Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors
Encyclopedia
The Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA) is an active arts
service and advocacy
organization. It is in the United States
and dedicated to Hispanic
artists and actor
s.
HOLA's Directory of Talent was created in 1981 and was the first directory to feature solely Latino
talent. Currently, the online HOLA Talent Directory is the internet
’s only concentrated pool of Latino acting talent.
The Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA) is the United States’ longest running, active arts service and advocacy organization dedicated to expanding the presence of Hispanic
artists in entertainment and media through the cultivation, education and recognition of emerging Latino artists. HOLA strives for an accurate, informed and non-stereotyped portrayal of the full spectrum of Latino
culture and heritage in all entertainment and media industries.
Previous and current HOLA members include Carlos Carrasco (at one time the Executive Director), Miriam Colon, Delilah Cotto
, Raúl Dávila
(at one time its President), Caridad de la Luz
, Robin de Jesus
, Idalis DeLeón
, Emilio Delgado
, Moisés Kaufman
, Ana Margarita Martinez-Casado
, Jorge Merced
, Olga Merediz
, Jorge Pupo
, Antonia Rey
, Daphne Rubin-Vega
, Jaime Sánchez, Roselyn Sánchez
, Jimmy Smits
, Miguel Ángel Suárez
, Judy Torres
and David Zayas
.
and founding members Elizabeth Peña
and Raúl Juliá
) concerned with the images of Latinos in the media. The organization still functions as the nation’s leading advocacy group in the entertainment industry for actors working on stage, on television and in film. In one well-documented case in the 1990s, HOLA successfully collaborated with Actors’ Equity Association to shine a light on questionable casting practices being employed at the time on Broadway
. The show in question then was the Ariel Dorfman
play Death and the Maiden
. Since that time the number of Latinos on Broadway has increased steadily over the years. HOLA was originally located in the west 40s in Manhattan. It later moved to the Lincoln Square Neighborhood Center in the West Side of Manhattan in the shadow of Lincoln Center. Since 2001, HOLA has been located in the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center in the Loisaida
section of Manhattan.
ARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
service and advocacy
Advocacy
Advocacy is a political process by an individual or a large group which normally aims to influence public-policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions; it may be motivated from moral, ethical or faith principles or simply to protect an...
organization. It is in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and dedicated to Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
artists and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
s.
HOLA's Directory of Talent was created in 1981 and was the first directory to feature solely Latino
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
talent. Currently, the online HOLA Talent Directory is the internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
’s only concentrated pool of Latino acting talent.
The Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA) is the United States’ longest running, active arts service and advocacy organization dedicated to expanding the presence of Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
artists in entertainment and media through the cultivation, education and recognition of emerging Latino artists. HOLA strives for an accurate, informed and non-stereotyped portrayal of the full spectrum of Latino
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
culture and heritage in all entertainment and media industries.
Previous and current HOLA members include Carlos Carrasco (at one time the Executive Director), Miriam Colon, Delilah Cotto
Delilah Cotto
Delilah Cotto is a Puerto Rican-American dancer, model, television and film actress.-Early life:Cotto was born and raised in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, New York to Puerto Rican-American parents. She studied drama at the High School of Performing Arts in New York City...
, Raúl Dávila
Raul Davila
Raúl Dávila was an actor, who is best remembered for his role of Hector Santos in the American soap opera All My Children.-Early years:...
(at one time its President), Caridad de la Luz
Caridad de la Luz
Caridad De la Luz , a.k.a. "La Bruja" , is a poet, actress and activist.-Early years:De la Luz, whose parents moved to New York City from Puerto Rico, was born and raised in the South Bronx. There she also received her primary and secondary education...
, Robin de Jesus
Robin de Jesús
Robin de Jesús is an American film and theater actor of Puerto Rican descent. He is perhaps best known for playing the role of Sonny in the 2008 Broadway musical In the Heights, for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical.In 2010, he joined the revival cast...
, Idalis DeLeón
Idalis DeLeon
Idalis DeLeón is an American actress, singer, and television host.-Biography:DeLeón, who is of Puerto Rican ancestry, first began her career as a member of the girl group Seduction who scored a top ten hit "Two to Make it Right" in 1990. From 1994 to 1997, she was a MTV VJ...
, Emilio Delgado
Emilio Delgado
Emilio Delgado is an American actor. He is best known for his long-running role as Luis, the friendly Fix-it Shop owner, on the children's television series Sesame Street. Delgado joined the cast of Sesame Street in 1971 and recently completed Season 41 with the show. He began his professional...
, Moisés Kaufman
Moisés Kaufman
Moisés Kaufman is a playwright, director and founder of Tectonic Theater Project. He is the author of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, 33 Variations and is perhaps best known for writing The Laramie Project with other members of Tectonic Theater Project...
, Ana Margarita Martinez-Casado
Ana Margarita Martínez-Casado
Ana Margarita Martínez-Casado is a well-known Cuban actress and singer.-Family:...
, Jorge Merced
Jorge Merced
Jorge B. Merced is a New York-based Puerto Rican actor, theatre director, and gay activist. He is associate artistic director of Pregones Theater, a bilingual Puerto Rican/Latino theater company located near Hostos Community College in the Bronx, New York City...
, Olga Merediz
Olga Merediz
Olga Merediz is an American Broadway, TV, and film actress. Merediz is probably best known for originating the role of Abuela Claudia in the Broadway musical In the Heights...
, Jorge Pupo
Jorge Pupo
Jorge Ignacio Pupo is a Cuban American actor, narrator, voice over artist and host with a career in television, radio and TV commercials, film, theatre, bilingual narrations and media productions since 1982...
, Antonia Rey
Antonia Rey
Antonia Rey is a Cuban actress.Rey was born Antonia Francesch in Havana, Cuba, the daughter of Emilia , a nurse, and Antonio Francesch, a dentist. She married director Andres Castro in 1958....
, Daphne Rubin-Vega
Daphne Rubin-Vega
Daphne Rubin-Vega is a dancer, singer, and actress. She is best known for originating the role of Mimi Marquez in the Broadway musical Rent, and the role of Lucy, in the Off-Broadway play Jack Goes Boating.-Biography:Rubin-Vega was born in Panama City, Panama, the daughter of Daphine Vega, a...
, Jaime Sánchez, Roselyn Sánchez
Roselyn Sanchez
Roselyn Sánchez is a Puerto Rican singer-songwriter, model, actress, producer and writer of film and television.-Early life:...
, Jimmy Smits
Jimmy Smits
Jimmy Smits is an American actor. Smits is perhaps best known for his roles as attorney Victor Sifuentes on the 1980s legal drama L.A. Law, as NYPD Detective Bobby Simone on the 1990s police drama NYPD Blue, and as Congressman Matt Santos on The West Wing...
, Miguel Ángel Suárez
Miguel Angel Suarez
Miguel Ángel Suárez was a Puerto Rican soap opera and movie actor.-Early years:Suárez and his sister were born into a middle class family and raised in the Santurce section of San Juan, Puerto Rico. His father worked at a local supermarket and his mother was a housewife. When Suárez was a child,...
, Judy Torres
Judy Torres
Judy Torres, also referred to as the "Queen of Freestyle", "The Legendary Miss Judy Torres", or "KTU's Own Judy Torres", is a Puerto Rican freestyle music artist...
and David Zayas
David Zayas
David Zayas is a Puerto Rican theatrical, film, and television actor. He is most known for his roles as Angel Batista on Showtime's series Dexter and as Enrique Morales on the HBO prison drama Oz.- Life and career :...
.
History
HOLA was founded in 1975 by a group of Hispanic actors (including founding president Ilka Tanya PayánIlka Tanya Payan
Ilka Tanya Payán was a Dominican actress and attorney who later became a prominent AIDS/HIV activist in the United States.-Life and career:...
and founding members Elizabeth Peña
Elizabeth Peña
Elizabeth Peña is an American actress and the daughter of a theater-company co-founder, who has also compiled experience as a television director in her own right.-Early life:...
and Raúl Juliá
Raúl Juliá
Raúl Rafael Juliá y Arcelay was a Puerto Rican actor.Born in San Juan, he gained interest in acting while still in school. Upon completing his studies, Juliá decided to pursue a career in acting. After performing in the local scene for some time, he was convinced by entertainment personality Orson...
) concerned with the images of Latinos in the media. The organization still functions as the nation’s leading advocacy group in the entertainment industry for actors working on stage, on television and in film. In one well-documented case in the 1990s, HOLA successfully collaborated with Actors’ Equity Association to shine a light on questionable casting practices being employed at the time on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
. The show in question then was the Ariel Dorfman
Ariel Dorfman
Vladimiro Ariel Dorfman is an Argentine-Chilean novelist, playwright, essayist, academic, and human rights activist. A citizen of the United States since 2004, he has been a professor of literature and Latin American Studies at Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina since 1985.-Personal...
play Death and the Maiden
Death and the Maiden
Death and the Maiden, a concept ultimately derived from the Medieval "Dance of Death", may refer to:In art:* Death and the Maiden , born of Renaissance art* Death and the Maiden , by Hans Baldung...
. Since that time the number of Latinos on Broadway has increased steadily over the years. HOLA was originally located in the west 40s in Manhattan. It later moved to the Lincoln Square Neighborhood Center in the West Side of Manhattan in the shadow of Lincoln Center. Since 2001, HOLA has been located in the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center in the Loisaida
Loisaida
Loisaida is a term derived from the Latino pronunciation of "Lower East Side", a neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City. The term was originally coined by poet/activist Bittman "Bimbo" Rivas in his 1974 poem "Loisaida"...
section of Manhattan.