Raúl Juliá was a beloved stage and screen actor who was admired for his work on and off the screen. Due to his fine training and technique, he was one of the few Hispanic actors successful in transcending cultural stereotypes to win a diverse and interesting series of roles in Hollywood and abroad. Juliá broke onto the stage in New York in Hispanic community plays and through Joseph Papp's innovative casting in the New York Shakespeare Festival's production of Macbeth in 1966. He continued to appear in Shakespeare

Festival productions, and made his Broadway debut in 1968. In the early 1970s, Juliá broke into film, the medium that led to his greatest popularity.

Born Raúl Carlos Juliá y Acelay in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on March 9, 1940, into a relatively well-off family, Juliá began acting in...