Famous Latinx Birthdays

 ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Belita Moreno (1949-     )! Photo from allfamous.org An actress from Texas with Mexican heritage, Moreno is perhaps best known for her role as Benny Lopez on the sitcom George Lopez, though she has had a long career appearing in films, television shows, and live theater (appearing in at least four premieres of Pulitzer-Prize-winning playwright Beth Henley's shows during the 80s). More recently, she has acted as an acting coach and advisor on numerous films, including Jerry Maguire , Rush Hour 2 , Almost Famous, and more. Moreno's mother, Aurora, was a Spanish teacher, and her father was a World War II veteran. Both of her parents were Mexican-American. See her speak (in English) with George Lopez about her friendship with his grandmother in this 2009 interview. Read (also in English) about her life growing up Tex/Mex (and how proud she is of this heritage) as well as her career in this 2010 interview with LatinoLA.  For resources for ...

 ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Mateo Arias (1995-    )!  image from @OfficialMatteo (Twitter) An American actor with Colombian roots born in New York City and raised in Atlanta, Arias became well-known when he played Jerry on the Disney Series Kickin' It (see him promote Hispanic Heritage Month by talking about his Colombian heritage in this 2013 Disney video and see his moments speaking Spanish on the show in this  2013 compilation put together by a fan). Arias' older brother, Moisés, also got his start as an actor (Disney's Hannah Montana ), and the two now produce films and videos together. In this 2020 The Face article, Mateo talks about being raised bilingual and says, "We really are fully Colombian, [despite] being born in the States. We grew up in a pseudo-Colombian culture in Georgia. Moisés taught me English, but I didn't speak it until I was three or four." The brothers appear in the 2020 film Blast Beat, which also stars Wilmer Valderrama and Colombia...

¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Diego Maradona (apodo: "El Pibe de Oro") (1960-       )! (image from esquire.com ) LEGENDARY soccer player from Argentina who alongside Pelé won FIFA's Player of the 20th Century Award, Diego Maradona (El Diego) was discovered by a talent scout when he was 8 years old. At 16, he was playing professionally. He played in four FIFA World Cups, including the 1986 World Cup in Mexico in which he led his team to victory over West Berlin (it was in the quarterfinals of that World Cup that he had his infamous "Hand of God" goal and famous "Goal of the Century" ). The 2019 documentary Diego Maradona , by Academy Award winning director Asif Kapadia, shows Maradona's life in all its complications (Kapadia also directed the films Amy , about Amy Winehouse, and Senna , about Ayrton Senna, and calls his film on Maradona "the third part of a trilogy about child geniuses and fame." Maradona, who was married to Claudia Villafañe fr...

 ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Ximena Sariñana (1985-      )!                    A Mexican singer-songwriter, Sariñana has four albums to her name, with her first album, Mediocre, which was released in 2009, earning a Grammy nomination. Sariñana was raised in Mexico City  by her producer/director father, Fernando Sariñana, and her screenwriter mother, Carolina Rivera. She began acting early, appearing in her father's film Hasta Morir when she was 9-years old. Raised bilingual (Spanish and English), she attended the private, multi-lingual school Edron Academy in Mexico City. Though the majority of her songs are in Spanish, she performs in both Spanish and English and is based in Mexico City and Los Angeles. She has collaborated with many artists, including Jason Mraz, Miguel Bosé, Ana Torroja, Los Ángeles Azules, Natalia LaFourcade, Volován, Jarabe de Palo, and LP (see this April 2020 premiere of Girls Go Wild), and ...