Axel Anderson (December 11, 1929 – December 16, 2012) was a German actor who was very popular in his adopted homeland of

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

Biography

Early life

Anderson was born Axel Levy to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. In 1936 Anderson's family escaped the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

by emigrating to

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

. Due to political instability in Paraguay, Anderson's family soon moved to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Anderson started acting as a teenager, working at the ''Teatro Alemán Independiente'', a small theater troupe mainly composed of German expatriates who performed in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

. During the 1950s, Anderson moved his young family to Bogotá, Colombia where he worked in theater. The family later moved to the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. During his time in the Dominican Republic, Anderson reportedly clashed with the politics of the

Rafael Trujillo Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina ( , ; 24 October 189130 May 1961), nicknamed ''El Jefe'' (, "The Chief" or "The Boss"), was a Dominican dictator who ruled the Dominican Republic from February 1930 until his assassination in May 1961. He ser ...

regime, being forced to emigrate one more time. He and his family settled in

where they have remained ever since.

Career

Anderson made his debut in Puerto Rican

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

with a

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

named ''Qué Pareja'', a local version of ''

I Love Lucy ''I Love Lucy'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball, her husband, Desi Arnaz, along with ...

''. He also performed in theater and other short television productions. The actor quickly established himself as a leading man, landing several leading roles in local ''novelas'' or

soap operas A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

. Early in his career, he starred in a ''novela'' titled ''Cuando los hijos condenan'' in which Anderson and co-star

Marta Romero Marta Romero (17 February 1928 – 31 May 2013) was a Puerto Rican actress and singer, and one of the pioneers in Puerto Rican television. Early life Romero was born on Calle Mora in downtown Ponce, a city in the south coast of Puerto Rico and ...

shared the first on-screen kiss in the history of Puerto Rican television. Anderson also starred in one of the first major motion pictures produced in Puerto Rico, ''

Maruja Maruja is a Filipino people, Filipino comic book character created by Mars Ravelo. It is about an immortal love story about two people whose love for each other transcended a century. Written by Mars Ravelo and illustrated by Rico Rival, it ...

''. His film career continued with roles in Spanish and U.S. films, including ''

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted fr ...

'' (1965) and ''

Bananas A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

'' (1971). He also participated in the Spanish dubs of several Hollywood films of the 1940s and 1950s as well as of many American TV shows. In his last 20 years, Anderson remained one of the leading actors in Puerto Rico and continually acted in major local and international productions, including a small role as the bank director in the

Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...

thriller ''

Assassins An assassin is a person who commits targeted murder. Assassin may also refer to: Origin of term * Someone belonging to the medieval Persian Ismaili order of Assassins Animals and insects * Assassin bugs, a genus in the family ''Reduviida ...

''. Anderson (lyrics) and

Tony Croatto Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

(music) co-wrote Agüeybaná, a song dedicated to the memory of the most important Taino "Cacique" of the pre-colonial Puerto Rico, recorded by Nelly y Tony and later by

Haciendo Punto En Otro Son ''Haciendo Punto en Otro Son'' is a ''Nueva Trova'' band from Puerto Rico, founded in 1975. They recorded fourteen albums and performed in Latin America, the Caribbean and United States. Band members included Tony Croatto, Silverio Pérez, Josy ...

, which became a major hit in the 70s. Anderson died on December 16, 2012, in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jur ...

Filmography

Recordings

OPUS 1

*Martes 2 de la Tarde **Letra de Axel Anderson *Por Eso Que Llaman Amor *Emigrante *Ahora Sé *Inventario *El Pasado Ya Pasó *Para Elisa *Mis Cinco Sentidos *A Que No Sabes A Quien Ví *El Coro

References

External links

Axel Anderson Bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Axel 1929 births 2012 deaths German emigrants to Puerto Rico Deaths from cancer in Puerto Rico Jewish American male actors Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Male actors from Berlin Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican Jews Puerto Rican male film actors Puerto Rican male television actors 21st-century American Jews