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Eddie Velez was born and raised in Manhattan to Puerto Rican parents Ramon Velez and Mercedes Luciano. He graduated from the High School of Art and Design in 1976, majoring in Advertising Art, but a Film Appreciation course sparked his interest in a career in show business.
From 1978 to 1982, during a four-year service in the U.S. Air Force Space Division's Satellite Control Center, Velez began acting by joining The Moffett Players, a theater group composed of military personnel performing at Moffett Field Naval Air Station in Mountain View, California. He played Speed in The Odd Couple in their debut production and landed his first lead roles as Dracula in Count Dracula and Paul Bratter in Barefoot in the Park.
While in the military, Velez took advantage of being stationed in Northern California's Bay Area, a hub for theater, to engage with the local theater scene. He was cast as The Attendant in Bruce Jay Friedman's Steambath at the Palo Alto Playhouse and as Duke Mantee in Robert E. Sherwood's The Petrified Forest. Both productions received critical acclaim and deepened Velez's passion for acting. Dr. Doyne Mraz, artistic director of The Los Altos Conservatory Theater, noticed his performances and invited him to perform roles such as Nicky Holroyd in Bell, Book and Candle and Crook-Fingered Jake in The Three Penny Opera.
After receiving an honorable discharge as a Sergeant in 1982, Velez moved to Hollywood and enrolled at the Estelle Harmon Actor's Workshop to pursue acting further. His first Hollywood role was as Xavier in the 1983 West Coast premiere of Lanford Wilson's Balm in Gilead at The Pan Andreas Theater in West Hollywood (now The Coast Theater). He then played Lenny in the world premiere of Delirious at the Matrix Theater in Hollywood; both productions won the Dramalogue Award for Best Ensemble.
Velez has demonstrated versatility throughout his career, performing in comedy and drama as both hero and villain across theater, film, and television. His television debut was as a lovestruck soldier in NBC’s pilot For Love and Honor in 1983. That same year, he secured a recurring role as shortstop Pepe Garcia in Steven Bochco’s NBC baseball series Bay City Blues.
He went on to star as a regular in six prime-time TV series starting in 1984 with NBC's nighttime soap Berrenger's as fashion designer Julio Morales opposite Anita Morris and Sam Wannamaker; the CBS sitcom Charlie & Co. with Flip Wilson in 1985; NBC's The A-Team in 1986; the lead role of rookie attorney John Hernandez in CBS's Trial and Error alongside Paul Rodriguez in 1988 (earning him a Golden Eagle Award from the Nosotros Organization and a Cesar Award from the Hispanic Achievement Society); Officer Frankie Avila in NBC's True Blue in 1990, where he filmed in his native New York City; and reporter Ricardo Sandoval in Live Shot, a satirical local newscast series for UPN during its inaugural season.
Other TV work includes numerous Movies of the Week, notably starring as the infamous Carlos in NBC’s C.A.T. Squad directed by William Friedkin; the Emmy-winning NBC miniseries Drug Wars: The Camarena Story, where he acted alongside Treat Williams and a young Benicio Del Toro; Bitter Vengeance opposite Virginia Madsen; From the Files of Joseph Wambaugh: A Jury of One with John Spencer; The Presence for NBC; and lead detective roles in Lifetime’s By Appointment Only and CBS’s A Father’s Choice with Peter Strauss and Mary McDonnell.
His extensive guest appearances include Numbers, Charmed, Just Shoot Me, Profiler, Soldier of Fortune, Gun, JAG, L.A. Firefighters, High Tide, Walker: Texas Ranger, The Commish, Flying Blind, recurring on The Trials of Rosie O'Neill opposite Sharon Gless, Empty Nest, Midnight Caller, Shannon’s Deal, Tour of Duty, Tracy Takes On... with Tracy Ullman, Hill Street Blues, Cagney and Lacey, Murder, She Wrote, and daytime soaps Port Charles, General Hospital, Capitol, and Days of Our Lives.
Velez’s first feature film role was in 1983 as Napoleon Rodriguez, one half of the Rodriguez Brothers in Alex Cox’s cult classic Repo Man. In 2009, he returned as Judge "Two Strikes" Espinoza in Repo Chick, the long-awaited sequel. Other film credits include the Playboy photographer in Anna Nicole; Father Anthony, a tortured priest in the horror film Born; Eric Muller, a sadistic drug lord in Albert Pyun’s neo-noir Bulletface; Reuben Alvarez in Running Woman opposite Teresa Russell; prizefighter Julian "Snake" Pedroza in boxing drama Split Decisions starring Gene Hackman; Detective Ray Ramirez in Under Oath opposite Jack Scalia and James Russo; Detective Morales in A Passion to Kill opposite Scott Bakula; Diego, the long-lost love interest in Beautiful Loser opposite Cynthia Gibb; and Lobo, the villain in Rooftops, filmed in New York’s Alphabet City and directed by Robert Wise.
Career highlights include sharing scenes with Academy Award winner Benicio Del Toro in Steven Soderbergh’s Oscar-winning Traffic and in Paramount’s action thriller The Hunted, again directed by William Friedkin; the late Raul Julia in the critically acclaimed Romero; Jon Voight in Most Wanted; and the Wayans brothers in the Revolution Studios comedy hit White Chicks directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans.
Velez also co-produced the highly rated CBS Television Movie of the Week Scattered Dreams: The Kathryn Messenger Story starring Tyne Daly and Gerald McRaney, and co-wrote, produced, and directed The Cross-Up, a comedy short available on Amazon Prime Video.
