The Most Famous

ACTORS from Cuba

This page contains a list of the greatest Cuban Actors. The pantheon dataset contains 13,578 Actors, 20 of which were born in Cuba. This makes Cuba the birth place of the 36th most number of Actors behind Colombia, and Iran.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Cuban Actors of all time. This list of famous Cuban Actors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Cuban Actors.

1. Andy García (b. 1956)

With an HPI of 65.33, Andy García is the most famous Cuban Actor. His biography has been translated into 56 different languages on wikipedia.

Andrés Arturo García Menéndez (born April 12, 1956), known professionally as Andy García, is an American actor, director and producer. He first rose to prominence acting in Brian De Palma's The Untouchables (1987) alongside Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, and Robert De Niro. He continued to act in films such as Stand and Deliver (1988), and Internal Affairs (1990). He then costarred in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather Part III (1990) as Vincent Mancini, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He continued to act in Hollywood films such as Stephen Frears' Hero (1992), the romantic drama When a Man Loves a Woman (1994), and the action thriller Desperate Measures (1998). In 2000, he produced and acted in the HBO television film, For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story (2000), where he received a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award nominations. He also starred in Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven (2001) and its sequels, Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007). In 2005, García directed and starred in the film The Lost City alongside Dustin Hoffman and Bill Murray. He also starred in New York, I Love You (2008), the dramedy City Island (2009), the romantic comedy At Middleton (2013), and the crime thriller Kill the Messenger (2014). He has had supporting roles in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Book Club, The Mule, the HBO television movie My Dinner with Hervé (all 2018), and the title role in the Father of the Bride remake (2022). In 2005, he won both a Grammy and a Latin Grammy Award for producing Cuban musician Cachao's record ¡Ahora Sí!

2. Tomas Milian (1933 - 2017)

With an HPI of 58.81, Tomas Milian is the 2nd most famous Cuban Actor. His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Tomas Milian (born Tomás Quintín Rodríguez-Varona Milián Salinas de la Fé y Álvarez de la Campa; 3 March 1933 – 22 March 2017) was a Cuban-born actor with American and Italian citizenship, known for the emotional intensity and humor he brought to starring roles in European genre films. A student of Lee Strasberg's, Milian studied method acting at the Actors Studio in New York City. In Italy, he was discovered by director Mauro Bolognini and appeared in supporting roles in several drama films during the late 1950s and early 1960s, including Bad Girls Don't Cry (1959) and as Raphael in Carol Reed's The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965). Throughout the late-1960s and early-1970s, Milian established himself as a dynamic leading actor in a series of Spaghetti Western films, most notably The Big Gundown (1966), Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot! (1967), as well as Sergio Corbucci's parody of the genre The White, the Yellow, and the Black (1975). Dennis Hopper also cast Milian in his 1971 art-house film, The Last Movie. Following a decline in the popularity of Spaghetti Westerns, Milian transitioned to roles in poliziottesco films. After receiving acclaim for his performance as a psychotic killer in Almost Human (1974), he made appearances in Emergency Squad (1974), The Tough Ones (1976) and The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist (1977). After returning to the United States in 1985, Milian continued to perform supporting roles in film productions, including JFK (1991), Amistad (1997), Traffic (2000) and The Lost City (2005).

3. Ana de Armas (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 55.77, Ana de Armas is the 3rd most famous Cuban Actor. Her biography has been translated into 56 different languages.

Ana Celia de Armas Caso (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈana ˈselja ðe ˈaɾmas ˈkaso]; born 30 April 1988) is a Cuban and Spanish actress. She began her career in Cuba with a leading role in the romantic drama Una rosa de Francia (2006). At the age of 18, she moved to Madrid, Spain, and starred in the popular drama El Internado for six seasons from 2007 to 2010. After moving to Los Angeles, de Armas had English-speaking roles in the psychological thriller Knock Knock (2015) and the comedy-crime film War Dogs (2016). She rose to prominence with her role as the holographic AI projection Joi in the science fiction film Blade Runner 2049 (2017). For her performance as nurse Marta Cabrera in the mystery film Knives Out (2019), she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical. She subsequently portrayed the Bond girl Paloma in the James Bond film No Time to Die (2021) and Norma Jeane in the biographical drama Blonde (2022). For the latter, de Armas became the first Cuban to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

4. Steven Bauer (b. 1956)

With an HPI of 54.78, Steven Bauer is the 4th most famous Cuban Actor. His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Steven Bauer (born Esteban Ernesto Echevarría Samson; December 2, 1956) is an American actor. Bauer began his career on PBS, portraying Joe Peña, the son of Cuban immigrants on ¿Qué Pasa, USA? (1977–1979). He played Manolo "Manny" Ribera, the right-hand man of Cuban drug lord Tony Montana, in the 1983 crime drama Scarface. He also played the drug cartel leader Don Eladio Vuente in Breaking Bad (2011) and in Better Call Saul (2017–2022) and the retired Mossad agent Avi Rudin in Ray Donovan (2013–2017).

5. María Conchita Alonso (b. 1957)

With an HPI of 53.60, María Conchita Alonso is the 5th most famous Cuban Actor. Her biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

María Concepción Alonso Bustillo (born June 29, 1955), better known as María Conchita Alonso, is a Cuban-American actress, singer, and beauty pageant titleholder who represented Venezuela at Miss World 1975 and placed in the top seven. She is most known to international audiences for playing Amber Mendez in the 1987 action thriller The Running Man She has participated in film and television productions, and was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award as Best Leading Actress in 1996 for her role in Caught. As a singer, she has received several gold and platinum records, and has been nominated for three Grammy Awards. Alonso was the first Latin American actress not born in the United States to star in a musical on Broadway, with Kiss of the Spider Woman at the Broadhurst Theatre (1995).

6. Chelo Alonso (1933 - 2019)

With an HPI of 52.32, Chelo Alonso is the 6th most famous Cuban Actor. Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Chelo Alonso (born Isabel Apolonia García Hernández, 10 April 1933 – 20 February 2019) was a Cuban actress who became a star in Italian cinema, and ultimately a 1960s cult film heroine and sex symbol in the U.S. She was well known for playing femmes fatales with fiery tempers and sensual dance scenes.

7. Ninón Sevilla (1929 - 2015)

With an HPI of 50.69, Ninón Sevilla is the 7th most famous Cuban Actor. Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Emelia Pérez Castellanos (10 November 1921 – 1 January 2015), known professionally as Ninón Sevilla, was a Cuban-Mexican actress and dancer.

8. William Levy (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 50.51, William Levy is the 8th most famous Cuban Actor. His biography has been translated into 39 different languages.

William Gutiérrez-Levy (born August 29, 1980) is a Cuban-American actor and former model.

9. Desi Arnaz (1917 - 1986)

With an HPI of 49.22, Desi Arnaz is the 9th most famous Cuban Actor. His biography has been translated into 32 different languages.

Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986), known as Desi Arnaz, was a Cuban-American actor, musician, producer, and bandleader. He played Ricky Ricardo on the American television sitcom I Love Lucy, in which he co-starred with his wife Lucille Ball. Arnaz and Ball are credited as the innovators of the syndicated rerun, which they pioneered with the I Love Lucy series. Arnaz and Lucille Ball co-founded and ran the television production company called Desilu Productions, originally to market I Love Lucy to television networks. After I Love Lucy ended, Arnaz went on to produce several other television series, at first with Desilu Productions, and later independently, including The Ann Sothern Show and The Untouchables. He was also the bandleader of his Latin group, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra. He was known for playing conga drums and popularized the conga line in the United States.

10. César Évora (b. 1959)

With an HPI of 48.18, César Évora is the 10th most famous Cuban Actor. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

César Évora Díaz (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈsesaɾ ˈeβoɾa]; born November 4, 1959) is a Cuban-Mexican actor.

People

Pantheon has 20 people classified as Cuban actors born between 1903 and 1988. Of these 20, 15 (75.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Cuban actors include Andy García, Ana de Armas, and Steven Bauer. The most famous deceased Cuban actors include Tomas Milian, Chelo Alonso, and Ninón Sevilla. As of April 2024, 1 new Cuban actors have been added to Pantheon including Oscar Nunez.