Axel Anderson

Axel Anderson (December 11, 1929 – December 16, 2012) was a German actor who was very popular in his adopted homeland of Puerto Rico.

Biography

Early life Anderson was born Axel Levy to a Jewish family in Berlin, Germany. In 1936 Anderson's family escaped the Holocaust by emigrating to Paraguay. Due to political instability in Paraguay, Anderson's family soon moved to Argentina. Anderson started acting as a teenager, working at the Teatro Alemán Independiente, a small theater troupe mainly composed of German expatriates who performed in German.

During the 1950s, Anderson moved his young family, including wife Helena, to Bogotá, Colombia where he worked in theater. The family later moved to the Dominican Republic. During his time in the Dominican Republic, Anderson reportedly clashed with the politics of the Rafael Trujillo regime, being forced to emigrate one more time. He and his family settled in Puerto Rico where they have remained ever since.

Career Anderson made his debut in Puerto Rican television with a sitcom named Qué Pareja, a local version of I Love Lucy. He also performed in theater and other short television productions. The actor quickly established himself as a leading man, landing several leading roles in local novelas or soap operas. Early in his career, he starred in a novela titled Cuando los hijos condenan in which Anderson and co-star Marta Romero shared the first on-screen kiss in the history of Puerto Rican television.

Anderson also starred in one of the first major motion pictures produced in Puerto Rico, Maruja. His film career continued with roles in Spanish and U.S. films, including Battle of the Bulge (1965) and Bananas (1971). He also participated in the Spanish dubs of several Hollywood films of the 1940s and 1950s as well as of many American TV shows.

In his last 20 years, Anderson remained one of the leading actors in Puerto Rico and continually acted in major local and international productions, including a small role as the bank director in the Sylvester Stallone thriller Assassins.

Anderson (lyrics) and Tony Croatto (music) co-wrote Agüeybaná, a song dedicated to the memory of the most important Taino "Cacique" of the pre-colonial Puerto Rico, recorded by Nelly y Tony and later by Haciendo Punto En Otro Son, which became a major hit in the 70s.

Anderson died on December 16, 2012, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes1944 The Master Race Nazi Officer Uncredited1944 An American Romance Immigrant Uncredited1959 Maruja Jean Pierre 1959 El Otro Camino 1963 Thunder Island Uncredited1964 Aquella joven de blanco 1965 Finger On the Trigger McNamara 1965 Battle of the Bulge German Army messenger 1970 The Delta Factor 1971 Bananas Man Tortured 1977 Mi aventura en Puerto Rico 1993 La guagua aérea Padre Gautier 1994 Desvío al paraíso Clark 1995 Manhattan Merengue! Super 1995 Assassins Bank President 1996 The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca Ortega 1998 The Face at the Window Uncle Pablo 1998 Undercurrent Carlos Rivera Sr 1999 Paging Emma Charlie 1999 Paradise Lost General Díaz 2001 Entre los dioses del desprecio 2003 Celestino y el vampiro Siegfried Von Krank 2004 Desamores Casimiro Leyva 2005 Judíos en el espacio o ¿Por qué es differente esta noche a las demás noches? Mauricio 2005 Taínos Mr. Cordero (Sara's Grandfather) 2006 Entremedio Cesar / Dr. Gutierrez 2007 The Reaping the Blind Man 2011 El Detective Cojines Viejo Rico 2012 Los condenados Michael Puttnam 2016 Riding 79 Cayin (final film role)

Recordings

OPUS 1 Martes 2 de la Tarde Letra de Axel Anderson Por Eso Que Llaman Amor Emigrante Ahora Sé Inventario El Pasado Ya Pasó Para Elisa Mis Cinco Sentidos A Que No Sabes A Quien Ví El Coro