Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero, known the world over as Chita Rivera was born January 23, 1933, in Washington D.C., the daughter of Katherine (Anderson), a government clerk, and Pedro Julio Figueroa del Rivero, a clarinetist and saxophonist for the United States Navy Band. She is best known for originating roles in Broadway musicals including Anita in West Side Story, Velma Kelly in Chicago, and the title role in Kiss of the Spider Woman. Ms. Rivera is a Broadway star.

An accomplished and versatile actress/singer/dancer, who has won two Tony Awards as Best Leading Actress in a Musical and received eight additional Tony nominations for an exceptional 10 Tony nominations.  

One of the musicals she received a Tony award for was the original Broadway production of Bye Bye Birdie (early 1960s), opposite Dick Van Dyke (“Albert”).  In 2005 she was the subject of Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life, a retrospective of her career, opened on Broadway for which she was nominated for another Tony.  

On television Ms. Rivera was in the filmed-for-television version of the musical Pippin, also appearing on variety shows like The Hollywood Palace, The Carol Burnett Show and the Ed Sullivan Show. She also guest-starred in a 2005 episode of Will & Grace and in the Disney Channel’s Johnny and the Sprites as Queen of All Magical Beings.

In 2009 Ms Rivera was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then President Barack Obama. In 2018, she received a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement; and in 2019, Time Out New York named her “one of the best Broadway divas of all time.” 

In 2020, Ms. Rivera  was one of the three Latina Grand Marshals in the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, joining actresses Rita Moreno and Gina Torres.

She was the first ever Latina to ever receive the Kennedy Honors Award.

— Latin Heat News Service

Featured Photo: Chita Rivera publicity photo

The post Happy Birthday Ms. Chita Rivera! first appeared on .

Actress Terri Hoyos was born in Los Angeles, CA on January 18. She is the daughter of Mexican actor Rodolfo Hoyos Jr. (Charlie’s Angels, Chico and the Man), and granddaughter of actor Rodolfo Hoyos. She began her career in Hollywood as a make-up artist working on several TV shows.  Later she studied acting at Los Angeles City College 

Hoyos made her screen debut in 1984, with a small part in Crimes of Passion.  She went on to do guest-starring roles on television shows that included: Hill Street Blues, Gimme a Break!, Cheers, ER, Dharma & Greg, Frasier, NYPD Blue, Parks and Recreation, and Modern Family. From 2009-2010 she was a recurring character in the CBS police procedural Cold Case. 

In 2003 she landed her first series regular role in the Fox sitcom The Ortegas. A family sitcom that in addition to Hoyos starred, in addition to Hoyos, Al Madrigal, Cheek Marin, and Renee Victor. Unfortunately, the series was canceled before its debut. 

In 2014, she was cast as the mother in the ABC comedy series Cristela starting stand-up comedienne Cristela Alonzo.   
Most recently, in 2020, Hoyos appeared as Victor’s grandma in Hulu series Love, Victor in which Michael Cimino plays the title role of half-Puerto Rican, half-Colombian-American teenager. Season two of the series is expected to begin airing Summer of 2021.

Featured Photo: Cristela/ABC

— Latin Heat News Service

The post Happy Birthday To Actress Terri Hoyos! first appeared on .

Freddy Rodriguez was born January 17, 1975 in Chicago, Illinois to Puerto Rican parents.  At 13, Freddy discovered a theater program for inner-city youth, which led to a scholarship to the Pulaski International School of Chicago.   He moved into the Hollywood limelight playing Federico Diaz on HBO’s Six Feet Under which ran for five years.  For this role, he received two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Best Ensemble in a Drama Series, and an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

His first leading role in a major film was in David Ayer’s Harsh Times in which he starred alongside Christian Bale and Eva Longoria.

He is also known for playing El Wray in Robert Rodriguez’s  Planet Terror, in the double-feature film, Grindhouse.  He has worked on several movies with Latino actors and/or filmmakers: A Walk in the Clouds directed by Alfonso Arau; alongside Roselyn Sanchez Chasing Papi (directed by Linda Mendoza); a music video for the Santana song Into the Night; a cameo in Fergie’s music video for the song Glamorous; and in Nothing Like the Holidays directed by  Alfredo Rodriguez de Villa, starring alongside John Leguizamo, Elizabeth Pena, Luis Guzman, and Jay Hernandez (Magnum PI)

Other film credits include the film Poseidon and M. Night Shyamalan’s film Lady in the Water. On TV Rodriguez starred for three years as Giovanni Rossi in Ugly Betty; and Dr. Michael Ragosa in two seasons of NBC’s The Night Shift (2014–15).  From 2003- 2004 he played Carla Espinoza’s (Judy Reyes) brother in Scrubs. 

Since 2016 Rodriguez has been starring in CBS’s crime drama Bull.

Featured Photo of Bull: CBS

— Latin Heat News Service

The post Happy Birthday to Actor Freddy Rodriguez! first appeared on .

While attending Wesleyan University Miranda wrote the draft of what would become his first hit Broadway musical, In The Heights. The play, about a Latino neighborhood in New York, premiered on Broadway in 2008 and was nominated for 13 Tony Awards, winning four: Best Musical and Best Original Score and a Best Actor Tony Award for Miranda, and a  Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album.

The world-renowned musical Hamilton about President Alexander Hamilton was Miranda’s next Broadway hit.  The idea for the play started with a rap about Hamilton which he wrote and performed for the White House Evening of Poetry, Music and the Spoken Word in 2009.  

On the first night of the Hamilton previews (prior to opening), over 700 people were lined up for tickets. The play opened on Broadway in 2015 to rave reviews and sold-out houses.

Hamilton won the Tony Award for Best Musical; Miranda won the Tony Awards for Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical and received a nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. Miranda won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the musical, and the Hamilton cast album won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. 

While these two groundbreaking musicals launched his career, they do not uniquely define the artistic genius of Miranda.  He has had numerous musical collaborations, appeared in TV shows, and was in the film Mary Poppins Returns.  In 2021 Miranda makes his directorial debut with the musical drama film tick tock, BOOM based on a musical by Jonathan Larson. 

Featured Photo: Grammy Awards

— Latin Heat News Service

The post Happy Birthday Lin Manuel Miranda! first appeared on .

Celebrating a birthday today is rapper, singer, songwriter, and philanthropist Armando Christian Pérez AKA PitBull.  He was born in Miami on January 15, 1981, and began his career recording reggaeton, Latin hip hop, and crunk music, eventually rebranding himself as a pop artist. Now he has been immortalized with a star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood.

Pitbull has sold over 7.5 million studio albums and over 100 million singles worldwide.  As of May 2020, he has over 15 billion views on YouTube. He was ranked by Billboard as the 45th Top Artist of the 2010s and the 24th Top Latin Artist of the 2010s. As of May 2019, Pitbull had won 35 Billboard Latin Music Awards and has received Grammy Awards, Latin Grammy Awards, Nickelodeon, Premio Lo Nuestro, IHeart Radio Award among many others.

Pitbull’s Planet Pit album is the most commercially successful album to date, according to Wikipedia.

The immensity of his work is breathtaking having released music in both Spanish and English throughout his career.  He has performed to support causes bringing awareness to issues like Global Warming, Feeding America, COVID 19, Hurricane Maria, and others.  He has performed alongside and/or collaborated with some of the most well-known recording artists and celebrities around the world including Britany Spears, John Travolta Blake Shelton, Jennifer Lopez,  Priyanka Chopra, Flo Rida, Jessica Mauboy, Belinda, Jason Derulo, and Gloria Estefan, Janet Jackson, Pharrell Williams, Christina Aguilera, Cypress Hill, Paulina Rubio, and so many more

He is determined to help the Latino community. Pitbull’s social impact focus for the last decade has been closing the poverty gap through educational initiatives. During Hurricane Maria, Pitbull used his private plane to bring cancer patients from Puerto Rico to the mainland United States for treatment.

Pitbull also donated all proceeds from song sales, streaming, and views to Feeding America and the Anthony Robbins Foundation from the single titled I Believe That We Will Win (World Anthem) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On December 31, 2020, Pitbull performed for a crowd of first responders in Times Square adhering to the COVID-19 pandemic guideline for the famous New Year’s Eve celebration.

— Latin Heat News Service

The post Happy Birthday To Music Powerhouse Pitbull first appeared on .

They quickly rose to fame with the recording of the 2000 album Los Reyes del Nuevo Milenio. They later made the jump to a major label in 2003 with Mi Vida… My Life. De Nuevos a Viejos (2001), Mi Vida… My Life (2003) and De Otra Manera (2004), all of which were certified gold. The duo went on to receive the Tu Música Award for Best Rap/Reggaeton Duo in 2002.

In 2013, after their Líderes tour, Winsin and Yandel each went their separate ways.  Yandel’s solo studio album after the split, De Líder a Leyenda, was released in November 2013, which was certified Gold (Latin) by the RIAA in 2014.  

But after five years of being on their own, they reunited in February 2018, and four months later they did their first U.S. concert at Madison Square Garden. 

In May 2018, they did a concert at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in Puerto Rico selling out the show quickly and resulting in adding more shows, totaling 8 back-to-back shows at this venue. 

Later that year they released Reggaetón En Lo Oscuro the lead single from their upcoming tenth studio album Los Campeones del Pueblo / The Big Leagues, which features collaborations with many artists including Ozuna, Maluma, and Bad Bunny.

Back on track, Yandel continues to make beautiful reggaeton music again with Winsin.

— Latin Heat News Service

The post Happy Birthday to Singer/Producer Yandel! first appeared on .

Michael Pena was born in Chicago, Illinois on January 13,1976 to parents who are originally from Mexico.  Pena’s breakout film role was Daniel in the film Crash directed by Paul Haggis.  Other notable performances include End of Watch, directed by David Ayer and worked alongside Jake Gyllenhaal.

After high school Pena went to an open casting call for Peter Bogdanovich feature To Sir, with Love II (1996), and beat out hundreds of other young men for a role. He then moved to Los Angeles and booked several small roles in films like Star Maps, My Fellow Americans working along  Jack Lemmon and James Garner), and the Disney/Jerry Bruckheimer feature Gone in 60 Seconds (2000). 

He appeared in 5 movies nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award – Million Dollar Baby, Crash, Babel, American Hustle, and The Martian – with the first two movies winning.

Peña has said in interviews that in every film he’s cast in, he asks the writers to include a reference to his character being Mexican-American because, he says, he gets to mainly play characters who are not stereotypes & clichés, and that it is a source of pride to Mexican-American fans who go to his films to see him playing non-stereotypical roles

He recently played DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena in Netflix TV series Narcos: Mexico; and Dr. Roarke in Columbia Pictures Fantasy Island. 

Pena will next star in the sci-fi epic film Moonfall where he plays Tom Lopez, a wealthy car dealer.  The film is to be directed by Roland Emmerich.

Featured Photo: Wiki Commons

— Latin Heat News Service

The post Happy Birthday Michael Pena! first appeared on .

Naya Rivera was born on January 12, 1987 in Valencia, California.  She began her career as a child actress and model, appearing in national television commercials. She landed her first TV role in  CBS’s sitcom The Royal Family in 1991. However her breakthrough role came in 2009 when she was cast as the lesbian cheerleader Santana Lopez on the FOX television series Glee.  She received various awards for this role including a SAG Award, an ALMA Award and two Grammys for her singing in the series.

A few years later she signed with Columbia Records and had begun her solo musical career recording the single Sorry. 

Her film credits included the horror film At the Devil’s Door. She also worked on the comedy (2014) Mad Families (2017). And in 2016 she published a memoir titled Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes, and Growing Up. 

Besides performing, Rivera championed various charitable causes, particularly for LGBT rights, immigrants’ rights, and women’s rights.

Rivera was getting ready to return to her role of the female role of Collette Jones in the TV series Step Up, when on June 8 she died in Lake Piru in California while swimming with her four-year-old son. Her body was found five days later on July 13, 2020.

Rivera left an indelible mark on the TV screen with her roles and having been a vanguard of Afro-Latino and queer representation on television.

— Latin Heat News Service

The post Remembering Naya Rivera’s Birthday first appeared on .

Arau’s first film appearance in his native Mexico was in 1954 as an uncredited dancer.  By 1973, he acted in and directed the humorous political critique film Calzónzin Inspector, aimed squarely at the then Mexican ruling party, the PRI.

By the 60’s he was already one of the very first “crossovers” talents working in U.S. big-budget films both as an actor as well as a director.  He was cast in Sam Peckinpah’s classic western The Wild Bunch; He starred alongside Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner in Romancing the Stone and played “El Guapo” in Three Amigos starring alongside Steve Martin, Chevy Chase and Martin Short.

In 1995 he directed  Keanu Reeves and Anthony Quinn the 20th Century Fox film A Walk in the Clouds, and in 2003 he directed A Painted House, a TV film adapted from John Grisham’s novel. 

In December 2004, the Santa Fe Film Festival honored Arau for his work in cinema. He recently did the voice of Papa Julio in Disney’s Coco and has two projects in development.

Featured Photo: Subject Courtesy

— Latin Heat New Service

The post Happy Birthday To Actor/Director Alfonso Arau first appeared on .

In addition to reprising his role in two more of The Twilight Saga (Eclipse and Breaking Dawn) Meraz’s film credits also include Suicide Squad and Bright where he worked alongside Will Smith and Edgar Ramirez. He also starred in the latest season of CSI: New York and A&E’s The Glades, among others. 

Meraz identifies as “Purepecha” and indigenous people from the Mexican state of Michoacan. He started off as a breakdancer going by the name of “Nomak” and is versed in indigenous and contemporary dance  He attended the New School of the Arts and is an avid painter and illustrator. He was named one of the 55 faces of the future by Nylon Magazine.

His feature film Bad Dad, which he wrote, directed, produced, and stars in, about a struggling single dad who discovers his six-year-old son suffers from an eye condition that leads to blindness, is currently awaiting a release.

— Latin Heat News Service

The post Happy Birthday Alex Meraz! first appeared on .