Angel Vilches

Comic actor, tenor.

Born in Cienfuegos, former province of Las Villas.

He distinguished himself in zarzuela, operetta, and Cuban vernacular genre. He made his debut at the Payret theater with the company of Acebal y del Campo, in the piece El furor de la carioca, by Mas, López, Reverón, and Valdespí (1934).

He performed at the Alhambra theater (1935) for the company of Pepín Rodríguez and Luis Balcorba and in the Company of Ramón Espígul, Sr. He was part of the chorus of Lecuona's company (1935).

He participated in the premiere of the works Lola Cruz and El torrente, and made his debut as a comic tenor in La virgen morena, by Grenet.

He worked in the zarzuela and operetta companies of López Somoza and Fernando Soler and in the dramatic companies of Fe Malumbres and Manolo Fernández, with whom he toured Latin America.

Upon his return, he joined the variety company of Garrido and Piñero and made his debut on radio station COCO.

In 1944 he participated in the seasons of the companies of Magda Haller and Mario Martínez Casado at the Principal de la Comedia.

In 1959 he was part of the Robreño-Meluzá Otero company and participated in the Lecuona Festivals. He also worked for the Jorge Anckermann group.

His last performances took place at the Gran Teatro de La Habana, with the Teatro Lírico Nacional de Cuba. He appeared in the Cuban films ¡Qué suerte tiene el cubano! (1950, dir. R. Medina), Ángeles de la calle (1953, dir. A. P. Delgado), El recurso del método (1978, dir. M. Littin), and Plácido (1986, dir. S. Giral), among others.

He died in Havana on July 15, 2005.