Bauer's first substantial role was in the PBS bilingual sitcom Qu Pasa, U.S.A.?, playing the teenage son of a Cuban exile family in Miami, from 1977 to 1979.He also appeared in the 1980 TV miniseries From Here to Eternity. He was credited in these and a few other early projects as Rocky Echevarra.

In 1981, Bauer starred in the television movie She's in the Army Now, where he met his first wife, actress Melanie Griffith. They both moved to New York City and stayed at Ray Liotta's apartment, while Liotta moved to Los Angeles and stayed at theirs. Both Bauer and Griffith studied under famed acting teacher Stella Adler, and he appeared in several off-Broadway productions. During this time he briefly adopted the stage name Rocky Echevarria, before settling on Steven Bauer.

Bauer was given the role of Manny Ribera, the part played by George Raft in the original 1932 version, in the 1983 movie Scarface, even though (like Raft) he was a relatively unknown actor at the time. The producers of Scarface were convinced that he was right for the role based on his strong audition, as well as his authentic Cuban background. His performance drew a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

In 1990 he played the role of DEA-agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena in the critically acclaimed television mini-series Drug Wars: The Camarena Story alongside Benecio Del Toro and Craig T. Nelson. That same year, Bauer took over the series lead of the television show Wiseguy from Ken Wahl for the fourth and final season, playing U.S. Attorney Michael Santana when Wahl's character disappears.

Since then, Bauer has made his career primarily, though not exclusively, in action films and crime dramas on both the big and small screens, including such motion pictures as Primal Fear and Traffic. He also made an appearance in the video game spinoff Scarface: The World Is Yours, playing drug dealer The Sandman.

In 2007 he appeared on an episode of Burn Notice. In 2011, Bauer appeared on the show Breaking Bad playing Mexican drug lord Don Eladio.

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