Ruben Blades
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
A self-styled renaissance man who has made a significant contribution to salsa with his socially conscious lyrics, Panamanian-born Ruben Blades has also enjoyed a successful career as a screen actor and, in his native country, founded the political party Papa Egora, running and placing third in the 1994 presidential election. After obtaining a law degree in Panama, he moved to the USA in 1974, staying temporarily with his exiled parents in Miami before moving to NYC where he was soon working with salseros Ray Barretto and Larry Harlow. A collaboration with trombonist and band leader Willie Colon followed, and their 1978 album "Siembra" became the best-selling salsa record in history. He branched into movies with the mediocre melodrama "The Last Fight" (1983), writing the title song as well as portraying a singer-turned-boxer vying for a championship. He also penned his first musical score for a film that year for "When Mountains Tremble." Blades gained widespread recognition in 1985 as co-writer and star of the independent "Crossover Dreams" (1985), exhibiting real screen presence as a New York salsa singer willing to do anything to break into the mainstream. He was also the subject of Robert Mugge's fascinating music documentary "The Return of Ruben Blades," which debuted at that year's Denver Film Festival. After finding himself in two 1987 stinkers, "Critical Condition" (with Richard Pryor) and "Fatal Beauty" (with Whoopi Goldberg), Blades rebounded nicely with Robert Redford's "The Milagro Beanfield War" (1988), playing the modern-day New Mexico sheriff of the charming, fanciful fable. He wrote the song "Tu y Yo" for Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing" (1989) and reteamed with Lee the following year as the hard-nosed bookie of "Mo' Better Blues." The banner year also saw him act in the "Chinatown" sequel "The Two Jakes" (directed by and starring Jack Nicholson), "The Lemmon Sisters" (starring Diane Keaton) and "Predator 2" (with Danny Glover and Gary Busey), in addition to scoring Sidney Lumet's "Q & A." On the small screen, Blades has delivered impressive performances in a number of cable movies beginning with his turn as a Death Row inmate in HBO's "Dead Man Out," his first collaboration with Glover. Though "One Man's War" (HBO, 1991) gave him the opportunity to act with the venerable Anthony Hopkins, the well-intentioned script about repression in Paraguay failed to rise to the level of more compelling, similarly-themed films. He fared better as Pepita Abatino, the Sicilian born gigolo who groomed Joseph Baker for stardom, in that year's "The Josephine Baker Story" (HBO), garnering an Emmy nomination for his efforts, and earned praise (and a second Emmy nod) as a Mexican janitor who romances Christine Lahti in "Crazy From the Heart" (TNT, 1991). He also starred as Pastor Beruman whose wife is on the freeway with their two young children in "Miracle on I-880" (NBC, 1993), a routine dramatization of the 1989 Oakland earthquake. "The Super" (1991) cast Blades opposite Joe Pesci as a crafty street hustler who gradually gets the slum landlord more attuned to the needs of his struggling tenants, and the erotic thriller "Color of Night" (1994), starring Bruce Willis, offered him as an abrasively funny police detective. Ever mindful of his onscreen image, he has stated that he tries to avoid stereotypical roles and looks for films that balance the Latino-as-bad-guy with a positive portrayal. He found such a role as Harrison Ford's partner in the muddled thriller "The Devil's Own" (1997), one of his first films after his unsuccessful 1994 bid to become Panama's president. His worldwide recognition as a champion of the Nueva Cancion (New Song) movement of salsa that brought substance to what was formerly viewed as simply dance music was not enough to sway the voters of his homeland, many unable to regard him as a serious candidate because his career required so much time outside the country. In 1997, Blades headed the cast of composer Paul Simon's first Broadway musical, "The Capeman," based on a true story about a murderous youth who becomes a poet in prison. In interviews, he has stated that he believes his biggest mistake was releasing an English-language album in 1988, just because everyone thought he should in the wake of his 1987 Grammy win for "Escenas"--a trap he sees younger singers like his "Capeman" co-star Marc Anthony falling into. Staying true to his musical vision and defying convention in nearly every way, he earned his fourth Grammy for "Tiempos" (1999), his first album with the 12-piece Costa Rican band Editus and one in marked contrast to the commercial trend of Latin music. For someone who has played his share of policemen, Blades relished his role as Mexican artist Diego Rivera in Tim Robbins' "Cradle Will Rock" (also 1999), which pitted his character's communist sensibilities against those of John Cusack's Nelson Rockefeller. He then made his first foray to regular series work with "Gideon's Crossing" (ABC, 2000-01), playing a medical colleague of star Andre Braugher in this new offering from writer-executive producer Paul Attanasio, and also appeared as a rancher in the long-awaited film version of "All the Pretty Horses" (2000), adapted from the novel by Cormac McCarthy.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Music (Special)
Life Events
1964
Student riot against U.S. forces in the Canal Zone awakened his political sensibilities; 21 Panamanians were killed and another 500 wounded; from that point on, stopped singing in English
1966
Recorded first album with Los Salvajes del Ritmo (The Rhythm Savages)
1970
Recorded and released first album in New York, <i>De Panama a Nueva York</i>
1974
Returned to U.S., remaining for a year with parents in Miami, FL
1975
Moved to NYC; rented a tiny apartment on East 61st Street for $175 a month, within walking distance of Fania Records, where he would get a job in the mailroom for $125 a week; sang with salseros Ray Barretto and Larry Harlow (known as 'El Judio Maravilloso/The Marvelous Jew')
1976
Teamed up with trombonist Willie Colon for a series of albums including <i>Siembra</i>, one of the biggest-selling salsa records
1983
Composed first musical film score for feature "When the Mountains Tremble"
1983
First film as actor, "The Last Fight" (also wrote songs), directed by and co-starring Fred Williamson; also co-starred Colon
1984
Signed with Elektra records
1985
First film as co-screenwriter, "Crossover Dreams"; also starred and composed score
1985
Profiled in the documentary "The Return of Ruben Blades"; aired on PBS in 1988
1988
Portrayed Sheriff Bernabe Montoya in "The Milagro Beanfield War"
1989
TV acting debut as a Death Row inmate in "Dead Man Out" (HBO), first collaboration with actor Danny Glover
1989
Wrote and performed the song "Tu y Yo" in Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing"
1990
Reteamed with Glover in "Predator 2"
1990
Composed the score for Sidney Lumet's "Q & A"
1990
Played Stevey in Lee's "Mo' Better Blues"
1991
Acted opposite Anthony Hopkins in HBO's "One Man's War," portraying a reluctant attorney who helps Hopkins in his pursuit of justice
1991
Received first Emmy nomination for supporting role of the gigolo who groomed the title character for stardom in the HBO biopic "The Josephine Baker Story", starring Lynn Whitfield
1992
Garnered second Emmy nomination for leading performance as a janitor romancing Christine Lahti's high school principal in "Crazy From the Heart" (TNT)
1992
Launched the political party Papa Egoro ("Mother Earth") in his native Panama
1994
Ran for the presidency of Panama; placed third; first free elections in Panama in a quarter century
1994
Portrayed an abrasively funny L.A. detective in Richard Rush's "Color of Night"
1997
Played Harrison Ford's police partner in "The Devil's Own"
1997
Brought some mild humor to small role as a photojournalist in Wayne Wang's "The Chinese Box"
1997
Starred in the Paul Simon-Derek Walcott Broadway musical "The Capeman"; played older incarnation of title character Salvator Agron, who as a teen gang member stabbed to death two NYC teenagers
1997
Made emergency trip to Panama to assume the presidency of the political party Papa Egoro in an effort to rescue it from internal dissent
1999
Appeared in "Cradle Will Rock" as Mexican artist Diego Rivera
2000
Acted in Billy Bob Thornton's "All the Pretty Horses", adapted from the best-selling novel by Cormac McCarthey
2000
Co-starred with Andre Braugher on the ABC medical drama "Gideon's Crossing"
2003
Featured in Robert Rodriguez's Western thriller "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" opposite Johnny Depp, Salma Hayek, and Antonio Banderas
2005
Played the father of a kidnapped young woman (Mia Maestro) in the crime drama "Secuestro express"
2009
Acted in the drama "Spoken Word"
2012
Appeared in "Safe House" opposite Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds
Family
Companions
