Manuel Martín, Jr.

Manuel Martín Jr. (December 16, 1934 - September 28, 2000) was a Cuban theatre director.

Biography Manuel Martín Jr. was born December 16, 1934, in Artemisa, Cuba. He attended La Inmaculada Concepción Grammar School and the Escuela Pública No. 1 in Artemisa, and completed three years at the Escuela Profesional de Comercio. He left Cuba for the United States on October 27, 1956, and graduated from Hunter College in Manhattan with a bachelor's degree in theater and film. Martín directed the same production in February 1973 at the Theatre at St. Clement's.

In June 1973, Martín directed Teatro Duo in his play Francesco: The Life and Times of the Cencis. The work-in-progress production featured music by Cuban composer Enrique Ubieta and performances by Martín, Alabau, Hortensia Colorado, and Graciela Mas, among others.

In addition to his directing, Martín is best known as the playwright of Rita and Bessie, Swallows, and Union City Thanksgiving, the latter of which was published in a Cuban theatre anthology by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Madrid, Spain, in 1992. His plays have been produced at the Latino Festival, New York Shakespeare Festival, INTAR, and La MaMa.

He received a Cintas Fellowship for literature in 1985; the New York Foundation for the Arts award for playwriting in 1986, 1987, and 1991; and a Fulbright Fellowship for playwriting in 1987. He was a member of the INTAR Playwrights in Residence Laboratory in New York. Martín instructed drama workshops in New York and in Puerto Rico, and presented at conferences in New York, Miami, and Paris.

He lived in New York City until his death on September 28, 2000.