Gilda Galán (January 16, 1917 – June 21, 2009) was a Puerto Rican actress, comedian, writer, composer,

scriptwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. T ...

and poet. The veteran actress, whose career spanned decades, enjoyed one of the longest careers in the history of the Puerto Rican

entertainment industry Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have dev ...

Life

Gilda Galán was born in

Guayama, Puerto Rico Guayama (, ), officially the Autonomous Municipality of Guayama ( es, Municipio Autónomo de Guayama) is a city and municipality on the Caribbean coast of Puerto Rico. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 36,614. It is the ce ...

, in 1917. Galán died on Sunday afternoon, June 21, 2009, at 1:06 P.M. at El Hogar Alivio Dorado in

Carolina, Puerto Rico Carolina (; ) is a city and municipality located on the northeast coast of Puerto Rico. It lies immediately east of the capital San Juan and Trujillo Alto; north of Gurabo and Juncos; and west of Canóvanas and Loíza. Carolina is spread ove ...

at the age of 92. Galan had been in declining health during the last six months of her life.

Career

Galán began working at

WKAQ (AM) WKAQ (580 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Currently owned by Hemisphere Media Group, the station airs a Spanish language talk radio format. Its programming is repeated on WUKQ, which broadcasts on 1420 kHz i ...

radio in

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

in 1948 following her graduation from high school. She worked as a programming and writer at WKAQ, as well as a

comedic Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

and dramatic voice actress on the air for the station. It was at WKAQ that Galan created her first well known character, La Abuelita or Grandma, and she would continue to play similar roles on television later in her career. She also wrote scripts for comedian and producer,

Tommy Muñiz Lucas Tomás Muñiz Ramírez (4 February 1922 – 15 January 2009), better known as Tommy Muñiz, was a Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican comedy and drama actor, media producer, businessman and network owner. He is considered to be one of the pioneerin ...

, who performed at WKAQ. One of Galán's best known roles was as the character, Agnes, in the play ''Los Soles Truncos'' by playwright

René Marqués René Marqués (October 4, 1919 – March 22, 1979) was a Puerto Rican short story writer and playwright. Early years Marqués was born, raised and educated in the city of Arecibo. He developed an interest in writing at a young age and was p ...

. Galan debuted as ''Agnes'' in ''Los Soles Truncos'' as part of the first inaugural Festival de Teatro Puertorriqueño at the

Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture ( es, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña), or ICP, for short, is an institution of the Government of Puerto Rico responsible for the establishment of the cultural policies required in order to study, preser ...

in 1958. Her work in ''Los Soles Truncos'' catapulted Galán to fame within her profession. Galán later performed as Bernarda in the play ''

La Casa de Bernarda Alba ''The House of Bernarda Alba'' ( es, La casa de Bernarda Alba) is a play by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. Commentators have often grouped it with ''Blood Wedding'' and ''Yerma'' as a "rural trilogy". Garcia Lorca did not include ...

'' (''

The House of Bernarda Alba ''The House of Bernarda Alba'' ( es, La casa de Bernarda Alba) is a play by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. Commentators have often grouped it with ''Blood Wedding'' and ''Yerma'' as a "rural trilogy". Garcia Lorca did not include ...

'') by Spanish dramatist

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936), known as Federico García Lorca ( ), was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblemat ...

. Her particular production of Bernarda Alba was directed by

Dean Zayas Dean Zayas Pereira (October 17, 1938 – February 3, 2022) was a Puerto Rican actor, director, playwright, author, poet, dramatic arts professor, and television show host. He directed some of Puerto Rico's best known telenovelas, such as Cristi ...

. In 1967, Galán began appearing in a

political satire Political satire is satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where Political discourse analysis, political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing ...

program, "Se alquilan habitaciones", as the popular

main character A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

, ''Marunga''. It was one of the first examples of political satire on Puerto Rican television. The controversial show, which was created and written by political satire humorist Alberto Gonzalez,http://www.albertogonzalez-politicalsatirehumorist.com, Alberto Gonzalez, Political Satire Humorist Memorial Website was pulled from broadcast on several occasions. Galán continued to work in television roles similar to her character, ''Marunga'', throughout the 1970s. Galán's other television roles included the comedy, ''El Beauty'', as well as ''El diario de una mujer'', ''Cuentos de la abuelita'' and ''Todo el año es Navidad''. Her career in television and theater continued into the 2000s.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Galan, Gilda 1917 births 2009 deaths People from Guayama, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican stage actresses Puerto Rican soap opera actresses Puerto Rican television actresses Puerto Rican dramatists and playwrights Puerto Rican poets Puerto Rican women writers American women dramatists and playwrights American women poets 20th-century American poets 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American women writers 20th-century Puerto Rican poets 20th-century American actresses