, so, no sex symbol leads for him, only character parts for Hector.
Mr. Elias has forged a very large body of work as a character actor in television, films and theatre (see resume).
He’s been seen in hundreds of national TV commercials in English and Spanish. In 1978 he was accepted as a voting member of the Oscars (AMPAS) and has had the joy of attending the Oscar ceremonies many times. Hector is a judge in selecting the Oscar winner in the foreign language film category. He became an American citizen in 1972 and in-spite of People magazine refusal to name him Sexiest Man Alive he has achieved the AMERICAN DREAM. Hector has the beautiful home; he still enjoys and is active in his acting career. And, even though his Cadillac is not a white convertible like Rock Hudson’s he takes great pride in driving an “American” car, a red CTS. But, more importantly, he has achieved inner peace and the joy of living by devoting a great deal of time to his spiritual journey. He became a minister in 2005 and two years later he received a Master and a Doctorate degree in Metaphysical Science from Sedona’s International University of Metaphysics. He devotes a large amount of time and effort in carrying his spiritual message to people in recovery all over the USA and in different countries around the world. He continues to grow and he constantly rejoices in the fact that his life is a miracle.