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1-11 of 11
- Actress
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"A formidable actress as she continues to deliver breakthrough performances on television, film and theater" -Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
Ivonne Coll is a Theater, Television, and Film award-winning actress born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico where as a child she trained in classical ballet and flamenco dance with Walter Mercado. This marked her artistic debut at age six with Mercado's Baby Ballet company for the American soldiers in the Roosevelt Roads Naval Base in Ceiba, Puerto Rico.
Ms. Coll's first film was The Godfather Part II. Director Francis Ford Coppola was looking for a night club act for the film while looking for locations in Puerto Rico. After meeting Ivonne Coll he decided to create the role of the Red Headed Yolanda so she could have her first film credit.
In the 1960's while she was a psychology student at The University of Puerto Rico she was working part time as a Haute Couture runway fashion model for top designers in the island such as Carlota Alfaro, Fernando Martin, Rafael Mojena and Fernando Pena. In 1967 she won the title of Ms. Puerto Rico to represent the island in the Miss Universe contest.
The early 70's were the beginning of her singing and dancing career performing at such iconic places as The Ocho Puertas and the Puerto Rico Sheraton among others. In 1972 she was the first Puerto Rican singer to perform in Vietnam as part of the USO TourPuerto Rico Sings.
From 1972 to 1974 she starred in a one hour Variety show called Una Chica Llamada Ivonne Coll (A Girl named Ivonne Coll) produced by Telecadena Perez-Perry on Channel 11. In it, she hosted stars such as Celia Cruz, Armando Manzanero and Mauricio Garces among many others.
In 1975 she relocated to Los Angeles to study at The Academy of Stage and Cinema Arts with David Alexander and Bob Ellenstein. She also trained in Musical Theater with David Craig and Comedy with Lucille Ball. Ms. Coll moved to New York City to continue her training at HB Studios and with Lee Strasberg and as a working observer at The ActorsStudio.
In 1980 The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater gave her first Union job. That same year she made her Broadway debut with the play Goodbye Fidel starring Jane Alexander.
In 1987 Ms. Coll starred in Cuqui a Woman Like Youa half an hour sitcom produced by WAPA TV in Puerto Rico. She would be flown weekly from NYC to Puerto Rico to be on set.
She was a member of the Joseph Papp's NY Shakespeare Festival Players performing at the Public Theater, Shakespeare in the Park and The Belasco Theater on Broadway playing Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Rosalind in As you Like It and the nurse in Romeo & Juliet, directed by Estelle Parsons.
Other Broadway credits include the Tony Award-nominated Gabriel Garcia Marquez' Chronicle of a Death Foretold produced by The Lincoln Centerdirected by Graciela Daniele.
Regional Theater performances include playing the title role in Mother Courage at Berkley Repertory Theater and La Jolla Playhouse. Other regional work include Chicago's Goodman Theater, Princeton's McCarter Theater, Mark Tapper Forum, San Diego Rep, Arizona Theater Company and San Jose Rep Theater. In 2018 Ivonne Coll played the lead role in The Madres by Stephanie Alison Walker at Teatro Vista in Chicago.
Awards received include the People's Choice Award, (Jane The Virgin) TCA's Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming (Switched at Birth), The National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) Lifetime Achievement Award, Eternity Award Los Angeles Women's Theater Festival, ACE Award NY Hispanic Media (Orinoco), Puerto Rico International Short Film Festival Best Actress (De Pura Cepa), Craig Noel Award for Outstanding Performance San Diego Critics Circle (Adoration of the Old Woman), Agueybana de Oro Best Supporting Actress (Coralito.)
Award nominations include: Golden Globe (Jane The Virgin/Ensemble), Chicago's Jefferson Award as Best Supporting Actress Electricidad, and Best Actress Mother Courage by the San Francisco Bay Area Critics Circle.
Film credits include: The Godfather II, Lean on Me, Instinct, La Gran Fiesta, Counterpunch, De Pura Cepa, The Apostate, Death In Granada, In Too Deep, Endgame, The Pest, Hemingway & Gellhorn, Waking The Dead among many others.
Short Films leading roles include A Rainy Day(Universal) and From Now On (True Form Film) The award-winning (Best Overall Romance Story, Rincon International Film Festival) From Now On marks her debut as a director, writer and a producer.
Coll stars as a Series Regular on the award-winning show Jane The Virgin (CW) Other television credits include Switched at Birth (ABC Family), Teen Wolf (MTV), Glee (Fox) East Los High (Hulu), Nip Tuck (FX), An American Family (PBS), Six Feet Under (HBO), NYPD Blue (Fox), The Practice (Fox), ER (NBC), Heroes (NBC), Crossing Jordan (NBC), Judging Amy (Fox), Saturday Night Live (NBC), Cold Case (CBS), Joan of Arcadia (CBS), LA Law (Fox), Wings (CBS), Without a Trace (CBS), CSI (CBS) and most recently One Day at a Time (Netflix) and Being There (FX.)
Animation work includes: Elena of Avalor (Disney) and Fancy Nancy (Disney.)- Actress
- Producer
Sandra Rivera was born on 26 March 1935 in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. She was an actress and producer, known for Hugo Paco Luis y tres chicas de rosa (2013), María Eugenia (1981) and Concierto de amor (1963). She died on 26 October 2021 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.- Actress
- Producer
Cristal Casellas was born on 25 April 1995 in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. She is an actress and producer, known for Lechery (2014), Davenport Diaries (2016) and Triangle (2014).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Dubbed the "Queen of La Conga," "Queen of Latin Rhythm" and "Latin Hurricane" during various stages of her career, dazzling, flashy-eyed entertainer Marquita Rivera, one of the great enduring Latin-born beauties of the late 30s, 40s and 50s, went on to enjoy a strong musical career both here and in her native Puerto Rico. Born MarÃa HeroÃna Rivera de Santiago on May 18th, 1922 in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, she was the youngest in a family of seven sons and five daughters. The de Riveras moved to New York City when Marquita was only three months old and it was there that her musical career blossomed. Studying dance and flamenco at an early age (6), she originally studied with Rita Hayworth's father, well-known dance master Eduardo Cansino. Rita herself gave Marquita a set of castanets as a gift. A childhood friend of bandleader Tito Puente, Marquita's musical gifts were noticed early. Accompanied on her tours by her costume designer mother, the teenage Marquita went on to earn a featured role as a dancer with "George White's Scandals of 1936," but it was her performance before King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at the New York's World's Fair during their respective royal visits in 1939 that she considered the highlight of her nascent career. She also toured Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia in bands headed by Paul Whiteman and Noro Morales . Appearing in many New York venues, including The Roxy, Paramount, Loews State, Strand and Radio City Musical Hall, Marquita shared their stages with such illustrious stars as Frank Sinatra, Mickey Rooney, Ann Miller, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Kathryn Grayson, Victor Borge, Ed Sullivan, Merv Griffin and Betty Hutton. Marquita Rivera became an established name on the club circuit when she put together her own show and performed it at the Latin Quarter and Havana-Madrid in New York. She was also a marquee name back in her homeland where she entertained at popular venues such as Zero's Nightclub and the famous El San Juan Theatre. In the mid 1940s Marquita was signed by Azteca Studios in Mexico City. She acted for director Fernando Soler in both the film drama Me persigue una mujer (1947) with José Torvay and David Silva, and the comedy El conquistador (1947), also starring Torvay and Enrique Herrera. After her contract ended at Azteca, Marquita drew the interest of Paramount Studios. Thus, the singer/actress went on to become the first native Puerto Rican actress/dancer to sign a Hollywood contract with a major studio, and made her American movie debut as a specialty performer in the Hope-Crosby-Lamour comedy Road to Rio (1947). During this promising turn of events, Marquita was selected (in a popularity poll by Mexican film goers) to star in a Hollywood film biography of the late Mexican spitfire Lupe Velez. Unfortunately the film was shelved when legal issues involving Ms. Velez's estate reared its head. One can only wonder what a showcase of this caliber might have done for her career in Hollywood. Nevertheless, she continued to work in such popular "hot spots" such as the famous Ciro's nightclub with Desi Arnaz's band. Marquita was married to business tycoon Albert Vernon Ashbrook from 1946 to 1949 and had one child, Marquita, her namesake. In 1951, she married physician Eugene N. Biscardi, Jr. in New York City. They eventually became a family of seven children. Of their children, eldest son Eugene Biscardi III is a model-turned-fashion photographer who has appeared occasionally as an actor on film and TV, and daughter Jessica Biscardi is a one-time former model/actress and former "Miss New York". By the 1950s, Marquita had phased out her career in order to concentrate on raising her large family. In 1963, however, she made a special appearance at Carnegie Hall that featured an all-star lineup, including opera performers Thomas Hayward, Rina Telli, Dino Formichini and James Boxwill, led by Philharmonic conductor Warner S. Bass. She did not appear again publicly until 1977 when she returned to the stage in a limited engagement of her own off-Broadway revue, "The Marquita Rivera Show." In the 1980s her husband, Dr. Biscardi, retired and the couple relocated to Los Angeles where Marquita would occasionally be wooed back to episodic TV appearances, including "Sanford" with Redd Foxx. She also traveled frequently throughout the South on the beauty pageant circuit as a judge. Following the death of her beloved husband in 1988, Marquita chose to retire completely from the limelight. She passed away in 2002. Singer, actress, castanet player, flamenco dancer - all of these facets and more made up the lovely and talented "Latin Hurricane" Marquita Rivera, a pioneering musical performer in her time and a legend in ours.- Ivan Calderon was born on 19 March 1962 in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. He was an actor, known for Afraid of Sunrise (2011), Sunday Night Baseball (1990) and 1991 MLB All-Star Game (1991). He died on 27 December 2003 in Loiza, Puerto Rico.
- Valerie Morales was born on 18 January 1976 in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. She has been married to Juan C. Morales since 4 October 2007. They have one child.
- Antonia Novello was born on 23 August 1944 in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. She has been married to José Novello since 1970.
- Producer
- Actress
- Make-Up Department
Neyda Enid was born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. She is known for My Decision (2019), Eccentric Hospitality (2007) and Finding a Place (2009).- Alicia Bibiloni was born on 15 July 1928 in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. She was an actress, known for El amor que yo soñé (1996) and Mi aventura en Puerto Rico (1977). She died on 20 July 2015 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
- Norma Candal was born on 10 April 1927 in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. She was an actress, known for Dios los cría (1979), The Sun and the Moon (1987) and La guagua aérea (1993). She died on 5 February 2006 in Santurce, Puerto Rico.
- Felix Trinidad was born on 10 January 1973 in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. He is married to Sharon Santiago. They have four children.