El catorce de marzo/March 14th

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Photo from 50 Megs. Click HERE. 
¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Merlin Santana! (1976-2002)

Santana was an Afro-Latino actor best known for his roles as Stanley (Rudy Huxtable's boyfriend) on The Cosby Show, Marcus Dixon on Getting By, Marcus Henry on Under One Roof, and Romeo Santana on The Steve Harvey Show. Santana was born to Dominican parents in New York City. After he survived being born prematurely his mother decided he needed a special name and thus named him Merlin, after Merlin the Magician. She got him into acting at age 3, and his first job was as an advertising model for a fast food chain. He then appeared on screen for the first time in Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo. He attended Ascension Catholic School in the city before eventually making his way west, to Los Angeles, for his career. He kept his last name, Santana, to honor his Latino heritage, and he sometimes spoke Spanish as Romeo in The Steve Harvey Show. Tragically, Santana was fatally shot in 2002 in a senseless murder based on lies told by a troubled young girl (see the full story, HERE, or read about it, HERE). He left behind a seven year old daughter.

For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Other March 14th birthdays:
Photo from wikipedia. 

China Zorrilla (Concepción Matilde Zorrilla de San Martín Muñoz) (1922-2014): A legendary theater, film, and television actress as well as a director, producer, and writer, Zorrilla was the second of five daughters whose paternal grandfather was beloved Uruguayan national poet Juan Zorrilla de San Martín (who published the epic poem Tabaré in 1888). Zorrilla was living in Argentina at the time the civilian-military dictatorship took over (1973) and thus forced to stay. She helped Uruguayans fleeing the dictatorship, and she was banned from performing in Uruguay during this time. Her first performance in Uruguay after the dictatorship ended was as Emily Dickinson. Zorrilla received many honors during her life, including the Orden de Mayo from Argentina, the Orden Gabriela Mistral from Chile, and the Chevalier (Knight) of the Legión d'Honeur from France. Uruguay commissioned postage stamps in her honor and both Montevideo and Buenos Aires named her an "illustrious citizen." Learn more in this news report looking back at her life.

 Pilar Bardem (1939-       ): A Spanish actress active in politics (for women's and workers' rights, and against the war in Iraq), she is the mother of actor Javier Bardem (who is married to actress Penelope Cruz).

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