Gregory Sierra
Latino actor
Gregory Sierra was born
January 25,
1941 in New York City. He is familiar to fans of
Barney Miller as Detective Sergeant Chano Amenguale, and as Julio Fuentes, the
Puerto Rican neighbor on
Sanford and Son, where his character was often the brunt of racist insults and jokes via the show's main character, Fred G. Sanford (portrayed by
Redd Foxx). Sierra also starred as a
radical on the controversial series
All in the Family, who was in the Hebrew Defense League, an organization whose goal it was to stop
anti-Semetism in the neighborhood. In the plot, he volunteers in helping to chase away
Neo-Nazi thugs presiding in the neighborhood during which they spray-painted a swastika on the Bunkers' door. He is later killed by a car bomb planted by the
Neo-Nazis. He later went on to star as Dr. Tony Menzies on the unsuccessful sitcom
A.E.S. Hudson Street. He was cast as South American revolutionary "El Puerco" on the serial spoof
Soap, figuring prominently in the series' unresolved final episode in
1981. In
1984, he briefly became a main cast member of the then-new TV drama
Miami Vice where he played Lieutenant Lou Rodriguez; he asked to be written out of the series after just four episodes. More recently he had regular roles on the TV shows
Zorro and Son,
Something is Out There and
Common Law.
He made a memorable appearance in the
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "
Second Skin".
*
