Actor Mario Ernesto Sánchez, 78, died on April 10. Born in Cuba, he moved to the US after the Castro Revolution, in the “Operation Pedro Pan” arrangement. Sánchez played in the theater, in Spanish-language versions A Streetcar Named Desire, Butterflies Are Free, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and Picnic, also founding the Teatro Avante. “My parents didn’t want me to become an actor," Sánchez recalled. “They didn’t want me to have what they imagined would be a life of late nights, drugs and sex.” (He did not add whether or not he did enjoy those perks). From the ‘80s through 2022, he appeared in numerous films and TV shows: Invasion USA, Miami Vice, Wiseguy, 21 Jump Street, Bad Boys, The Truman Show, Proof of Life, The Arrangement, Father of the Bride. Sánchez was awarded several prizes for the development of Hispanic theater in the US.
