Tony Plana was educated at Loyola High School, Los
Angeles and Loyola-Marymount University, where he earned a Bachelor’s
degree through the Honors Program in Literature and Theatre Arts,
graduating magna cum laude. He received professional
training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England.
Plana
currently stars as Ignacio Suarez, the widowed father to America
Ferrera’s Ugly Betty, in ABC’s landmark, groundbreaking hit
series for which he received the 2006 Golden Satellite Award from the
International Press Academy and an Alma Award nomination for best
supporting actor in a television comedy. It is the first Spanish
series to be adapted to English for a major American network and has
received the highest ratings and the most critical acclaim of any
Latino-based show in the history of television. Early into its first
season, Ugly Betty has already garnered Peoples Choice and Screen Actors
Guild nominations and Alma, NAACP, Writers Guild, Directors Guild, Art
Directors Guild, Best Family Series, Golden Satellite and Golden Globe
Awards. Previously, he also starred in Showtime’s original series,
Resurrecton Boulevard, and was nominated for two Alma Awards for
best actor. Resurrection Boulevard was the first series to be produced,
written, directed and starring Latinos, the first of its kind to be
renewed for three seasons on a television network, and the most awarded
series in Showtime’s history including an Alma Award for the best
television series of 2002.
Having co-directed and co-produced the
film A Million to Juan with Paul Rodriguez, Plana celebrated his
solo directorial debut in December 2000 with The Princess and the
Barrio Boy. It represents the first Latino family film to be
produced by Showtime and stars academy award nominee Edward James Olmos,
Maria Conchita Alonso, Pauly Shore, and two of Plana’s co-stars from
Resurrection Boulevard, Marisol Nichols and Nicholas Gonzalez. The
film received two 2001 Alma Award nominations for Best Made for
Television Movie and Best Ensemble Acting and won the 2001 Imagen Award
for Best Made for Television Movie. Plana’s television episodic debut
was 2001’s Resurrection Blvd.’s Saliendo, which garnered
critical acclaim, receiving a GLAAD Award for best dramatic episode of
the year and a SHINE Award nomination for sensitive portrayal of
sexuality. He has directed several episodes of Nickelodeon’s hit series,
The Brothers Garcia, receiving a Humanitas award nomination and
winning the Imagen Award for its third season finale, Don’t Judge a
Book by its Cover. He also directed the season finale of
Greetings from Tucson for the Warner Brothers Network.
Plana is also the co-founder and
executive artistic director of the East L.A. Classic Theatre, a group
comprised primarily of Hispanic American theatre professionals. For the
past 10 years, the East L.A. Classic Theatre has been dedicated to
serving the Latino community through educational outreach programs to
primary and secondary schools and through bi-lingual productions of
traditional and contemporary classics.
Through the East L.A. Classic Theatre,
Plana has developed a unique and innovative literacy program called
Beyond Borders: Literacy through Performing Arts. It is designed to
enable students to expand their educational horizons and academic
achievements by moving beyond their personal, cultural and vocational
borders.
Working directly with language arts
teachers, Beyond Borders utilizes the performing arts to impact
literacy skills in academically at risk and bi-lingual students. Proven
to facilitate and even accelerate student achievement of district and
state literacy standards, the program is being implemented in five
school districts in southern California: Los Angeles, Montebello,
Baldwin Park, San Gabriel, and San Bernardino Unified School Districts.
It also collaborates with the Los Angeles Parks and Recreation
Department, the LAPD, and the L.A. County Sheriffs Department to provide
performances and after-school drama programs for underserved areas.
Plana’s distinct talent lies in his provocative adaptations of classic
Shakespearean plays, specifically conceived for minority communities
with little or no theatre going experience. He directs these plays
against relevant historical backgrounds that foster interest in
expressive speech and dramatic literature and which serve as catalysts
for the investigation of personal and interpersonal psychology, race and
cultural relations, socio-political issues and world history. For
example:
· A
Midsummer Night’s Dream, set during the Spanish conquest of the
Americas, comedically explores the strained relations between Native
Americans and the conquistadors ultimately proposing an integrated
vision of Indigenous and European cultures.
· A
zoot suit styled Romeo & Juliet, with 1940’s W.W. II swing music,
features a Japanese Juliet and a Latino Romeo struggling to define their
love and future in a city sharply divided by racism and economics.
· A
Mariachi musical Much Ado About Nothing set in early California
depicts upper class Mexican rancheros interacting with working class
Anglo prospectors and farmers.
Plana is
also committed to developing new works. He has directed several
critically acclaimed theatre pieces, including: Judith Ortiz Cofer’s
Don Jose de la Mancha; Nancy De Los Santos’ The Answer to My
Prayer; and Rick Nájera’s The Pain of the Macho for HBO New
Writer’s Festival. As well as Guillermo Reyes’ The Seductions of
Johnny Diego and A Heart’s Eye, adapted from James Agee’s
book Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, for the mark Taper Forum; and
Rogelio Martinez’ Adrift for South Coast Repertory Theatre.
As an actor
Plana has starred in more than 70 feature films, including JFK,
Nixon, Salvador, An Officer and a Gentleman, Lone Star, Three Amigos,
Born in East L.A., El Norte, 187, Primal Fear, Romero, One Good Cop,
Havana, The Rookie, Silver Strand and Picking Up the Pieces
with Woody Allen. He recently appeared in the action thriller Half
Past Dead with Steven Segal, Morris Chestnut, and JaRul; The Lost
City, with Andy Garcia, Bill Murray, and Dustin Hoffman; and
Disney’s highly acclaimed GOAL, The Dream Begins! His
soon-to-be-released feature film projects include El Muerto
starring Wilbur Valderama, Justified, Towards Darkness,
and AmericanEast with Tony Shaloub.
On
television he recently starred in the Showtime Original Miniseries,
Fidel, as the notorious Cuban dictator, Batista, as well as
Showtime’s Noriega: God’s Favorite. He has portrayed leading
roles in four critically acclaimed television series Veronica Claire
for Lifetime, Bakersfield P.D. for FOX and Steven Bocco’s
Total Security and City of Angels for ABC. He has also
appeared in several Emmy award winning programs such as Sweet
Fifteen, Drug Wars: The Camarena Story, The Burning Season: The Life and
Death of Chico Mendes and a special episode of L.A. Law,
which also received an Imagen Award. Mr. Plana has portrayed recurring
roles on NBC’s award winning drama The West Wing as the U.S.
Secretary of State, FOX’S 24, CSI, Monk, Almost
Perfect, and The Closer for TNT.
Plana has
been very active in live theatre. On Broadway, his credits include
Zoot Suit and The Boys of Winter. He has performed leads at
the Mark Taper Forum in Zoot Suit, Richard III, Widows, and
The Reader. He has appeared in a wide variety of productions in
many venues, including Figaro Gets a Divorce at the La Jolla
Playhouse; Rum and Coke, Cuba and His Teddy Bear and Bang Bang
Blues at the New York Public Theatre; Rum and Coke and
Charlie Bacon and His Family at the South Coast Repertory Theatre;
The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (The Musical) at the Pasadena
Playhouse; A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet at the
California Shakespearean Festival; Fugue at Syracuse Stage
Company; Ariel Dorfmann’s Mascara at the Arizona Theatre Company;
and most recently received high critical acclaim for his portrayal of
Santiago in Nilo Cruz’ Anna in the Tropics at South Coast
Repertory, the first Latino play to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
He is the
recipient of two Nosotros Golden Eagle awards for outstanding work in
film and television, as well as five Los Angeles Dramalogue Awards for
Theatre. In 2005 he was honored a Educator of the Year by Loyola
Marymount University’s Department of Education and in 2006 received the
Humanitarian of the Year Award from the Millenium Momentum Foundation at
the Music Center. In addition to his extensive involvement in the media
arts and education, he also serves on various boards including the
American Red Cross, the Center Theatre Group Diversity Advisory
Committee, Loyola High School Board of Regents and the Latino Alumni
Society , Latino-Byzantine Quarter Foundation, and the Young Musicians
Foundation created by Henry Mancini.
He has been
married to actress, Ada Maris, for nineteen years and is the proud
father of Alejandro and Isabel.
