Henry Darrow

Early years

Darrow was born in New York City, the first son of Gloria and Enrique Pío Delgado, who worked in the restaurant and clothing businesses. Darrow's parents had moved from Puerto Rico to New York in the early 1930s. At the age of eight, he played a woodcutter in a school play, an experience which convinced him that his destiny was as an actor.

In 1946, when Darrow was 13, his family returned to Puerto Rico, where he discovered his roots and grew to love a country he had not known. He graduated from Academia del Perpetuo Socorro high school in Miramar, Puerto Rico, as class president before enrolling in the University of Puerto Rico. There he studied political science and acting, and worked as a part-time English-language interpreter. During his third year at the University, he was awarded a Scholarship (the first of its kind) to attend acting school. Thereupon Darrow moved to Los Angeles, where he enrolled in the Pasadena Playhouse. He met and married his first wife, Lucy and they went on to have two children, Denise and Tom. Darrow graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in theater arts.

Acting career

Darrow had already landed small parts in 12 movies and 75 television series when he won the role in a play titled The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit. This brought him to the attention of television producer David Dortort, who immediately recruited him for his television western series The High Chaparral, casting him as Manolito Montoya. Making its debut on American television in September 1967 NBC, it went on to last four seasons and was screened around the world. While on the show, both he and series' lead Cameron Mitchell became household names as the breakout stars of the show.

Darrow is the first Latino actor to portray Zorro on television. (José Suárez played Zorro in a 1953 Spanish film.) He starred in the series Zorro and Son and also has provided the voice for the animated series of The New Adventures of Zorro. He replaced Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. as Zorro's father from 1990–1994, in the Family Channel's successful, The New Zorro.

In 1972, Darrow co-founded the Screen Actors Guild Ethnic Minority Committee with actors Ricardo Montalban, Edith Diaz and Carmen Zapata.

In 1986, he appeared in the horror film The Hitcher as Trooper Hancock, a ruthless and vengeful policeman who would go above the law to kill the main protagonist (who was framed for the crimes by the main antagonist).

Television appearances

Darrow has also appeared in hundreds of episodes of soap operas, miniseries, sitcoms and dramas, along with numerous stage plays. Television series in which he has appeared include:

Soap opera performances include:

Guest appearances

Darrow also made a guest appearance in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation as a Vulcan Starfleet Admiral named Savar in the season 1 episode "Conspiracy" and two guest appearances in episodes of Star Trek: Voyager as Kolopak, the father of Chakotay in the season 2 episodes "Tattoo" and in "Basics: Part 1". In 1986, he made a cameo appearance in the horror film The Hitcher In 1988, Darrow guest starred in a Season 4 episode of The Golden Girls ("Yes, We Have No Havanas").

Awards

Later years

Darrow was a member of the board of directors of the "Screen Actors Guild" (SAG) and a member of "SAG's" "Ethnic Minorities Committee. He was also a founder of "Nosotros", an organization helping Latino actors land non-stereotyped parts. Darrow has served on the "Advisory Committee of Bilingual Children's Television". In recent years, Darrow has cut back on his public appearances. However, he is slated to appear at the Memphis Film Festival June 12–14, 2014.