Benito Martinez was born on June 28, 1971 in Albuquerque, NM, Martinez began acting professionally at the tender age of 17: his first onscreen appearance was in a 1988 episode of the inner city high school drama "The Bronx Zoo" (ABC, 1987-88). Martinez spent the nineties and early 2000s making appearances on such popular TV shows as "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (CBS, 1987-1994), "Chicago Hope" (CBS, 1994-2000), "The X-Files" (FOX, 1993-2002), "NYPD Blue" (ABC, 1993-2005), and "Touched by an Angel" (CBS, 1994-2003). He also took on small parts in films such as "Sunset Grill" (1993), "My Family" (1995), and "Scooby-Doo! And the Monster of Mexico" (2003). In 2002, Martinez received his breakout role when he was cast as David Acevedo, the ambitious police officer turned city councilman on the groundbreaking drama "The Shield" (FX, 2002-08), widely considered to be one of the first major series of the "Golden Age of TV." 2004 proved to be a big year for Martinez, with appearances in the smash horror hit "Saw" (2004), and Clint Eastwood's Oscar-winning boxing drama "Million Dollar Baby" (2004). From there, Martinez enjoyed series arcs on shows such as "Saving Grace" (TNT, 2007-2010), "Supernatural" (The WB/The CW, 2005- ), "Sons of Anarchy" (FX, 2008-2014), and "House of Cards" (Netflix, 2013- ). Martinez could next be seen as a series regular on "American Crime" (ABC, 2015-), and "How to Get Away with Murder" (CBS, 2016- ).