El doce de abril/April 12th

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Photo from variety.com for a story/interview with García
after the death of Fidel Castro in 2016. In the
article he states: "I pray for what I have always prayed for:
the restoration of our constitution and absolute
freedom for the people of Cuba. That dream is very
much alive. Let the spirit of José Martí and Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. show us the way."
Click HERE for the full article. 
¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Andy García (Andrés Arturo García Menéndez)! (1956-    )

A Cuban-American actor known for his roles in Oceans 11, Oceans 12, and Oceans 13, The Godfather III, and The Untouchables, among many other film and television roles, García came to the United States from Cuba with his parents at the age of 5. His mother, an English teacher, and his father, a lawyer, decided to leave after the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion. García's father got the family out via Operation Peter Pan, and he was only able to escape himself under the guise of walking two children to the waiting airplane, and then getting on himself (hear an emotional García speak about this in 2016, HERE). García attended Miami Beach High School in Miami, Florida, where he played basketball until senior year, when he couldn't play due to mononucleosis. That's when he started acting. He attended Florida International University and then moved to Hollywood for his career. In 1989, García earned an Academy Award nomination for his role as Vincent Mancini in The Godfather III. In 2000, he was nominated for an Emmy and Golden Globe Award for his role in For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story (based on real-life Cuban jazz great Arturo Sandoval). García won the Anthony Quinn Award for Achievement in Motion Pictures at the 2006 ALMA Awards. García and his wife since 1982, Marivi Lorido, have four children: Dominik (1983), Daniella (1988), Alessandra (1991), and Andrés (2002). Recently, García has played the President of the United States in Geostorm (2017) and Fernando in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again! (2018). He talks about his career in this 2010 interview (in Spanish). His full statement after the death of Fidel Castro in November 2016 can be found in this Miami Herald article, HERE.

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


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