Artist Bio

(Bio as of June 2010)

Tony Plana most recently appeared at the Goodman in The Sins of Sor Juana during the 2009/2010 Season. Mr. Plana’s Broadway credits include Zoot Suit and The Boys of Winter. He appeared in Zoot Suit, Richard III, Widows and The Reader at Mark Taper Forum; Figaro Gets a Divorce at La Jolla Playhouse; Rum and Coke, Cuba and His Teddy Bear and Bang Bang Blues at the Public Theater; Rum and Coke, Charlie Bacon and His Family and Anna in the Tropics at South Coast Repertory; The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit at Pasadena Playhouse; A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet at California Shakespeare Festival; Fugue at Syracuse Stage and Ariel Dorfman’s Mascara at the Arizona Theatre Company. Mr. Plana currently stars in ABC’s Ugly Betty as Betty’s father, Ignacio Suarez, for which he received the 2006 International Press Academy Satellite Award and an Imagen Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, as well as two ALMA Award nominations. His Showtime television credits include Fidel and Noriega: God’s Favorite, as well as Resurrection Blvd., for which he was nominated for 2001 and 2002 American Latino Media Arts Awards for Best Actor. He has also appeared in the Emmy Award-winning programs Sweet Fifteen, Drug Wars: The Camarena Story and The Burning Season: The Life and Death of Chico Mendes. Mr. Plana has starred in more than 60 feature films, including JFK, Nixon, Salvador, An Officer and a Gentleman, Lone Star, Three Amigos, Born in East L.A., El Norte, 187, Primal Fear, Romero, One Good Cop, Havana, The Rookie, Silver Strand, Picking Up the Pieces with Woody Allen, Half Past Dead and Goal! The Dream Begins. As a director, Mr. Plana co-directed and co-produced the film A Million to Juan with Paul Rodriguez, and directed the film The Princess and the Barrio Boy, which was nominated for two 2001 American Latino Media Arts Awards (Best Made-for-Television Movie and Best Ensemble Acting) and received the 2001 Imagen Award for Best Made-for-Television Movie. He has directed several episodes of Nickelodeon’s The Brothers Garcia, for which he received an Imagen Award. Mr. Plana is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Imagen Foundation, two Nosotros Golden Eagle Awards for outstanding work in film and television and five Los Angeles Drama-Logue Awards for Theatre. Mr. Plana is also the co-founder and executive artistic director of the East L.A. Classic Theatre, which adapts Shakespeare for young minority audiences and uses theater as a teaching tool to improve literacy skills and language acquisition in underserved communities. Mr. Plana received his BA from Loyola Marymount University and his professional training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England.

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