Miguel Ángel Suárez
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Miguel Ángel Suárez (July 5, 1939 – April 1, 2009) was a Puerto Rican
soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
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
/ref> The supermarket where the elder Suárez worked was located next to the radio station Radio El Mundo. Manuel Méndez Ballester, 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 auditions 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 naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
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 WAPA-TV (channel 4) is a Spanish-language independent television station in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is the flagship and namesake station of Guaynabo-based WAPA Media Group. WAPA-TV maintains studio facilities on Luis Vigoreaux Avenue ...
. 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 Her first work in television was in the telenovela “Muchacha itali ...
. 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
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movie ''
Bananas A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – berry (botany), botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa (genus), Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called pla ...
'' with
Jacobo Morales Jacobo Morales (born 12 November 1934) is a Puerto Rican actor, poet, writer, playwright, filmmaker, and author born in Puerto Rico.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, C ...
and
Colleen Dewhurst Colleen Rose Dewhurst (June 3, 1924 – August 22, 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 dra ...
. 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 a Bahamian-American actor, film director, activist, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. Among his ot ...
starring
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and
Gene Wilder Gene Wilder (born Jerome Silberman; June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016) was an American actor, comedian, writer, and filmmaker. He was mainly known for his comedic roles, including his portrayal of Willy Wonka in ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Fa ...
. 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 Ricans, 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 Bro ...
and Raúl Juliá; ''Havana'' (1990) produced by Sidney Pollack and '' Under Suspicion'' (2000) with
Gene Hackman Eugene Allen Hackman (January 30, 1930 – ) was an American actor. Hackman made his credited film debut in the drama ''Lilith (film), Lilith'' (1964). He later won two Academy Awards, his first for Academy Award for Best Actor, Best Actor for ...
,
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, and
Nydia Caro Nydia Caro (born June 7, 1948) is a Puerto Rican-American singer and actress. Early years Caro was born in New York City to parents from Rincón, Puerto Rico, and initiated her career in the arts at a very young age while living in New York. She ...
. In 2007, Suárez performed one of the main roles in Jacobo Morales' movie '' Ángel''.


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
/ref> On 4 April 2010, his cremated remains where interred in a family plot located in Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery 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: *Che: Part One (2008) *Abuelo, El (2008/II) *Angel (2007) *Illegal Tender (2007) *Cuerpo del delito, El (2005) (TV) *Revolución en el infierno (2004) (TV) *Dios los cría 2 (2004) *Más allá del límite (2002) *Cuento inolvidable de la abuela, El (2002) TV *Padre Astro (2001) (TV) *Tosca, la verdadera historia (2001) *Under Suspicion (2000) *Cundeamor (2000) (TV) *Jara (2000) *Punto final: De como Tito Mangual aprendio a bregar (1999) (TV) *Paradise Lost (1999/I) *The Survivor (1998) *Señora Tentacion (1995) (TV) *Al son del amor" (1995) (TV) *Los Ladrones van a la oficina (1 episode, 1993) *El Rescate del talismán (1991) (TV) *Havana (1990/I) *Ni se te ocurra (1990) *"Misión cumplida" (1990) (TV) *Isabel la Negra (1990) *Gran fiesta, La (1985) *Prohibido amar en Nueva York (1984) *Entre el amor y el poder (1984) (TV) *Amor gitano (1983) (TV) *Vivir para tí (1982) (TV) *Yo Se que Mentia (1982) (TV) *Stir Crazy (1980) *Escape (1980) (TV) * Dios los cría (1979) *El Hijo de Angela Maria (1974) *Bananas (1971)


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 This is a list of notable people from Puerto Rico which includes people who were born in Puerto Rico (Borinquen) and people who are of full or partial Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican descent. Puerto Rican citizens are included, as the governm ...


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 throat cancer in the United States Deaths from esophageal cancer in the United States 20th-century American male actors