Tony Plana
Tony Plana Role: Ignacio Suarez
Birthday : April-19-1952
Birthplace : Havana, Cuba
Birth Name : Jose Antonio Plana
Recent Role : Ignacio Suarez on Ugly Betty
Gender : Male
Tony Plana was born in Havana and in 1963, he moved to Miami along with his family. He joined Loyola Marymount University and graduated from the same. He next attended Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and received training in acting. The man is very well-known among TV viewers for his appearances in feature films, television etc and has also acted and directed for the stage. He has been very active in Los Angeles and New York City theatre communities and has also directed several productions of Shakespeare’s works. In the Los Angeles production of the ‘Zoot Suit’, he played the role of Rudy and would portray the same role in the film version as well.
Projects which he has made his contributions as actor, director and writer include ‘Hill Street Blues’, ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’, ‘Resurrection Boulevard’, Commander in Chief’, ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’, ‘The West Wing’, ‘24’, ‘Cagney & Lacey’ etc.
Among his movie appearances are ‘An Officer and a Gentleman’, ‘Three Amigos!’, ‘Goal!’, ‘Lone Star’ etc. He also gave his voice to Manny Calavera on Grim Fandango. He also teaches at California State University, Dominguez Hills and Rio Hondo College.
In 2006, Tony Plana won the Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries, or Motion Picture Made for Television and the role which made him to won was of Ignacio Suarez on ‘Ugly Betty’. In the same year, he received a nomination for Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble- Comedy Series for Ugly Betty. In 2002, he was nominated for ALMA Award as an Outstanding Actor in a Television Series for his role on ‘Resurrection Blvd.’. He received the same nomination for same role in 2001. In 1996, Tony received Bravo Awards’ nomination as an Outstanding Actor in a Feature Film for his role on ‘Lone Star’. His other acting credits include ‘Madame X’, ‘El Norte’, ‘Valley Girl’, ‘Romero’, ‘The Case of the Hillside Stranglers’, ‘The Rookie’, ‘JFK’, ‘One Good Cop’, ‘Nixon’, ‘One Eight Seven’, ‘Primal Fear’, ‘Half Past Dead’, ‘Picking up the Pieces’, ‘the Lost City’, and ‘Life is Hot In Cracktown’.
Tony Plana married Ada Maris, an actress in 1988 and the couple has two children.
Role on ‘Ugly Betty’
Tony Plana portrays the character of Ignacio Suarez on Ugly Betty. He has two daughters, Betty Suarez and Hilda Suarez. He’s also the grandfather of Hilda’s son Justin. When Betty started working at MODE, he supported her. He has an important part to play on ‘Ugly Betty’ and is among the main characters of series.
