Frank Silvera

After a childhood that began in Kingston, Jamaica, and continued in Boston, Frank Silvera was a character actor and stage director. He left law school in 1934 after landing a role in Roll Sweet Chariot, then spent the 1930s and 1940s in Broadway and off-Broadway productions and radio. His Broadway debut came in 1940 in Big White Fog. Silvera entered films in 1952 with the western The Cimarron Kid (1952), and his Latin look brought him many ethnic roles. He played General Huerta opposite Marlon Brando in Viva Zapata! (1952), and appeared in Stanley Kubrick's Fear and Desire (1953) and Killer's Kiss (1955). On television he guest-starred in dramas and westerns. In 1962 he played Minarii in Mutiny on the Bounty (1962). He earned a Tony Award nomination in 1963 for playing Monsieur Duval in The Lady of the Camellias. Later film roles included The Appaloosa (1966), Hombre (1967), Che! (1969), and Valdez Is Coming (1971).