Rene was born in Dallas on May 25, 1959 to Finees Moreno and Myriam Garza Moreno. He attended Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and studied theater, dance and music at Southern Methodist University. He was gifted as an actor, director and musician. In the 1980s he moved to New York, working in regional theater, and on and off-Broadway.