Alberto Camilo Pujol Acosta

Well-known Cuban actor. Son of a lineage of artists, Albertico is not only brilliant as an actor, but is also an excellent musical composer and a notable painter.

Son of professional singers, Alberto and Nina, he was born in the Vedado neighborhood in Havana.

Alberto was "the result of a 33-year-old man (Alberto) and a beautiful 21-year-old woman (Iselina Acosta—Nina). Both were singers when they met. My father (baritone and bass) sang in the opera for a long time, while my mother did so in Paquito Gudino's choir. Both came to know each other through my maternal uncle (Raúl Acosta) who at that time was the lead voice of the well-known quartet Los Meme and of the choir of the distinguished piano and voice teacher Cuca Rivero. Thus, in that world they came together in life and artistically until later (the three of them) formed the quartet Voces Latinas. A period that I lived very young and in a world that fascinated me deeply." That was a quartet that was very well received by the Cuban public, for its harmony, musicality and selection of numbers.

Albertico began acting at age 10 in children's television programs and theaters, "I was in elementary school, and I began to frequent the television studios as a fantastic world, starting with its artists, diverse equipment, transmission booths, decoration, furnishings… Even, there were moments when it seemed disconcerting to me to conceive of my parents' presence at home and, at the same time, to see them on the television through live programs transmitted via kinescopes or films, as happened back then. I also frequently went to cabarets with both of them."

It is in this medium where he has developed a broad and versatile career, since in addition to performing with equal quality in dramatic and humorous roles, he has been the presenter and host of countless national and international programs and events; he has participated as a composer in 16 record productions and has done orchestrations for commercials, television series and theatrical shows.

He came to acting by chance. He did television as a child, but in adolescence he was embarrassed to play characters like Peter Pan. He enrolled in the program when he was told that mathematics was not taught, a subject he had nothing to do with. He passed the entrance exam to the National School of Art (ENA) and was there for four years, two of them conditionally. He graduated in 1979.

Already graduated from the ENA, he joined the Teatro Escambray Group, directed by actor Sergio Corrieri, who had been a friend and companion of his parents. Regarding the Group, he says it was a true school in his life. There he learned to cook, to wash, to iron, to make coffee, to bathe with cold water… A harsh experience, but very important. "I never forget that, shortly after joining it and with the Sandinista Revolution triumphant in Nicaragua, we left for that Central American country where we performed a total of one hundred theater functions in 46 days. We staged theatrical pieces based on works by Cuban writers such as Onelio Jorge Cardoso and Roberto Orihuela, among others. From a story by the latter (La emboscada), in which he played the leading role, I made my debut as a professional actor. Therefore, I was already in the process of training as an actor."

He was, along with other young people, one of the animators of the popular program "Para Bailar".

He studied percussion for a time at the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory with Professor of Merit Roberto Concepción. But he felt so bad as a percussionist that he abandoned these studies. From 1994 to 1999 he worked in Colombian television, in novels such as "Café con aroma de mujer", "Eternamente Manuela" or "La madre". His latest appearances on Cuban television, in the series La otra cara and La maja desnuda, have been highly praised by the public and critics.

From 1979 onwards, he has acted in around 15 theatrical productions, among which stand out Andoba and Santa Camila de la Habana Vieja, true classics of Cuban theater. In 1980 he worked under the direction of Octavio Cortázar in Guardafronteras, with which he made his Cuban film debut. Among his most popular characters is "El Tavo", from the serial "Su propia guerra".

Pujol left Cuba for Colombia in 2011. There he recorded 15 telenovelas and 14 television series, among which stand out El Capo, La traicionera, Rafael Orozco, El ídolo and Celia, in which he played Rogelio Martínez, director of the Sonora Matancera. After living four years in Colombia, he settled in Miami from mid-2015 where he completed the short film Los ponedores –a story of prisoners directed by Vilaplana that will be exhibited at several international festivals– and in the series Leyendas del exilio (América TeVé) by the same director, he made a special performance and provided music for some chapters. He has also ventured into sketches for the programs TN3 and El Happy Hour. And since he likes to paint, he has exhibited his paintings in several group exhibitions at the Milander Center, in Hialeah.

Filmography
Films
1980 Guardafronteras. Dir. Octavio Cortázar.
1982 Los refugiados de la Cueva del Muerto. Dir. Santiago Álvarez.
1983 Una casa colonial. Dir. Miguel Torres.
1983 Los pájaros tirándole a la escopeta. Dir. Rolando Díaz.
1986 Dolly Back (Short Film. Fiction). Dir. Juan Carlos Tabío.
1986 Como la vida misma. Dir. Víctor Casaus.
1987 Bajo presión. Dir. Víctor Casaus.
1987 Gallego. Dir. Manuel Octavio Gómez.
1988 La crin de Venus. Dir. Diego Rodríguez Arché.
1989 Venir al mundo. Dir. Miguel Torres.
1989 Alicia en el pueblo de Maravillas. Dir. Daniel Díaz.
1991 Sueño Tropical. Dir. Miguel Torres.
2009 Brainstorm (Fiction Short). Dir. Eduardo del Llano.
2009 Ciudad en rojo (Feature Film. Fiction). Dir. Rebeca Chávez.
2010 Casa vieja (Feature Film. Fiction). Dir. Léster Hamlet.

Theater
Santa Camila de la Habana Vieja.
Andoba.

Television
Su propia guerra.
Gracias Doctor.
Violetas de agua.
Tras la huella.
Café con aroma de mujer.

Telenovelas
Rafael Orozco, el ídolo (2012) as Jacinto Cabello.
La traicionera (2011) as Dr. Troncoso
Francisco el matemático (1999)
La madre (1998) as Enrique Suárez.
Eternamente Manuela (1995) as Roberto "Beto" Caicedo.
Café, con aroma de mujer (1993) as Mohamed Khail.
Dejemonos de vainas (1984) as Joseito Borrón.

Awards and Recognitions
Medal for National Culture awarded by the State Council of the Republic of Cuba.
Los pájaros tirándole a la escopeta: Award for Best Male Performance. Iberoamerican Film Festival of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, 1984.
Su propia guerra: Award for Best Male Television Performance. Contest of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba. Havana, 1992.

He has three daughters Laura, the oldest daughter who studies Performing Arts; Isabella, born in Colombia, who will also be an actress, and Sofía, the youngest and who likes ballet–, as well as a son José Ramón, Moncho, who feels drawn to acting.

He currently resides in Miami, and continues to be involved in television although he does not abandon his other interests. Furthermore, his most personal facet can be seen in his cooking channel on youtube, "La cocina de Pujol", in which he teaches cooking and has guests who can not only be artists but also part of his family. The main idea as Alberto himself would describe it: take a delicious dish and improve it.