VICTOR RIVERS * Actor, Athlete, Activist and Author

As an ACTOR Victor Rivers is the veteran star of more than two dozen films. He may be best known for such roles as Magic Mike from the cult hit BLOOD IN/BLOOD OUT, as Eddie Murphy's sidekick in THE DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN, and as Antonio Banderas' ill-fated brother in THE MASK OF ZORRO. On television Victor has guest starred on such hit shows as MIAMI VICE, JAG, STAR TREK, C.S.I. MIAMI, and 24.

A former ATHLETE, Victor began his career as an offensive lineman at Florida State University—under the mentoring of Coach Bobby Bowden —before being drafted by the Miami Dolphins with whom he was out for their 1978/79 seasons.

In 1999, Victor Rivers became a leading ACTIVIST in the cause of preventing violence against women and children. As the national spokesperson for the National Network to End Domestic Violence, he uses his own harrowing story of surviving a home where abuse took place on the level of torture to raise awareness about what he considers our greatest yet most curable social disease. Victor Rivas Rivers has now become an AUTHOR, with the publication of his memoir, A PRIVATE FAMILY MATTER (Atria Books, a division of Simon & Schuster).