Jimmy Smits stars as Elijah Strait on the new NBC drama "Bluff City Law."

Smits has etched a string of memorable performances over a 35-year acclaimed career that has earned him more than 40 award nominations.

He received six consecutive Emmy nominations for his role as Victor Sifuentes on the four-time Emmy-winning drama "L.A. Law," winning in 1990. He also received five Emmy nominations for his role as Bobby Simone on the critically acclaimed, Emmy-winning drama "NYPD Blue." 

He has been nominated for 11 SAG Awards, winning in 1995 for "NYPD Blue." Additionally, he has won three ALMA Awards. Smits's other well-known roles include Neron "Nero" Padilla on the final three seasons of the much-lauded FX series "Sons of Anarchy."

Most recently, he appeared in a guest arc opposite Viola Davis on the fourth season of "How to Get Away With Murder" as well as the indie film "Who We Are Now." Prior to that, he co-starred on Fox's "24: Legacy" and in Baz Luhrmann's Netflix music-driven drama "The Get Down" and had a guest role on "Brooklyn Nine-Nine." He earned an Emmy nomination as a guest star on Season 3 of Showtime's hit series "Dexter." In 2008, Smits's El Sendero Productions co-executive produced the CBS series "Cane," in which he also starred. He also narrated the PBS documentary series "Latin Music USA" and co-starred in HBO's multiple award-winning television movie "Lackawanna Blues," George C. Wolfe's colorful tale of boarding house life, love and blues in 1950s New York. Smits's filmography includes "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones," "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith," "Running Scared," "Switch," "The Jane Austen Book Club" and "My Family/Mi Familia," for which he received an IFP Spirit Award nomination. On the stage, Smits starred in Stephen Adly Guirgis's hit play "Motherf**ker with the Hat" at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company and on Broadway in the 2009 critically acclaimed hit "God of Carnage," by Yasmina Reza. Previously, he starred on Broadway in 2004 as the romantic new arrival in a Cuban-American cigar factory in Nilo Cruz's Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Anna in the Tropics."

Smits has involved himself in various charitable organizations over the years, such as Stand Up 2 Cancer, Maestro Cares, Homeboys and more. He has consistently been a strong advocate for education and co-founded the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts (NHFA) in 1997 along with actors Esai Morales and Sônia Braga and Washington attorney Felix Sanchez to promote Hispanic talent in the performing arts.