Antonio Juan Fargas (born August 14, 1946) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actorAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
made famous for his roles in 1970s
blaxploitationBlaxploitation is a film genre that emerged in the United States in the early 1970s when many exploitation films were made that targeted the urban black audience; the word itself is a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation." Blaxploitation films were the first to feature soundtracks of...
movies.
Fargas, one of eleven children, was born in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
to a
TrinidadTrinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the country of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just 11 km off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of 4,768 km² it is also the fifth...
ian mother, Mildred (
néeA married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage, and in speaking of the many cultures where the practice is traditional for women, the maiden name is the family name that the married name replaces....
Bailey), and a Puerto Rican father, Manuel Fargas. His father worked as a refuse collector.
After starring in a string of
blaxploitationBlaxploitation is a film genre that emerged in the United States in the early 1970s when many exploitation films were made that targeted the urban black audience; the word itself is a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation." Blaxploitation films were the first to feature soundtracks of...
movies in the early '70s, such as his role as Link Brown in the movie
Foxy BrownFoxy Brown is a 1974 blaxploitation film written and directed by Jack Hill. It stars Pam Grier as the title character, described by one character as "a whole lot of woman" who showcases unrelenting sexiness while battling the villains.- Plot :...
, he gained recognition as streetwise informant "Huggy Bear" in the mid-'70s television series
Starsky and HutchStarsky and Hutch is a 1970s US television series that consisted of a 90-minute pilot movie and 92 episodes of 60 minutes each; created by William Blinn, produced by Spelling-Goldberg Productions, and broadcast between April 30 1975 and May 15 1979 on the ABC network; distributed by...
.
Antonio Juan Fargas (born August 14, 1946) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actorAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
made famous for his roles in 1970s
blaxploitationBlaxploitation is a film genre that emerged in the United States in the early 1970s when many exploitation films were made that targeted the urban black audience; the word itself is a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation." Blaxploitation films were the first to feature soundtracks of...
movies.
Biography
Fargas, one of eleven children, was born in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
to a
TrinidadTrinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the country of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just 11 km off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of 4,768 km² it is also the fifth...
ian mother, Mildred (
néeA married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage, and in speaking of the many cultures where the practice is traditional for women, the maiden name is the family name that the married name replaces....
Bailey), and a Puerto Rican father, Manuel Fargas. His father worked as a refuse collector.
After starring in a string of
blaxploitationBlaxploitation is a film genre that emerged in the United States in the early 1970s when many exploitation films were made that targeted the urban black audience; the word itself is a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation." Blaxploitation films were the first to feature soundtracks of...
movies in the early '70s, such as his role as Link Brown in the movie
Foxy BrownFoxy Brown is a 1974 blaxploitation film written and directed by Jack Hill. It stars Pam Grier as the title character, described by one character as "a whole lot of woman" who showcases unrelenting sexiness while battling the villains.- Plot :...
, he gained recognition as streetwise informant "Huggy Bear" in the mid-'70s television series
Starsky and HutchStarsky and Hutch is a 1970s US television series that consisted of a 90-minute pilot movie and 92 episodes of 60 minutes each; created by William Blinn, produced by Spelling-Goldberg Productions, and broadcast between April 30 1975 and May 15 1979 on the ABC network; distributed by...
. As a nod to his early roles, he had a part in the blaxploitation
spoofA parody , in contemporary usage, is a work created to mock, comment on, or poke fun at an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
,
I'm Gonna Git You SuckaI'm Gonna Git You Sucka is a 1988 mock blaxploitation film written and directed by and starring Keenen Ivory Wayans. Featured in the film are several African American actors who were part of the blaxploitation phenomenon; including Jim Brown, Bernie Casey, Antonio Fargas and Isaac Hayes...
, as well as another Wayans brothers "hood" parody,
Don't Be a Menace. Some notable appearances on
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
television shows include participating in series 4 of the reality series
I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! which began in November 2004 and an appearance on
Frank SidebottomFrank Sidebottom is the stage name and persona of the English comedian and musician Chris Sievey. The character is instantly recognisable by his spherical head - this was initially made from papier-mâché, but later rebuilt out of fibreglass.Frank, usually dressed in a 1950s-style sharp suit, is...
's Proper Telly Show in early 2006. He also appeared in
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
's
All My ChildrenAll My Children is an American soap opera that has been broadcast Monday through Friday on the ABC TV network since January 5, 1970; repeat episodes air weeknights on SOAPnet. Created by Agnes Nixon, the show is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia...
in the mid-1980s as the father of Angie Hubbard. He guest starred in the sitcom
Living SingleLiving Single was an American television sitcom which aired for five seasons on FOX from August 1993 until January 1998. The show centered on the lives of six African American friends who share personal and professional experiences while living in a Brooklyn brownstone...
, and recently played the part of Toledo in a revival of
August WilsonAugust Wilson was an American playwright. His literary legacy is the ten play series, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama...
's
Ma Rainey's Black BottomMa Rainey's Black Bottom is a 1982 play - one of a ten-play cycle by August Wilson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright - that chronicles twentieth century African American experience...
at the Royal Exchange Theatre,
ManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. In 2007, the population of the city was estimated to be 458,100...
(2006). He has a regular role as 'Doc' on
Everybody Hates ChrisEverybody Hates Chris is the American comedy-drama inspired on the teenager experiences of the comedian Chris Rock , while growing up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York in the early-mid 1980s. The title of the show parodies the CBS show Everybody Loves Raymond...
. Fargas also played the driver in the music video of
Backstreet BoysThe Backstreet Boys are a Grammy-nominated American vocal group. They were launched by boy band producer Lou Pearlman, and have been together since April 20, 1993...
hit "
Everybody (Backstreet's Back)"Everybody " is the first single from the Backstreet Boys' second international album Backstreet's Back in 1997, and third single from their debut US album in 1998. It is one of their signature songs. The US debut was originally released without the song, which references the band's return via...
". He currently lives in Las Vegas.
Argentine band
BabasónicosBabasónicos is an Argentine rock band, formed in the early 1990s along with others such as Peligrosos Gorriones and Los Brujos. After emerging in the wave of Argentine New Rock bands of the late '80s and early '90s, Babasonicos became one of the banner groups of the "sonic" underground rock...
released a song in their 1998 B-sides album
Vórtice MarxistaVórtice Marxista is the first b-sides album by Argentine rock group Babasónicos. It consists of tracks that were left out of their first two albums: Pasto and Trance Zomba.-Track listing:...
called
Antonio Fargas. The song's chorus repeats the phrase
"Antonio Fargas is Huggy Bear", in
SpanishSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
, and is meant to be homage to Antonio.
Fargas's son
JustinJustin Fargas is an American football running back for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League.-College career:...
is the starting
running backA running back is the position of a player on an American or Canadian football team who usually lines up in the offensive backfield...
for the
Oakland RaidersThe Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team in the NFL based in the city of Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
. Fargas appeared recently on an episode of Fox's "Lie to Me" as the father of a murdered firefighter.
External links