Henry Darrow.Photo: NBC/Getty
Character actor Henry Darrow, best known for his role as Manolito Montoya on 1960s WesternThe High Chaparral,died Sunday at the age of 87.
Darrow’s publicist, Michael B. Druxman,announcedthe news on his Facebook page Monday, writing, “Rest in peace, my friend. You will be missed.”
Darrow was born Enrique Tomás Delgado Jr. in 1933 in New York City to parents Gloria and Enrique, who ran a restaurant. In his teens, his parents moved the family back to their native Puerto Rico, where Darrow grew up and attended college before heading to Pasadena, California, in 1954, according toThe Hollywood Reporter.
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“I said, ‘I’d like to speak in Spanish and that I would learn Indian sign language,'” he recounted. “I said, ‘I’m ready to read for the part.’ And David Dortort replied: ‘You don’t have to. You’ve got it. You talked us into it.'”
In addition to his role inThe High Chaparral, Darrow played police detective Manny Quinlan in the first season of ABC’sHarry Oin the mid-1970s and received a Daytime Emmy Award in 1990 for his role as Rafael Castillo in NBC soap operaSanta Barbara.
“We honor the career and achievements of Henry Darrow, the pride of Puerto Rico and a SAG Board member from 1970-73,” the organizationwroteon Twitter. “Our condolences go out to his family. #sagaftramember since 1958.”
Along with being a longtime SAG-AFTRA member, Darrow co-founded the Screen Actors Guild Ethnic Minority Committee in 1972 alongside fellow actors Ricardo Montalbán, Edith Diaz and Carmen Zapata and was a founder of Nosotros, an organization aimed at helping Latino actors land non-stereotyped parts.
Robert Beltran, who acted alongside Darrow, called him “an artist of the highest rank” in a Twitter tribute Tuesday.
“The great Henry Darrow has died. How thrilled I was to act with him,” hewrote. “He was a gentleman and an artist of the highest rank. His intellectual curiosity, his generous spirit, his joyfulness, were his great attributes. All young actors should study Henry (as I did) and learn. Rest H.”
source: people.com
