Iconic actress Míriam Colón, who was best known for her roles in Scarface and One Life to Live, has died at the age of 80.
According to the AP, her husband Fred Valle said she passed early Friday due to complications from a pulmonary infection. “We were married more than 40 years,” Valle said. “I was so proud of everything she accomplished.”
Born in Ponce, Puerto Rico on August 20, 1936, Colón was an industry pioneer. She made her way to New York in 1953 where she was accepted into the Actors Studio after a single audition, becoming its first Puerto Rican member. Colón founded the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater in 1967, where she helped cultivate young Latino talent and provided the possibility for their stage work to be seen.
In 1983, the legendary Puerto Rican actress would go on to star as Tony Montana’s (played by Al Pacino) mom in Scarface. Aside from the infamous Oliver Stone and Brian De Palma American crime film, Colón’s credits also included Lone Star, Bless Me, Ultima, Gloria (alongside Sharon Stone), Better Call Saul and How to Make It in America, where she played Cam’s (played by Victor Rasuk) grandmother.
She was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama in 2014.
Following news of her passing, celebrities and other notable Latinos, including her on-screen grandson Rasuk and Gina Rodriguez, flocked to social media to pay their respects to the trailblazing Boricua.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends. May she rest in eternal peace.
