Miguel Ángel Suárez (July 5, 1939 – April 1, 2009) was a Puerto Rican
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 ...
and movie actor.
Early years
Suárez and his sister were born into a middle-class family and raised in the
Santurce section of San Juan, Puerto Rico. His father worked at a local supermarket and his mother was a housewife. When Suárez was a child, he went with his mother to see a play. This was his first experience with the theater and Suárez was so impressed that after the curtains rose and the actors did their show, he knew that he wanted to become an actor. Suárez went to school and received his primary and secondary education in his hometown. When Suárez and his sister returned from school, their mother would read stories or prepare little plays which helped to develop their imagination.
[Suarez](_blank)
/ref>
The supermarket where the elder Suárez worked was located next to the radio station Radio El Mundo. Manuel Méndez Ballester
Manuel Méndez Ballester (4 August 1909 – 24 January 2002), was a Puerto Rican writer who also worked in journalism, radio broadcasting, television and teaching.
Life and career
José Manuel Epifanio Méndez Ballester, better known as M ...
, a well-known playwright, who worked as a writer for the radio station, frequently visited the supermarket and Suárez's father soon became friends with Ballester. In 1947, Ballester told the elder Suárez that he was in need of an 8-year-old for the protagonist role in a play that he wrote because the person he had in mind didn't pass the audition. When the elder Suárez realized that the "part" paid more than what he was making working in the supermarket, he took his son to the auditionm and this was the beginning of Suárez's acting career. In 1956, when Suárez was 17 years old, he enlisted in the United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
and was assigned to the submarine division.
Television
When Suárez was discharged from the Navy, he returned to Puerto Rico, where he began doing theater work and later starred as Rev. Sullivan in ''Las Almas No Tienen Color'' (1969), the first soap opera produced by Tommy Muniz for Wapa TV. In 1972, he was cast in ''El Hijo De Angela María'', which was so successful that was soon made into a movie. Afterward the artistic class in the island went through a crisis, and because he was unable to get an acting job, Suarez went to Argentina, where he was given a role in the soap opera ''Amor Gitano'' (''Gypsy Love''). He later went to Venezuela, where he participated in the soap operas ''Corazon de Diamante'' (''Heart of Diamonds'') and ''Laura Benson''. In Puerto Rico, he participated in many locally produced soap operas, such as ''Vivir Para Ti'' (''I Live for You''). In 1994, he was cast in ''Señora Tentacion'' (''Mrs. Temptation'') with Mexican movie star Lucía Méndez
Lucía Leticia Méndez Pérez (born January 26, 1955) is a Mexican telenovela and film actress, top model and singer. Méndez was born in León, Guanajuato, Mexico.
Career
In 2011, Lucía starred in Mexico the telenovela '' Esperanza del C ...
. This soap opera was a hit in the Caribbean, Central and South America, and Europe.
Film
In 1971, Suárez was cast in the locally produced Woody Allen
Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
movie ''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 ...
'' with Jacobo Morales
Jacobo Morales (born 12 November 1934) is a Puerto Rican actor, poet, writer, playwright, filmmaker, and auteur.Timothy Bottoms
Timothy James Bottoms (born August 30, 1951) is an American actor and film producer. He is best known for playing the lead in ''Johnny Got His Gun'' (1971); Sonny Crawford in ''The Last Picture Show'' (1971), where he and his fellow co-stars, Cy ...
and Colleen Dewhurst
Colleen Rose Dewhurst (3 June 1924 – 22 August 1991) was a Canadian-American actress mostly known for theatre roles. She was a renowned interpreter of the works of Eugene O'Neill on the stage, and her career also encompassed film, early drama ...
. He then went to Hollywood, and in 1980, landed a role in the movie '' Stir Crazy'', directed by Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier ( ; February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was an American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received two competitive ...
starring Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor Sr. (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, and is widely regarded as on ...
and Gene Wilder
Jerome Silberman (June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016), known professionally as Gene Wilder, was an American actor, comedian, writer and filmmaker. He is known mainly for his comedic roles, but also for his portrayal of Willy Wonka in ''Willy Won ...
. He was sometimes credited under the names Miguelángel Suárez and Miguel Suárez.
Other movies in which Suárez participated include ''La Gran Fiesta'' (1985); '' Isabel la Negra'' (1978) with Míriam Colón
Míriam Colón Valle (August 20, 1936 – March 3, 2017) was a Puerto Rican actress. She was the founder and director of New York City's Puerto Rican Traveling Theater. Beginning her career in the early 1950s, she performed on Broadway and on ...
and Raúl Juliá
Raúl Rafael Carlos Juliá y Arcelay (March 9, 1940 – October 24, 1994) was a Puerto Rican actor. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, he took an interest in acting while still in school and pursued the career upon completion of his studies. After ...
; ''Havana'' (1990) produced by Sidney Pollack and '' Under Suspicion'' (2000) with Gene Hackman
Eugene Allen Hackman (born January 30, 1930) is an American retired actor and former novelist. In a career that has spanned more than six decades, Hackman has won two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes, one Screen Actors Guild Award, two BAFTAs ...
, Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...
, and Nydia Caro
Nydia Caro (born June 7, 1948) is a Puerto Rican singer.
Early years
Caro was born in New York City to parents from Rincón, Puerto Rico, initiated her career in the arts at a very young age while living in New York. She attended James Monroe H. ...
. In 2007, Suárez performed one of the main roles in Jacobo Morales' movie ''Ángel
Angel is a given name meaning "angel", " messenger". In the English-speaking world Angel is used for both boys and girls.
From the medieval Latin masculine name ''Angelus'', which was derived from the name of the heavenly creature (itself derived ...
''.
Death
Suárez died on April 1, 2009, losing his battle with esophageal cancer; he was 69 years old. He is survived by his widow, the actress Amneris Morales, his daughter Alondra Suárez and his stepdaughter Belange Rodríguez. Suárez's remains were cremated on April 5 in accordance to his wishes.[Primera Hora](_blank)
/ref> On 4 April 2010, his cremated remains where interred in a family plot located in Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery
Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnight ...
in Old San Juan.'Viuda de Miguelángel Suárez entierra parte de sus cenizas en El Viejo San Juan''
from '' Primera Hora'' 4 April 2010.
Filmography
Among the films in which he participated are:
Telenovelas (soap operas)
*''Amor Gitano'' (in Argentina).
*''Corazón De Diamante'' and ''Laura Benson'' (in Venezuela).
*''Las Almas No Tienen Color, El Hijo de Angela María, Yo Se que Mentia'', ''Vivir Para Ti'' and ''Señora Tentación'' (in Puerto Rico)
See also
* List of Puerto Ricans
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suarez, Miguel Angel
1939 births
2009 deaths
Burials at Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery
Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rican male film actors
Puerto Rican male soap opera actors
Puerto Rican male stage actors
Puerto Rican male telenovela actors
Puerto Rican male television actors
United States Navy sailors
Puerto Rican United States Navy personnel
Deaths from cancer in Puerto Rico
Deaths from esophageal cancer
20th-century American male actors