Lucila Boscana Bravo (September 24, 1915 – May 24, 2001), known professionally as Lucy Boscana, was a Puerto Rican actress and a pioneer in Puerto Rico's television industry.

Early years

Boscana was born in the city of Mayagüez which is located on the west coast of Puerto Rico. Her family moved to the

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when she was a child because of the economic crisis in the island. She learned how to play the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

at an early age. Boscana graduated from high school and decided to continue her education by enrolling in Oberlin College located in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, where her cousin, Madeline Willemsen, was studying a French language degree. There she earned her bachelor's degree in languages and theater.Lucy Boscana
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Acting career

In 1940, Boscana returned to Puerto Rico. After a stint as an

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teacher in her hometown she enrolled in the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...

to study music and dramatic arts. After graduation, Boscana founded the Puerto Rican Tablado Company, a traveling theater. Among the plays which she produced with the company was "''The Oxcart''" by fellow Puerto Rican 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 ...

. She presented the play in Puerto Rico and on Off-Broadway in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Boscana participated in over 30 plays and also in various locally produced films. In 1950, she was part of the musical vocal group from Ponce: ''Las Damiselas'', ''(The Ladies)'', with

Sylvia Rexach Sylvia Regina Rexach González (January 22, 1922 – October 20, 1961), was a Puerto Rican comedy scriptwriter, poet, singer and composer of boleros. Early years Rexach was born and raised in Santurce, Puerto Rico. Her parents were Julio E. ...

, and

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 ...

. On August 22, 1955, Boscana became a pioneer in the television of Puerto Rico when she participated in Puerto Rico's first telenovela (

soap opera 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 ...

) titled ''Ante la Ley'', alongside

Esther Sandoval Esther Sandoval (28 December 1928 – 6 February 2006) was a Puerto Rican actress and a pioneer in Puerto Rico's television. Early years Sandoval was born Esther María González in Ponce where she received her primary and secondary education. ...

and Mario Pabón, which was broadcast by

Telemundo Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by Comcast. It provides content nationally with pr ...

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 ...

. Since then she became a regular in the

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar drama genres around the world include '' teleserye'' ...

circuit. With the Puerto Rican Tablado Company, she produced and presented the works of Francisco Arrivi, Rene Marquez,

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thr ...

Alejandro Casona Alejandro Rodríguez Álvarez, known as Alejandro Casona (3 March 1903 – 17 September 1965) was a Spanish poet and playwright born in Besullo, Spain, a member of the Generation of '27. Casona received his bachelor's degree in Gijon and la ...

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 ...

and many others in Puerto Rico.

Honors

In 1996, the ''Puerto Rican Institute of Culture'' dedicated its 33 International Theater Festival to Boscana. In July 1997, the Puerto Rican Senate paid tribute and awarded Boscana and her Puerto Rican Tablado Company with a special proclamation recognizing their silver anniversary. In 2000, the

Government of Puerto Rico The government of Puerto Rico is a republican form of government with separation of powers, subject to the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United States. In 2008, the main stage of the Teatro Yagüez in Mayagüez was also dedicated to her. Lucy Boscana died on May 24, 2001, 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 juri ...

and her remains rest at Cementerio Santa Magdalena de Pazzis in that city.

Notes

References

External links