Tony Plana Biography
José Antonio Plana (born April 19, 1952) is a Cuban-American actor and director. He is known for playing Betty Suarez's father, Ignacio Suarez, on the ABC television show Ugly Betty and for voicing Manuel "Manny" Calavera in the video game Grim Fandango.
Early life and education
Plana was born in Havana, Cuba. His family moved to Miami in 1960. He is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University and was trained in acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
Career
While known to a broad audience for his roles in feature films and television, Plana is also known for his skills in acting and directing for the stage. In 1995, he founded East L.A. Cl*ic Theatre and over the course of a decade, he created and directed a number of Shakespeare productions for minority audiences. He has been active in the Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and New York City theater communities, including leading appearances on Broadway and at New York City's Public Theater. He originated the role of Rudy in the Los Angeles production of Luis Valdez's play Zoot Suit, going on to play Rudy in the film version.
Plana has acted, directed and written for television in series, miniseries, and specials such as Hill Street Blues, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Resurrection Boulevard, Commander in Chief, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The West Wing, 24, and Cagney & Lacey.
Plana has acted in films such as An Officer and a Gentleman, Three Amigos, Goal!, and Lone Star. He is known to PC gamers as the voice of Manny Calavera in the LucasArts 1998 adventure game Grim Fandango. In 2011, Plana guest starred in Desperate Housewives as Gabrielle Solis's abusive stepfather, Alejandro Perez. He also directed Witch's Lament, a Desperate Housewives episode in the show's eighth season. In 2011, he appeared in Body of Proof, in the episode "Helping Hand".
Plana participated in the web series Los Americans (2011), about a middle-cl* family in Los Angeles.
Plana teaches acting at California State University, Dominguez Hills and Rio Hondo College. In 2012, he served as a judge for the Noor Iranian Film Festival.
Politics
Plana volunteers as a spokesperson for comprehensive immigration reform. He was the keynote speaker for the 2012 LULAC conference in Coronado Springs Convention Center in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
Awards
Won
- Satellite Awards for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries, or Motion Picture Made for Television for his role as "Ignacio Suarez," Ugly Betty, on December 17, 2006.
Nominations
- Screen Actors Guild Awards: Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble - Comedy Series for: Ugly Betty (2006).
- ALMA Awards: Outstanding Actor in a Television Series for: Resurrection Blvd. (2002)
- ALMA Awards: Outstanding Actor in a New Television Series for: Resurrection Blvd. (2001)
- Bravo Awards: Outstanding Actor in a Feature Film for: Lone Star (1996).
Selected filmography
- 1978 What's Happening!! (TV Series) as Amid
- 1978 The Boss' Son as Juan
- 1978 The Paper Chase (TV Series) as Marcos
- 1980 Seed of Innocence (uncredited)
- 1980 First Family as White House Gardener
- 1981 Madame X (TV Movie) as Senor Rueda
- 1981 Love & Money as National Guard General
- 1981 Zoot Suit as Rudy
- 1981 Circle of Power as Reza Haddad
- 1982 An Officer and a Gentleman as Emiliano De la Serra
- 1983 Valley Girl as Low Rider
- 1983 Nightmares as Father Luis Del Amo (segment "The Benediction")
- 1983 El Norte as Carlos, The Bus Boy
- 1983 Deal of the Century as Chicano Man
- 1983 What's Up, Hideous Sun Demon as Officer Ignatz
- 1985 City Limits as Ramos
- 1985 Latino as Ruben
- 1986 The Best of Times as Chico
- 1986 Salvador as Major Max
- 1986 Three Amigos as 'Jefe'
- 1987 Disorderlies as Miguel
- 1987 Born in East L.A. as Feo
- 1984-1988 Miami Vice (TV Series) as Ernesto Guerrero / Cinco
- 1988 Buy & Cell as Raoul
- 1988 Break of Dawn (TV Movie) as Rodriguez
- 1989 The Case of the Hillside Stranglers (TV Movie) as Mike Hernandez
- 1989 Romero as Father Manuel Morantes
- 1990 Why Me? as Benjy Klopzik
- 1990 The Rookie (1990) as Morales
- 1990 Havana as Julio Ramos
- 1991 Seinfeld (Season 2 Episode 5: "The Apartment") as Manny
- 1991 One Good Cop as Beniamino Rios
- 1991 The Golden Girls (TV Series) as Alvarez
- 1991 JFK as Carlos Bringuier
- 1992 Live Wire as Al-Red
- 1993 Bakersfield, P.D. as Luke Ramirez
- 1993 Red Hot as KGB Investigator
- 1993 Greshnitsa v maske as Le Arden
- 1994 A Million to Juan as Jorge
- 1994 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Season 2 Episode 20 and 21: "The Maquis part 1 and 2") as Amaros
- 1995 Silver Strand (TV Movie) as Richie Guttierez
- 1995 Nixon as Manolo Sanchez
- 1996 Primal Fear as Martinez
- 1996 Lone Star as Ray
- 1996 The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca as Marcos, Lorca's Friend
- 1996 Canción desesperada as Patrick
- 1997 Down for the Barrio as Cesar
- 1997 Santa Fe as Chief Gomez
- 1997 One Eight Seven as Principal Garcia
- 1998 The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit as Victor Medina
- 1998 Shadow of Doubt as Detective Krause
- 1999 Let the Devil Wear Black as Tall
- 1999 Every Dog Has Its Day as The Cop
- 2000 Knockout as Chuck Alvarado
- 2000 Picking Up the Pieces as Usher
- 2001 Vegas, City of Dreams as Captain Martin
- 2002 Half Past Dead as Warden Juan Ruiz 'El Fuego' Escarzaga
- 2003 John Doe (Season 1, Episode 17: "Doe or Die") as Captain Ruiz
- 2003 Monk (TV Series) as Captain Alameda
- 2004 24 (TV Series) as Omar
- 2005 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (TV Series) as Elindio Zapata
- 2005 The Lost City as The Emcee
- 2005 Goal! as Hernan Munez
- 2005 The Closer as Alonzo Lopez
- 2006-2010 Ugly Betty (TV Series) as Ignacio Suarez
- 2007 El Muerto as Aparicio
- 2007 Hacia la oscuridad as Carlos Gutierrez
- 2007 Half Past Dead 2 as Warden Juan Ruiz 'El Fuego' Escarzaga
- 2008 AmericanEast as Dez
- 2009 Life Is Hot in Cracktown as Lou
- 2011 Desperate Housewives (TV Series) as Alejandro Perez
- 2011 Body of Proof (Episode 3: "Helping Hand") as Armando Rosas
- 2011 America as Tio Poldo
- 2012 The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez as Dr. Dominguez
- 2013 Psych (Season 7, Episode 4: "No Country for Two Old Men") as Pablo Nuñez
- 2013 Pain and Gain as Captain Lopez
- 2013 Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret as Prosecutor Juan Martinez
- 2013-2014 Alpha House (TV Series) as Benito 'Benny' Lopez
- 2013 A Miracle in Spanish Harlem as Mariano
- 2014 Jane the Virgin (TV Series) as Father Ortega
- 2015-2017 The Fosters (TV Series) as Victor Gutierrez
- 2015 Cristela (TV Series) as Joaquin Alvarez
- 2015 Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders (TV Series) as Father Consolmango
- 2016 The Young Pope (TV Series) as Carlos García
- 2016 America Adrift as William Fernandez
- 2016-2018 Lethal Weapon (TV Series) as Ronnie Delgado
- 2017-2020 Superstore as Ron Sosa
- 2017 Roman J. Israel, Esq. as Jessie Salinas
- 2017 Butterfly Caught as Michael Channis
- 2017-2019 One Day at a Time (TV Series) as Berto
- 2017-2018 Colony as Proxy Alcala
- 2017-2019 The Punisher (TV Series) as Rafael Hernandez
- 2018 Mayans M.C. (7 episodes) as Devante Cano
- 2018 Shooter (1 episode) as Guitierez
- 2019 Jugar con fuego (TV series) as Peter Miller
- 2019 Dynasty as Cristal Jennings’ father, Silvio Flores.
- 2019 Elena of Avalor (1 episode) as Qapa
- 2019 Wasp Network as Luis Posada Carriles
- 2020 Enemigo íntimo (season 2) as Santilla
- 2020 Connecting... (TV series) as Ramon
Voice acting
- Godzilla 1985 (1985) as Goro Maki (voice, uncredited)
- Santo Bugito (1995, TV Series) as Paco
- Extreme Ghostbusters (1997, TV Series) (voice)
- Grim Fandango (1998, Video Game) as Manuel "Manny" Calavera
- Cuba Libre (2003) as Narrator (voice)
- Hiroshima - Radio play based on the book by John Hersey, adapted by John Valentine (2003)
- Ghost Recon Wildlands(2017,Video Game) as El Cardenal
- Elena of Avalor (2018, TV Series) as Oapa (voice)
- The Legend of Vox Machina (2023, TV Series) as Kamaljiori (voice)
References
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tony Plana.- Tony Plana at IMDb
- Tony Plana at the Internet Broadway Database
- Tony Plana at TV Guide
