Tomas Milian
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Tomás Milián, real name Tomás Quintín Rodriguez (born March 3, 1932), is a Cuban-American actor.
[edit] Career
Milian was born in Havana. The son of a Cuban general, he settled in the United States to study in New York's Actor's Studio and became an American citizen.
After an unsuccessful start in the United States, he relocated to pursued acting jobs in Italy, where he gradually became a very successful performer. He lived in Italy for over 25 years. Although his voice was dubbed most of the time due to his accent, Milian performed his lines in Italian (or in English, depending on the film). He initially starred in arthouse movies and worked with directors such as Mauro Bolognini and Luchino Visconti. He soon became a star in spaghetti westerns, where he often played Mexican bandits or revolutionaries, roles in which he spoke in his real voice. As the genre dwindled, Milian remained a star in many genre films, often playing the villain in poliziotteschi movies. He later turned to comedy. While his voice was dubbed most of the time by Ferruccio Amendola, Milian wrote his own lines in Roman slang. Milian's inventive use of romanesco (roman dialect) made him somewhat of a cult performer in Italy, even though his later films were critically panned.
As he aged, Milian found himself less in demand after renouncing his previous screen personas. He eventually decided to go back to the US, where he pursued a low-key career as a character actor. He has played many roles on stage. He could be seen in such movies as Sidney Pollack's Havana, Steven Spielberg's Amistad, Steven Soderbergh's Traffic as well Andy Garcia's The Lost City about Revolutionary Cuba.
Milian now resides in Miami.
[edit] Filmography (partial)
- Il bell'Antonio (1960), Mauro Bolognini - with Marcello Mastroianni, Pierre Brasseur
- La resa dei conti (1967), Sergio Sollima - with Lee Van Cleef, Fernando Sancho, Walter Barnes
- Faccia a faccia (1967) Sergio Sollima - with Gian Maria Volontè
- Tepepa (1968) Giulio Petroni - with Orson Welles
- La polizia accusa: il servizio segreto uccide (1975) Sergio Martino - with Mel Ferrer, Luc Merenda, Delia Boccardo
- Il giustiziere sfida la città (1975) Umberto Lenzi - with Joseph Cotten, Silvano Tranquilli, Guido Alberti, Evelyn Stewart, Femi Benussi
- Roma a mano armata (1976) Umberto Lenzi - with Maurizio Merli
- Squadra antiscippo (1976) Bruno Corbucci - with Jack Palance, Maria Rosaria Omaggio, Vincenzo Crocitti
- Squadra antifurto (1976) Bruno Corbucci - with Robert Webber, Lilli Carati, Giuseppe Pambieri, Tony Ucci
- Il trucido e lo sbirro (1977) Umberto Lenzi - with Claudio Cassinelli, Nicoletta Machiavelli
- La banda del gobbo (1977) Umberto Lenzi - with Maurizio Merli
- La banda del trucido (1977) Stelvio Massi - with Luc Merenda, Elio Zamuto, Katia Christine, Corrado Solari, Imma Piro, Ado Barberito, Franco Citti
- Squadra antitruffa (1977) Bruno Corbucci - with David Hemmings, Anna Cardini, Leo Gullotta, Alberto Farnese, Bombolo
- Squadra antimafia (1978) Bruno Corbucci - with Alberto Farnese, Lilli Carati, Roberto Messina
- Squadra antigangsters (1979) Bruno Corbucci - with Enzo Cannavale, Asha Puthli, Margherita Fumero
- Assassinio sul Tevere (1979) Bruno Corbucci - with Marina Lante della Rovere, Roberta Manfredi, Bombolo, Enzo Liberti
- Delitto a Porta Romana (1980) Bruno Corbucci - with Olimpia Nardo, Nerina Montagnani, Bombolo
- Manolesta (1981) Pasquale Festa Campanile - with Giovanna Ralli, Paco Cardini
- Delitto al ristorante cinese (1981) Bruno Corbucci - with Bombolo, Enzo Cannavale, Gegia
- Delitto sull'autostrada (1982) Bruno Corbucci - with Viola Valentino, Bombolo, Olimpia Nardo
- Cane & Gatto (1982) Bruno Corbucci - with Bud Spencer
- Delitto in Formula Uno (1983) Bruno Corbucci - with Dagmar Lassander, Isabel Russinova, Licinia Lentini, Bombolo
- Delitto al Blue Gay (1984) Bruno Corbucci - with Bombolo, Olimpia Nardo, Paco Fabrini
- Amistad (1997), Steven Spielberg - with Djimon Hounsou, Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins
- Traffic (2000), Steven Soderbergh - with Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro
- The Yards (2000), James Gray - with Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron
- The Lost City (2005), Andy Garcia - with Andy Garcia, Inés Sastre, Dustin Hoffman, Bill Murray
