A native of South Texas, Chavira was born in Austin and raised in San Antonio.  He initially became involved in acting his senior year at Robert E. Lee High School, now the Performing Arts School, as a way to meet girls, but it opened up a new world for him.  It was acting that helped Chavira cope with the death of his mother from breast and ovarian cancer when she was only 43, and he was 15.

Descended from a family of migrant workers, Chavira’s parents stressed the value of education.  His father, a Judge in Bexar County, TX, was the first in his family to attend college and his mother earned three masters degrees in Public Health, Anthropology, and Theology.  Earning his undergraduate degree from San Antonio’s Incarnate Word College, he achieved a MFA from the highly regarded UC San Diego’s Professional Actor Training Program.          In a few short years he earned credits in film, television, and theatre.  In addition to Desperate Housewives, Chavira’s credits include a role on The Grubbs, recurring roles on Six Feet Under and The Division, and guest star roles on Joan of Arcadia, Kingpin, 24, Jag, as well as NYPD Blue, and other Steven Bocho shows, Philly and City of Angels.  He has a guest-starring role on George Lopez.

Chavira starred “Tracers” at the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles, and he has worked at some of the country’s top regional theatres including the La Jolla Playhouse, The Guthrie, San Diego Rep, and most recently the Seattle Rep and Missouri Rep, where he starred in a co-production of “Living Out.”  Film credits include The Alamo, Latebloomer, and several other independent films.

Busy on hiatus from Desperate Housewives, he has appeared on AMC’s Movie Club with John Ridley.  He was the first male to be featured on the cover of Catalina magazine, the largest lifestyle magazine for Latinas in the country, and was also recognized as one of People En Espanol’s 2005 “50 Most Beautiful People.”

Recently, Chavira was honored by the Latino Commission on AIDS with the ILKA Award at their 10^th Annual Cielo Latino benefit gala.  He is San Antonio’s honorary spokesman for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, and he was the National Team Captain for the June 4^th "Race for the Cure" in Washington DC.  He and fellow Desperate Housewives castmate, James Denton, have joined forces to help raise $10 million to commemorate the 10^th anniversary of Lee National Denim Day, calling on fans and millions of workers nationwide to join them on October 7^th in wearing denim to work in exchange for a $5 donation to the Komen Foundation. Chavira is fervently committed to this cause after witnessing his mother’s six year struggle with and death from ovarian and breast cancer. Read Less ^