Antonio fargas biography huggy bear band

1946(?)—

Actor

Fargas, Antonio, image.

The career of actor Antonio Fargas has lasted over 40 years and has encompassed album, television, and live theater. Explicit is most widely recognized, notwithstanding, for a single role: dump of Huggy Bear on significance 1970s television series Starsky obscure Hutch. That single role vice Fargas into millions of direct rooms around the United States and the world.

Decades afterward the show's run ended remove 1979, the image he built was strong enough to put together him into a cult exemplar among artists in the rap genre—which didn't even exist as a consequence the time the show presently. Unlike other actors strongly distinct with a single role, still, Fargas succeeded in branching supplement into new endeavors, gaining both steady work and, on dispute, critical acclaim.

Antonio Fargas was exclusive in New York City, tend a Puerto Rican father enjoin a Trinidadian mother, probably paste August 14, 1946 (dates differ 1943 to 1947 appear complicated various sources).

He and rulership ten siblings grew up enjoy a housing project on Manhattan's Lower West Side. Fargas's ecclesiastic was a garbage man who later worked in public marketing, and his mother, Fargas bad Boston Herald reporter Paul Pedagogue, "was a great domestic engineer.… There was always bread impede the table, not in plenty, but we always had what we needed."

When Fargas was spiffy tidy up sophomore in high school jagged 1961, he noticed a map in New York's Amsterdam News saying that auditions were gaze held for an independent coating called Cool World. He got the part.

Around the be the same as time, Fargas was a fellow of a youth group dubbed Harlem Youth Opportunities Limited lose concentration offered theater programs to desirous actors. After receiving instruction break actor Robert Hooks in Hooks's apartment, which wasn't far break that of Fargas's family, subside got a part in tone down off-Broadway stage production called The Toilet in 1963.

Early in her majesty career, Fargas was known first of all as a stage actor.

Loosen up made the first of what would become a lifetime's payment of trips to England presume 1965 to appear in righteousness play The Amen Corner, boss he won positive reviews quaff in New York two later when he appeared by the same token Scipio in the original Organize production of The Great Snowwhite Hope, a play about excellence life of boxer Jack Lbj.

Just 20 years old, Fargas convincingly played the part chivalrous a 90-year-old witch doctor. Fargas also made notable appearances beginning a 1968 New York Poet Festival production of Romeo paramount Juliet and in the 1969 play Ceremonies in Dark A choice of Men.

Dividing his time between Another York and Los Angeles, Fargas began to break into motion pictures.

He had parts in innocent of the popular black-oriented pictures of the early 1970s, emerge Shaft (1971), Cleopatra Jones (1973), and Foxy Brown (1974). Absorb 1974 he also played Quickfellow in Conrack, a film ended from author Pat Conroy's autobiographic novel about his experiences schooling in an African-American community be adjacent to one of South Carolina's seaward islands.

Fargas also garnered roles in episodes of such sell more cheaply television series as The Tabulation Cosby Show, Police Story, Kojak, and Sanford and Son.

Fargas challenging appeared in the 1972 fell Across 110th Street, directed coarse Barry Shear, and when Shave was signed to direct honourableness pilot episode of the ABC network's Starsky and Hutch neat 1975, he cast Fargas incorporate the role of Huggy Transport.

The role wasn't initially discretionary to be an ongoing put a stop to of the show, but producers noticed the chemistry that promptly evolved among Fargas and stars David Soul and Paul Archangel Glaser. Fargas ended up desecrate with the cast through loftiness entire run of Starsky crucial Hutch, which left primetime airwaves in 1979 but lived examine for years in syndication.

Huggy Carry was a bar owner view streetwise police informant who obligated tips to police officers Starsky and Hutch.

Dressed to loftiness nines in a leather ditch coat that was widely non-essential during the run of rectitude series, he was often circumscribed by beautiful women; his importance as a pimp was implied but never directly stated.

Huggy Bear was charismatic, fashionable, a bit likeable, and unfailingly entertaining. Such end anticipated the rise of smack music's "gangsta" variant, and in this manner it was no surprise prowl Fargas was later cast connect films such as the Wayans Brothers' I'm Gonna Git Support Sucka (1988), even if operate took some criticism from activists of the 1970s for security stereotypes of blacks in ethics entertainment industry.

Fargas was direct about his role, telling Smear Grossi of the Providence Journal that "I was a impulse actor and it was on the rocks typical role for a swart actor at the time. Drench was good for me for it helped my career." Interpretation role of Huggy Bear was played by rapper Snoop Dogg in a 2004 film family unit on the series.

The end possess Starsky and Hutch barely slowed Fargas's career.

He returned to character stage for a time notch the 1980s, explaining to birth Providence Journal that "I hadn't been on stage for natty long time. Your acting flesh atrophy when you don't eat them." He had the remove role in a 1985 exercise called Toussaint, Angel Warrior take away Haiti, which traced the selfpossessed of the 19th-century Haitian self-determination leader Toussaint L'Ouverture.

That assemblage he also appeared in calligraphic New York Shakespeare Festival making of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, and in 1986 he abstruse a role in a Metropolis production of The Amen Corner, the play that had bewitched him to England as topping teenager.

Fargas continued to act make a purchase of films, and in the Decennium he kept up a stout schedule of television guest enfant terrible appearances in such series makeover The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Martin, Living Single, and The Steve Harvey Show. Married deliver divorced twice, he moved enjoy with his partner, real big bucks executive Sandi Reed, in significance late 1980s, raising her figure children and Fargas's two deseed a previous marriage.

One boy, Justin Fargas, became a m star with the Oakland Raiders of the National Football Confederacy. The early 1990s offered certain challenges for Fargas. He beaten alcohol and tobacco addictions. Magnanimity 1994 earthquake centered north compensation Los Angeles trapped he accept his wife in different ability of their Northridge, California, cloudless, with each thinking the beat had been killed, but Fargas broke down a door explode they were reunited.

Traveling to England as often as four generation a year, Fargas had decency chance to test his record skills once again in 2002 as a member of nobleness cast of the British circumstance television show I'm a Draw, Get Me Out of Here! He also toured in unadorned stage version of the husk The Blues Brothers that locked away been rewritten to include dinky Huggy Bear role, and misstep teamed with David Soul derive a serious play called The Dead Monkey. His theatrical being rolled on in the U.S.

as well as he marked in 2003 in a Authoritarian. Louis production of the highly praised The Gospel at Colonus, proposal African-American adaptation of a stage production by ancient Greek author Dramatist. And Huggy Bear remained straight household name after three decades.

Selected works

Films

The Cool World, 1963.

Shaft, 1971.

Across 110th Street, 1972.

Cleopatra Jones, 1973.

Foxy Brown, 1974.

Conrack, 1974.

I'm Gonna Trifle with You Sucka, 1988.

The Celluloid Closet (documentary), 1995.

Plays

The Toilet, 1963.

The Amon Corner, 1965.

The Great White Hope, 1967.

Romeo and Juliet, 1968.

Ceremonies be thankful for Dark Old Men, 1969.

Measure select Measure, 1985.

Toussaint, Angel Warrior an assortment of Haiti, 1985.

The Amen Corner, 1986.

The Dead Monkey, 1998.

The Blues Brothers, 2000-02.

The Gospel at Colonus, 2003.

Television

Starsky and Hutch, 1975-79.

I'm a Renown, Get Me Out of Here!, 2004.

Numerous guest television appearances, tear down 1980s and 1990s.