Lillian Hurst (born August 13, 1943) is a
Puerto RicanPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is a self-governing unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands...
actress and
comedienneA comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain members of an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
. Hurst made her debut as a television comedian in the early 1960s. She participated in various Off-Broadway and movie productions in the United States.
Hurst was born in the Villa Palmera section of
San Juan, Puerto RicoSan Juan is the capital and largest municipality in Puerto Rico. As of the 2000 census, it has a population of 433,733, making it the 42nd-largest city under the jurisdiction of the United States. San Juan was founded by Spanish colonists in 1521, who called it Ciudad de Puerto Rico...
, where the middle class families live. Her father was the owner of the "Farmacia Imperial" (Imperial Pharmacy) located in the neighborhood of Barrio Obrero.
Lillian Hurst (born August 13, 1943) is a
Puerto RicanPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is a self-governing unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands...
actress and
comedienneA comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain members of an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
. Hurst made her debut as a television comedian in the early 1960s. She participated in various Off-Broadway and movie productions in the United States.
Early years
Hurst was born in the Villa Palmera section of
San Juan, Puerto RicoSan Juan is the capital and largest municipality in Puerto Rico. As of the 2000 census, it has a population of 433,733, making it the 42nd-largest city under the jurisdiction of the United States. San Juan was founded by Spanish colonists in 1521, who called it Ciudad de Puerto Rico...
, where the middle class families live. Her father was the owner of the "Farmacia Imperial" (Imperial Pharmacy) located in the neighborhood of Barrio Obrero. Hurst is also a cousin of Puerto Rican
television producerThe primary role of a television producer is to control all aspects of production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
Tommy MuñizTommy Muñiz was a Puerto Rican comedian, dramatic actor, network owner and producer. He is considered to be one of the pioneering figures of the television business in Puerto Rico.-Early years:...
. She received her primary and secondary education in the capital.
At a young age, Hurst told her parents that she wanted to be an actress. They enrolled her in the modeling academy of Ana Santisteban. In 1960, when she was 17 years old, she was clowning around with her friends while waiting for her turn at the academy. Producer Gaspar Pumarejo happened to encounter Hurst when he entered the academy looking for "fresh" talent for a new show that he was producing.
Television debut
That year Hurst was contracted and she starred in the television comedy
Pompilia y su Familia (
Pompilia and her Family), which was broadcast on
WAPA-TVWAPA-TV is a full-power, independent television station located in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico transmitting over digital channel 27, virtual channel 4. The station is owned by InterMedia Partners and is branded as WAPA Television....
. Later, she hosted
La Hora del Niño (
The Children's Hour) on Channel 6. Some of the other comedies in which she participated in the 1960s were
Casos y Cosas de la Casa (
Cases and Things of the House) with actor
Braulio CastilloBraulio Castillo Cintrón enjoyed a long and successful career as a telenovela actor in Latin America. His two sons, Braulio Castillo, Jr. and Jorge Castillo, are also actors....
and
Matrimonio y Algo Más (
Marriage and Something More). In 1969, Hurst was contracted by Panamericana de Television of Lima, Peru to work in the program
El Hit del Momento (
The Hit of the Moment), for one year.
When Hurst returned to Puerto Rico, she went to work in some of the programs produced by her cousin,
Tommy MuñizTommy Muñiz was a Puerto Rican comedian, dramatic actor, network owner and producer. He is considered to be one of the pioneering figures of the television business in Puerto Rico.-Early years:...
. She also participated in various theater productions for the first time. Among them were
La Casa de las Hojas Azules (
The House with the Blue Leaves) and
La Verdadera Historia de Pedro NavajaPedro Navaja is a salsa song written and performed by Rubén Blades, about a criminal of the same name. "Navaja" means knife or razor in Spanish...
(
The True Story of Pedro Navaja). In 1980, Hurst wrote and produced a stage show which she presented at the Condado Beach Hotel in San Juan.
Career in the United States
Hurst went to
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
were she worked for a short time on some
Off-BroadwayOff Broadway theater is an umbrella term for a defined set of plays, musicals or revues performed in New York City. Originally referring to the location of a venue and its productions on a street intersecting Broadway in Manhattan's Theatre District, the hub of the theater industry in the United...
productions. Then in 1989, she moved to
Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles is the largest city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California...
where she enrolled in
Santa Monica CollegeSanta Monica College is a two-year public community college located in Santa Monica, California.Santa Monica College was first opened in 1929 as Santa Monica Junior College. Current enrollment is over 30,000 students in more than 90 fields of study...
and majored in
psychologyPsychology is an academic and applied discipline involving the systematic, and sometimes scientific, study of human or animal mental functions and behavior...
. Hurst was able to work in both
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
English languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
productions. She landed a role as "Mrs. Maris" in
Windows (1991), which was presented at the Taper Forum Theater and as "Lola" in
La Balada de Tina Jaurez (The Ballad of Tina Juarez) (1992). She was also the founder of an acting school for
HispanicHispanic is a term that historically denoted a relationship to the ancient Hispania . During the modern era, it took on a more limited meaning, relating to the contemporary nation of Spain....
children.
Later years
Hurst has participated in twenty movies, including the 2005 film
English as a Second LanguageESL , ESOL , and EFL all refer to the use or study of English by speakers with a different native language. The precise usage, including the different use of the terms ESL and ESOL in different countries, is described below...
. She has also made over thirty television guest appearances in programs such as
JAGJAG is an American adventure/legal drama television show that was produced by Belisarius Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television and, for the first season only, NBC Productions...
,
NYPD BlueNYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan....
,
The King Of QueensThe King of Queens is an American sitcom that ran for nine seasons, from 1998 to 2007, on CBS.The show was produced by Hanley Productions and CBS Productions , CBS Paramount Television in association with Columbia TriStar Television , and Sony Pictures Television...
,
The X-FilesThe X-Files is an American cult science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. It first aired in September 1993 and ended in May 2002...
,
ERER is an American medical drama series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 1994 to April 2009. It is set primarily in the emergency room of fictional County General Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment in...
,
LostLost is an American serial drama television series. It follows the lives of plane crash survivors on a mysterious tropical island, after a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney, Australia, and Los Angeles, United States, crashes somewhere in the South Pacific...
, and a recurring role in
Dharma and Greg, where she played the role of "Celia" in sixteen episodes. She also appeared in the
Ugly BettyUgly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series created by Silvio Horta, which premiered on The American Broadcasting Company on September 28, 2006. The series revolves around Betty Suarez, an unglamorous and good-natured girl, and her incongruous job at the ultra-chic New York City...
episode "
A Tree Grows in GuadalajaraA Tree Grows in Guadalajara is the twenty-second episode from the dramedy series Ugly Betty, which aired on May 10, 2007. Originally this was supposed to be the season finale, but ABC extended its full season order to 23, thus the change in the scheduling and the extension in the...
" as Yolanda Salazar, the grandmother of
Betty SuarezBeatriz "Betty" U. Suarez is a central fictional character and heroine of the American dramedy series Ugly Betty. She is portrayed by America Ferrera, who won a 2007 Golden Globe and 2007 SAG award for her portrayal of the character, as well as the Outstanding Actress in a Comedy award for the role...
. , Lillian Hurst was residing in Los Angeles, California, continuing her work as an actress.