Jorge Camara, Karmin Murcelo, and Geno Silva Leave The Gifts of Their Careers and Accomplishments In Film, TV, Stage, and Advocacy
Jorge Camara: Former Hollywood Foreign Press Association President
Jorge Camara, former president and longtime member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, died Friday, April 24, 2020 after a long battle with cancer. He was 84.
Born on January 10, 1936, in Merida, Mexico, he studied journalism in Mexico City and made his way to Los Angeles to pursue a career writing about film, a passion of his from a young age. After arriving in Southern California, he found work writing for three publications. One of his editors recommended him to former HFPA president, Miguel de Zarraga, a Spanish correspondent, and Camara became a member a short time later. Camara was a film critic for La Opinion newspaper and also served as a film critic and columnist for other foreign language and English language publications. In addition, he worked as a correspondent, producer, and critic for a variety of Spanish-language television productions, including Univision’s popular Primer Impacto, a daily magazine program airing in the U.S. He also worked on several Telemundo productions, including Estrenos y Estrellas, Al Rojo Vivo, Hollywood Hoy, and on programming for KVEA-TV in Los Angeles. He produced, directed, and worked on international broadcasts for HBO Olé, the first HBO premium channel of Latin America. Camara was also a member of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the Broadcast Film Critics Association. Camara served as the HFPA’s president from 1978-1980, 1984-1986 and most recently from 2007-2009.
Karmin Murcelo: Beloved Film, TV & Stage Actor
Murcelo who was born on April 1947 and had a long career that was rooted in theater but went on to garner dozens of film and television credits, passed away on May 6, 2020 due to pneumonia complications. Her impressive work on TV included: Cold Case (2010), The Shield(2004), Te amare en silencio, (2003), The Division (2003), Six Feet Under (2001), Diagnosis Murder (2000). In the 1990’s worked on such hit shows as Port Charles, Air America, Brooklyn South, Nash Bridges, NYPD, ER, Santa Barbara, among others. Her film credits include her work as Dolores in Blood In, Blood Out (1993), Blasphemy the Movie (2001), Empty Cradle (1993). Karmin Murcelo was a powerful force on and off the stage, as her friend Gloria Mann posted on social media:
The great Cuban American actor, Karmin Murcelo… Karmin and I played opposite each other as sisters in Jean Genet’s The Maids at The Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. I loved working with her. She was a beautiful, sensitive, powerful force on and off stage.” — Gloria Mann
Geno Silva: Scarface Veteran Actor Dies at 72
The beloved actor is best known for his roles as the silent hitman The Skull Brian De Palma’s Scareface (1983) A Man Apart (2003), and 1941 (1979), Silva passed away on May 9, 2020. Other memorable film credits include Mulholland Drive (2001), Tortilla Heaven (2007), Tequila Sunrise (1988), and on TV he is remembered for his work on Cane, Into the West, Star Trek: Enterprise, Alias, The Agency, Vanishing Point, The Sentinel, Walker, Texas Ranger, Silk Stalkings, Key West. He also received several mini-series credits, Into the West, Drug Wars: The Cocaine Cartel, Favorite Son. Silva earned his SAG and AFTRA memberships in 1974 with his first film, Thomasine & Bushrod, an action, crime, western movie. His final credit came in 2007 in the TV series Cane, starring Jimmy Smits, Nestor Carbonell, Polly Walker, Rita Moreno, Hector Elizondo, Oscar Torre, and Julio Oscar Mechoso. Silva is survived by his wife, Pam, who together operated a dance studio in Hollywood CA. They also had a residence in Taos, New Mexico.