Leon Ichaso

Cuban-born American writer and film director (1948–2023) Leon IchasoPublicity Photo of Leon IchasoBorn(1948-08-03)August 3, 1948Havana, CubaDiedMay 21, 2023(2023-05-21) (aged 74)Santa Monica, California, U.S. Leon Ichaso (August 3, 1948 – May 21, 2023) was a Cuban-born American writer and film director. Some of his prominent works included El Super, Crossover Dreams, Bitter Sugar, Piñero, and El Cantante. Biography Early life Leon Ichaso was born in Havana, Cuba on August 3, 1948. Ichaso migrated to Mexico at the age of 14, then to the United States with his mother Antonia Ichaso and sister Mari Rodriguez Ichaso. His father, poet and journalist Justo Rodriguez Santos, who had affiliations with the Orígenes literary group, initially stayed behind in Cuba to support the Cuban Revolution. Five years later, Ichaso's father joined his family in New York City. Career As a director, Leon Ichaso's first movie was the Spanish-language feature El Super (1979), based on an Off-Broadway play about an immigrant building superintendent trying to make his way in New York, which he co-directed with Orlando Jiménez Leal. When entering the Hollywood scene, Ichaso told stories of the big city