It has been announced that Andy Garcia is Bacchus XLIII. He will join the ranks of other celebrities including Drew Brees, Bob Hope,
Jackie Gleason, James Gandolfini, Val Kilmer, William Shatner, Jean Claude Van-Damme, Hulk Hogan and
Raymond Burr to reign as Bacchus. The announcement was made at the World War II Museum. This years theme for Bacchus is "Bacchus Slautes America's Greatest Generation".
Andrés Arturo García Menéndez (born April 12, 1956), professionally known as Andy García, is a Cuban American actor. He became known in the late 1980s and 1990s, having appeared in several successful Hollywood films, including The Godfather: Part III, The Untouchables, and When a Man Loves a Woman. More recently, he has starred in Ocean's Eleven and its sequels, Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen, and The Lost City.
García was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Vincent Mancini in The Godfather Part III.
García began acting at Florida International University, but soon went to Hollywood. He started to perform in very short roles, working part-time as waiter and in a warehouse. His chance arose when he was offered a role as a gang member in the first episode of the popular TV series Hill Street Blues. His supporting role in 1985's The Mean Season alongside Kurt Russell brought García wider visibility, although the film fared poorly at the box office. Director Brian De Palma liked his performance in the 1986 movie 8 Million Ways to Die and engaged him the following year for The Untouchables, which made García a popular Hollywood actor.
In 1989, Francis Ford Coppola was casting The Godfather Part III. The character of Vincent Mancini, the illegitimate son of Sonny Corleone, was an exceptional part in a highly anticipated film. García was one of many actors who wanted to be cast, but he also bore a resemblance to the young Al Pacino. He won the part, earned an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his performance and became an internationally acclaimed star.
Garcia followed that with films such as 1990's Internal Affairs, in which he engages in a war of wills with a corrupt fellow police officer, played by Richard Gere. Subsequently, he performed in a wide variety of theatrical and TV films.
He played a conflicted good samaritan in Hero (1992), the enabling husband of an alcoholic in When a Man Loves a Woman (1994), a doomed criminal in Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995), a crusading lawyer in the drama Night Falls on Manhattan (1997), and a cop trying to save his gravely ill son in the action thriller Desperate Measures (1998).
One of his most well-known performances was as the ruthless Las Vegas casino owner Terry Benedict in 2001's Ocean's Eleven, a remake of the 1960 Rat Pack caper movie. García reprised the role for the 2004 sequel, although the part was significantly smaller than the one in the first film. He also appeared briefly in Ocean's Thirteen (2007).
In 2005, he released The Lost City, which he co-wrote, directed, and starred in, alongside Dustin Hoffman and Bill Murray. Upon its release, The Lost City sparked controversy among many in Latin America due to its negative portrayal of the Cuban Revolution, and in particular Che Guevara, who continues to have substantial popularity there. He was also present at the Cannes Film Festival for his role in this movie. In 2006, he appeared in the last episode of the Turkish TV series Kurtlar Vadisi (Valley of the Wolves).
In 2010, he appeared on the BBC's Top Gear Star in a Reasonably Priced Car segment, recording a time of 1:46.1 in the Kia Cee'd.
The Krewe of Bacchus parade was founded in 1968 by a handful of New Orleans business leaders whose dream was to revitalize Carnival. However, the seeds of the Krewe of Bacchus were actually sown two decades before the present carnival organization was founded.
Krewe of Bacchus "In Vino Veritas!"
Location: Uptown New Orleans
Date: March 6, 2011
Time: 5:15 p.m.
Year Founded: 1968 Membership Size: over 1,200
Krewe Website: www.kreweofbacchus.org
Signature Floats:
King Kong, Queen Kong, Baby Kong, Bacchasaurus,
Bacchagator, Bacchawhoppa,
Officer's Float "New Orleans and All That Jazz" & Title Float
About the DVD The first Mardi Gras in America was celebrated in Mobile, Alabama in 1703. In 2007, it is still racially segregated. Filmmaker Margaret Brown (Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt), herself a daughter of Mobile, escorts us into the parallel hearts of the city s two carnivals. With unprecedented access, she traces the exotic world of secret mystic societies and centuries-old traditions and pageantry; diamond-encrusted crowns, voluminous, hand-sewn gowns, surreal masks and enormous paper mache floats. Against this opulent backdrop, she uncovers a tangled web of historical violence and power dynamics, elusive forces that keep this hallowed tradition organized along enduring color lines.
