Mario Federico Balmaseda Maurisco

Balmaseda is an icon of Cuban television. This distinguished Cuban actor was the interpreter of several characters for cinema, theater, and television. He has published poetry, short stories, and articles in national and international magazines and has taught dramatic arts in several educational centers, including the National School of Art.

He is an undisputed glory of art in Cuba. He has never allowed himself to be pigeonholed into a single type of character or artistic medium and, thanks to this, we have been able to enjoy him starring in countless characterizations, directing theatrical works, acting in cinema and on the small screen, and serving as a judge in prestigious literary competitions, such as the Premio Casa de las Américas.

Mario Balmaseda is a Havana native through and through. His first contacts with art were within the Teatro Martí and with the renowned Cuban circus Santos y Artigas, where his mother was a reciter. He is not one of those Cubans we say was born in humble circumstances, as his family belonged to the middle-class Black bourgeoisie on the island. A graduate of a military academy, he later studied construction at the School of Arts and Crafts in Havana, but ended up working at the famous Cabaret Montmartre until 1959.

After the triumph of the Revolution, his entire family abandoned the country and he stayed alone in Cuba. From then on, his ties were devoted to the Revolution, eventually becoming head of the militias in the capital municipality of Plaza de la Revolución. There he came into contact with Raquel Revuelta, Mario Limonta, María Elena Molinet, and Aurora Basnuevo, as he was in command of all these actors.

Balmaseda began his artistic life as an amateur in theater, in the late 60s, in the first Worker-Peasant Theater Brigade. "They hired me as an assistant to Jesús Hernández, we got into a truck and went out to work in the fields, nine young people. After the brigade I attended two seminars on dramaturgy…". After an intense learning period, a series of events guided the once-young actor in the right direction.

He was part of the Grupo de Teatro Ocuje alongside Tito Junco, Omar Valdés, Miguel Benavides, Daysi Granados, and Alfredo Ávila. They staged several works including: "María Antonia," by Eugenio Hernández; "El alboroto," by Carlo Goldoni, with the opportunity to be the protagonist. In this restless and revolutionary collective from an aesthetic point of view, Balmaseda shared experiences and teachings with renowned figures of Cuban art, such as Hilda Oates, Omar Valdés, Miguel Benavides, Daysi Granados, Susana Alonso, Samuel Claxton, among others.

He worked for several years as an amateur actor and later studied dramaturgy at the National Theater of Cuba and in the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

Between 1992 and 1995 he resided in Venezuela, where he acted in the telenovelas "Cruz de Nadie," "Piel," and "Pedacito de Cielo," produced by Marte TB.

As director of the Bertolt Theater he consolidates and directs numerous works, the most significant being "Andoba." The theatrical works in which he has worked are countless. He has directed, also for theater, more than a dozen works and has been the author of 13 of them. As an actor, he possesses a long and prolific career.

Over time, he began working in television and later in cinema. On television, he starred in series such as: "Aventuras de Juan Quin Quín," "En silencio ha tenido que ser," "La gran rebelión," "Un bolero para Eduardo," among others.

In cinema, he developed an intense career, in which notable films stand out such as "Los días del agua" (one of his favorite films, according to his own statements), "El hombre de Maisinicú," "De cierta manera," "La última cena," "El brigadista," "Se permuta," "Baraguá," "Entre ciclones," "Roble de olor," "Mañana," among many others.

In the multiple characterizations he has assumed as an actor, both on stage, in cinema, and on television, he has always defended authenticity, rigor, and discipline in his work.

Among the distinctions and awards, the Distinction for National Culture, the Juan Marinello and Alejo Carpentier orders, granted by the State Council of the Republic of Cuba, the Golden Mask of the German National Theater, the National Prize for Cuban Theater in 2006, and numerous laurels for best male performance, best staging, and best dramatic author, conferred in various national and foreign competitions.

Filmography
1971 - Los días del agua. Director Manuel Octavio Gómez.
1973 - El hombre de Maisinicú. Director Manuel Pérez.
1973 - Ustedes tienen la palabra. Director Manuel Octavio Gómez.
1973 - El extraño caso de Rachel K. Director Oscar Valdés.
1974 - De cierta manera. Director Sara Gómez.
1976 - La última cena (film). Director Tomás Gutiérrez Alea.
1977 - El brigadista. Director Octavio Cortázar.
1977 - Río Negro. Director Manuel Pérez.
1978 - La cadena. Director Juan Carlos Tabío.
1978 - Una mujer, un hombre, una ciudad. Director Manuel Octavio Gómez.
1979 - No hay sábado sin sol. Director Manuel Herrera.
1981 - Leyenda. Director Rogelio París and Jorge Fraga.
1983 - Se permuta. Director Juan Carlos Tabío.
1984 - La segunda hora de Esteban Zayas. Director Manuel Pérez.
1985 - En tres y dos. Director Rolando Díaz.
1985 - Baraguá. Director José Massip.
1989 - Venir al mundo. Director Miguel Torres.
1989 - La inútil muerte de mi socio Manolo. Director Julio García Espinosa.
1990 - Nazca (Series for Spanish TV). Director Benito Rabal.
1996 - La cola del lagarto. Director Bruno Gantillon.
2002 - Entre ciclones. Director Enrique Colina.
2003 - Roble de olor. Director Rigoberto López.
2009 - Mañana. Director Alejandro Moya.

Awards and Recognition
Juan Marinello Order granted by the State Council of the Republic of Cuba.
Gold Distinction to outstanding personalities of international culture granted by the Theater of Bratislava.
Distinction for the 70th Anniversary of the Moscow Art Theater.
Distinction for National Culture, granted by the State Council of the Republic of Cuba.
Prize for Popularity granted by Opina Magazine. Havana, 1986.
Alejo Carpentier Medal granted by the State Council of the Republic of Cuba.
Golden Mask of the German National Theater, 1980.
Andoba - Prize for best staging at the Havana Theater Festival, 1980; Special prize for best direction of theater for television in the Competition of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba. Havana, 2001.
El Carrillón del Kremlin - Prize for best male performance at the Havana Theater Festival, 1980.
En silencio ha tenido que ser - Prize for best male performance on television in the Competition of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba. Havana, 1980.
Filas de sombra - Prize for best dramatic author granted by the National Theater of Cuba. Havana, 1962.
La inútil muerte de mi socio Manolo - Prize for best male film performance in the Competition of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba. Havana, 1990; Bochica Gold Prize for best male performance at the International Film Festival in Bogotá, Colombia, 1990.
La segunda hora de Esteban Zayas - Best male film performance in the Competition of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba. Havana, 1985.
Mi socio Manolo - Prize for best male performance at the Camagüey Theater Festival, 1988.
National Theater Prize 2006.
ACTUAR Prize for Life's Work, granted by the Artistic Agency of Performing Arts ACTUAR 2016.
National Television Prize 2019.

He has been a judge for the Premio Casa de las Américas and the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC).

His cinematographic career is also extensive, which began with the film "Los días del agua" by Manuel Octavio Gómez. Likewise, with the Cuban film "Baraguá," from 1985, and directed by director José Massip, he achieved great renown for his masterful interpretation of the Bronze Titan, Antonio Maceo.

For several years now, Balmaseda has been retired from the stage due to health problems, after giving the public more than five decades of total dedication to his work.