Actor of Puerto Rican descent, Gregory Sierra, dies

Latin actor Gregory Sierra, known for the series ‘Barney Miller’ and ‘Sanford and Son’, died at the age of 83 as a result of a CancerHollywood Reporter magazine reported Friday.

The New York interpreter of Puerto Rican descent died Jan. 4 in Laguna Woods, California, said Rick Voll, a spokesman for the Sierra family.

Born in 1937, Sierra mainly shone on the small screen in the 1970s. In those years he played Chano Amenguale in the series “Barney Miller” (1975-1982), which was perhaps his most popular role.

He also appeared in another series, such as “Sanford and Son” (1972-1977), where he played the character of Julio Fuentes.

His television career has also included sporadic roles in other well-known series such as “Hill Street Blues” (1981-1987), “Miami Vice” (1984-1989) and “MacGyver” (1985-1992).

The same, Sierra had a long career in cinema with more or less supporting roles and “Beneath the Planet of the Apes” (1970), “Papillon” (1973), “The Towering Inferno” (1974), “Honey, I Blew Up the Kid” (1992) or “Vampires” (1998).

Also collaborated with Orson Welles in the movie “The Other Side of the Wind”, which was released in 2018 after a very complicated pregnancy, some four decades after it was shot.

Before moving to Los Angeles as a young man to look for work in film and television, Sierra tried his hand in the theater, He participated in plays outside of Broadway and collaborated with the National Shakespeare Company and the Shakespeare Festival in New York.