- Born
- Height6′ (1.83 m)
- JW Cortés is a Marine Combat Veteran turned actor, singer and philanthropist. Born and raised in Sunset Park Brooklyn, to inspiring Puerto Rican parents, he developed an interest in the arts along with a desire to serve his community and country. Cortés played the recurring role of 'Detective Carlos Alvarez' on FOX's hit prime-time series "Gotham" for all five seasons. Cortés is also the first actor in history to portray the comic book character in television and film: Detective Alvarez was originally created by Judd Winick's for his hit DC Comics' The New 52 Cat Woman series.
In addition to "Gotham," he has had various guest star roles on Starz's "Power," NBC's "The Night Shift," "The Blacklist," "The Mysteries of Laura" and CBS' "Blue Bloods." Previously, Cortés starred as a Military Operative on NBC's reality television show, "Stars Earn Stripes" and appeared in feature films including the soon-to-be released "A Momentary Lapse of Reasoning" with The Big Bang Theory's Kunal Nayyer, "As Good As Dead" from Andie MacDowell, "Blue Caprice" with Isaiah Washington and "Monsters and Men" based on the multi-award winning short film "Stop" which is being produced by the Sundance Film Festival.
In addition to actively serving as a New York State Law Enforcement professional, he helps raise awareness and funding for various philanthropic organizations, including: the Detective Rafael Ramos Foundation for which he also serves as President, Maestro Cares, Autism Speaks, Got Your 6, the Bob Woodruff Foundation, the Gary Sinise Foundation and Boot Campaign. In 2016 Cortés received the NFL Hispanic Heritage Leadership Award, was chosen by the Boot Campaign as a celebrity spokesperson & Hero Ambassador and participated in the critically acclaimed HBO series HABLA Y VOTA. He was also selected by Got Your 6 to serve as an "American Icon" and he continues to support the organization's mission to empower Veterans by serving on its advisory board.
Cortés served in the United States Marine Corps for nearly thirteen years across the globe, also serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. His military awards include the Combat Action Ribbon, Navy & Marine Corps Achievement Medals and Marine of the Year. He studied acting at the world renowned William Esper Studio, under the tutelage of Terry Knickerbocker. J.W. Cortés is the proud father of two boys, and loving friend to a Mini Golden-Doodle named "Ginger."- IMDb Mini Biography By: SETROC Entertainment, LLC
- Gender / Gender identityMale
- #OfficerHollywood
- JW can be seen in the HBO Documentary "In Memoriam 9/11 " via News Camera, CNN on Duane Street, running with steel workers, wearing a red shirt, toward Ground-Zero to search for survivors. JW's roommate at the time was a rookie-cop who moments before the collapse phoned JW to tell him he was running into the building to 'check things out'.
- On November 3, 2014, J.W. Cortes was featured in the popular "Humans of New York" project by photographer Brandon Stanton while still working as NYPD officer in Penn Station. In the interview, he told how he just received word that he was cast as Detective Alvarez on Gotham, and spoke of how he hopes he won't have to be a cop much longer.
- Deployed to AnNasiriyah, Iraq in March of 2003, as part of initial troop movement during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
- Before moving to Los Angeles worked as a Police Officer in New York City's Penn Station, Grand Central Terminal and in the borough of Staten Island.
- Served 2 years in Canberra, Australia as an Embassy Guard as well at the American Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.
- I was in Puerto Rico, celebrating my 39th birthday, when I got a call from my manager. She said: 'I need you to sit down.' I said: 'What's going on?' She said: 'Are you ready for this, Detective Alvarez?' I said: 'What are you talking about?' She said: 'YOU'RE DETECTIVE F*CKING ALVAREZ.'
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