Míriam Colón facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Míriam Colón
Colón in 1962
Born	Míriam Colón Valle (1936-08-20)20 August 1936 Ponce, Puerto Rico
Died	3 March 2017(2017-03-03) (aged 80) New York City, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1953–2015
Known for	Mama Montana – Scarface
Spouse(s)	George Paul Edgar ​ ​ (m. 1966; died 1976)​ Fred Valle ​ (m. 1987⁠–⁠2017)​

Míriam Colón Valle (born August 20, 1936 – died March 3, 2017) was a famous Puerto Rican actress. She was also the person who started and led the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater in New York City.

Míriam Colón began her acting career in the early 1950s. She performed in plays on Broadway and appeared in many television shows. Some of her TV roles were in Sanford and Son and Gunsmoke. She is most famous for playing Mama Montana, the mother of Al Pacino's character in the movie Scarface. In 2014, she received the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama. She passed away at age 80 due to a lung infection.

Early Life and Education

Míriam Colón Valle was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, on August 20, 1936. In the 1940s, her mother moved the family to a public housing area in San Juan. This area was called Residencial Las Casas.

Míriam went to Román Baldorioty de Castro High School in Old San Juan. There, she discovered her love for acting and took part in school plays. Her first drama teacher, Marcos Colón, believed in her talent. He helped her get permission to watch students in the drama department at the University of Puerto Rico. Míriam was a very good student. She earned scholarships to study acting in New York City. These scholarships were for the Dramatic Workshop and Technical Institute and Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio. In New York, she became friends with Dean Zayas, who was also a young Puerto Rican actor.

Acting Career Highlights

In 1953, Míriam Colón started her acting career in a film called Los Peloteros (The Baseball Players). This movie was made in Puerto Rico. Later that year, she moved to New York City. She was accepted into the Actors Studio after just one audition. This made her the first Puerto Rican member of the famous studio.

In New York, she worked in theater. She also got a role in the TV soap opera Guiding Light. After seeing a play called La Carreta (The Oxcart), she was inspired. She decided to create the first Hispanic theater group, called "El Circuito Dramático."

Colón and James Arness in Gunsmoke, 1970

From 1954 to 1974, Míriam Colón appeared in many TV shows. These included Peter Gunn and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. She was often seen in westerns, like Gunsmoke, Bonanza, and Have Gun, Will Travel. In 1961, she played "the Redhead" in the film One-eyed Jacks. She also co-starred in Thunder Island (1963). In 1963, she played a Comanche woman named Shona in an episode of Gunsmoke.

In 1983, Míriam Colón played Mama Montana in the movie Scarface. She was only four years older than Al Pacino, who played her son. Colón said she based her character on her own mother. She also played María in the 1999 film Gloria, starring Sharon Stone. In 2013, she took on the role of Ultima in Bless Me, Ultima. Her last TV role was as Abuelita in the series Better Call Saul in 2015.

Puerto Rican Traveling Theater

Puerto Rican Traveling Theater

In the late 1960s, Míriam Colón started The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater company. It was located on West 47th Street in Manhattan, New York. This theater company puts on plays Off-Broadway and also travels to perform.

Míriam Colón was the director of the company. She also acted in several of its productions, including:

• The Ox Cart (1966–1967)
• The Boiler Room (1993)
• Simpson Street
• Señora Carrar's Rifles

The play The Ox Cart (La Carreta) was written by Puerto Rican writer René Marqués. Its success helped Míriam Colón and producer Roberto Rodríguez create the first permanent Hispanic theater group. This group eventually got its own space, Teatro Arena, in Manhattan.

Awards and Recognition

National Medal of Arts

In 1993, Míriam Colón received an Obie Award. This award honored her achievements throughout her career in theater. In 2000, she was given the HOLA Raúl Juliá Founders Award. This award came from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA).

A book about her life, Míriam Colón: Actor and Theater Founder, was written by Mayra Fernandez in 1994.

In 2014, President Barack Obama presented Míriam Colón with the National Medal of Arts. This high honor recognized her important work as an actress. The award stated that she was a "trailblazer" in film, television, and theater. She helped open doors for many Hispanic actors who came after her.

Personal Life

Míriam Colón was married to George Paul Edgar from 1966 until he passed away in 1976. In 1987, she married Fred Valle.

She enjoyed collecting different kinds of art. This included ancient art from before Columbus, African tribal art, and Native American art. She also collected items from the Middle East, abstract paintings, and modern sculptures. A drawing by Pablo Picasso that she owned was sold for $6,500. When she died, she owned several signed movie posters and soundtrack albums from Scarface.

Her last years were spent in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Death

Míriam Colón passed away on March 3, 2017, in New York City. She was 80 years old. Her death was caused by problems from a pulmonary infection. Many people shared their sadness and paid tribute to her. These included actress Rosalba Rolón, singer Marc Anthony, and writer Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Filmography

Broadway Plays

• In The Summer House (1954)
• The Innkeepers (1956)
• The Wrong Way Lightbulb (1969)

See also

In Spanish: Miriam Colón para niños

• List of Puerto Ricans
• History of women in Puerto Rico