# Danny Pino

Daniel Gonzalo Pino (born April 15, 1974) is an American actor who starred as Detective Scotty Valens on the CBS series Cold Case from 2003 to 2010, and as NYPD Detective Nick Amaro in the long-running NBC crime drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit from 2011 to 2015. In 2002, he appeared in London's West End in Up for Grabs with Madonna. In May 2003, Pino played Desi Arnaz in a CBS special on the life of Lucille Ball, Lucy. He played drug cartel leader Miguel Galindo on Mayans M.C. which airs on FX, and FBI agent John Bishop in procedural crime drama Gone.

## Early years and education

Named after his grandfather, Pedro Gonzalo de Armas, Pino was born in Miami, Florida, to Cuban parents. He attended Rockway Middle School and graduated from Miami Coral Park High School in 1992, and from Florida International University in 1996. He also attended New York University's Graduate Acting Program at the Tisch School of the Arts, graduating in 2000.

## Career

Pino is known for his performance as the Mexican drug lord Armadillo Quintero on FX's The Shield. He has also appeared in the films The Lost City (2005) and Flicka (2006), which featured Tim McGraw, and starred in the hit CBS series Cold Case as Detective Scotty Valens. In 2011, Pino joined the cast of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit for its 13th season, along with Chase actress Kelli Giddish, coinciding with Christopher Meloni's departure. On SVU, Pino portrayed NYPD Detective Nick Amaro, a detective transferring from the narcotics squad to the Special Victims Unit.
Pino wrote two episodes of Cold Case: "Stealing Home" and "Metamorphosis". Starting in 2005, he has been in six CBS Cares public service announcements, with other stars of CBS original programs. He has made single appearances on The Sharon Osbourne Show in 2004, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson in 2005, The Drop in 2005, Entertainment Tonight in 2008, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2011. In 2016, he played Alex Vargas in Scandal and Democratic Senator Luke Healy in BrainDead.
In 2017, he joined the cast of the procedural crime drama series Gone, as FBI agent John Bishop, alongside Chris Noth and Leven Rambin. He currently co-stars in FX's Sons of Anarchy spinoff series Mayans M.C., as cartel leader Miguel Galindo.
In August 2020, he joined the cast of Stephen Chbosky's film adaptation of the broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen as Larry Murphy, a role that was re-conceived for the film from "father" to "stepfather," with the character renamed as Larry Mora.

## Personal life

Pino is fluent in Spanish as evidenced by TV shows such as Cold Case and Mayans M.C., and interviews he has done.
Pino and his wife, Lilly, married February 15, 2002. They have two sons, Luca Daniel, born February 15, 2006, and Julian Franco, born June 5, 2007.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2005 | Between | Victor | |
| 2005 | Rx | Carlos | |
| 2005 | The Lost City | Alberto Mora | |
| 2006 | Flicka | Jack | |
| 2008 | The Burning Plain | Santiago | |
| 2009 | Across the Hall | Terry | |
| 2010 | Across the Line: The Exodus of Charlie Wright | Gabriel Garza | |
| 2018 | Mayans M.C. | Miguel Galindo | Video short |
| 2020 | Fatale | Carter Heywood | |
| 2021 | Vivo | Bus Passenger (voice) | |
| 2021 | Dear Evan Hansen | Larry Mora | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2001–2002 | Men, Women & Dogs | Clay | Guest star, 13 episodes |
| 2002 | Point of Origin | Burn Victim | TV movie |
| 2003 | The Shield | Armadillo Quintero | Guest star, 4 episodes |
| 2003 | Lucy | Desi Arnaz | TV movie |
| 2003–2010 | Cold Case | Detective Scotty Valens | Series regular, 151 episodes |
| 2004 | NYPD 2069 | Eddie Vega | TV movie |
| 2007 | CSI: NY | Detective Scotty Valens | Cold Case crossover, 1 episode |
| 2010 | Burn Notice | Adam Scott | Guest star, 2 episodes |
| 2011 | Metro | Douglas Romero | TV movie |
| 2011–2015, 2021 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Detective Nick Amaro | Main role, guest star |
| 2014–2015 | Chicago P.D. | Detective Nick Amaro | 2 episodes |
| 2016 | BrainDead | Luke Healy | Main Role |
| 2016 | Scandal | Alejandro Vargas | Recurring role |
| 2017–2018 | Gone | John Bishop | Main role |
| 2018–2023 | Mayans M.C. | Miguel Galindo | Main role |
| 2019 | One Day at a Time | Tito | Netflix, Guest star, 2 episodes |
| 2021 | The Good Fight | Ricardo Diaz | Episode: "And the Firm Had Two Partners..." |

## Awards and nominations

Pino has won two awards so far and has been nominated for five, all from his work on Cold Case and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
| Year | Award | Category | Result | Notes |
| 2005 | Imagen Award | Best Supporting Actor—Television | Nominated | Cold Case |
| 2006 | Imagen Award | Best Actor—Television | Nominated | Cold Case |
| 2008 | ALMA Award | Outstanding Actor in a Drama Television Series | Nominated | Cold Case |
| 2009 | ALMA Award | Outstanding Actor in a Drama Television Series | Nominated | Cold Case |
| 2010 | Imagen Award | Best Actor—Television | Won | Cold Case |
| 2012 | ALMA Award | Outstanding Actor in a Drama Television Series | Nominated | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit |
| 2015 | Imagen Award | Best Supporting Actor-Television | Won | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit |