Jimmy Smits was born on July 9, 1955, in New York City. He is known for playing the role of NYPD detective Bobby Simone in the 1990 to 2000 police drama NYPD Blue.
He appeared in The Jane Austen Book Club in 2007, Switch in 1991, My Family in 1995, Bluff City Law, and The West Wing. He is Roman Catholic and visits Puerto Rico.
He got a bachelor’s degree from Brooklyn College and MFA from Cornell University in 1982. He got the ALMA award twice, and he was nominated for the Emmys.
He was to host the Latin Grammys in 2001, but it was canceled to honor the terrorist attacks. He has played the role of Bail Organa in the Star Wars trilogy and Miguel Prado in Dexter. He was part of NBC’s Outlaw about a USA Supreme Court justice who practices law.
His father, Cornelis Smits, was of Dutch descent, and his mother, Emilina was Puerto Rican. He has flexibility in acting, film, television, and stage career. He is an Emmy Award and Golden Globe-winning actor.
In 1997, he co-founded the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, which has raised $850,000 for graduate students’ scholarships.
Read more about why Jimmy Smits left NYPD Blue.
Why Jimmy Smits left NYPD Blue
Leaving the ABC television series was a loss for the show and the actor both. He always wanted to be ‘versatile’ and creative as an actor.
He chased opportunities. Steven Bochco, the show’s creator, was known of the situation weeks ago, but some ABC executives said they only became knowledgeable recently of his decision to leave the television series.
Smits was convinced to stay on the show or his comeback if he wanted to by Steve Tao, ABC’s Vice President for drama programming. Luckily, the producers supported his decision. He has been thoughtful and chasing new opportunities for a new creative venture.
Years after leaving, he said that he couldn’t do his best in the show. He was looking for new challenges and told columnist Liz Smith that he planned to leave the show after the fourth season. His character Bobby Simone’s death was very heartbreaking in the show.
NYPD Blue (Credits: Variety)
The Ending before A New Start
Like most successful actors, he left NYPD Blue for new roles and challenges. NYPD continues to be the highest-rated drama on ABC. Rick Schroder has been confirmed as Jimmy Smit’s replacement. He was nominated for Emmy Awards as the NYPD cop for five years, but he left for ambitious pursuits.
Simone was an experienced police officer with the rank of Detective Second Grade. He developed a heart infection, and his immune system couldn’t fight it anymore, so he finally died. He was up for a transplant, and there’s new emotional depth and sadness to the death of Jimmy beside his wife, Detective Diane Russell.
He has chest pains and weakness from the infection that has gone up to his brain from his chest. He was dubbed the sexiest guy on TV by Hollywood Man Watchers. His complications showed that he played with emotional intensity.
