Gregory Sierra

Acting

Gregory Sierra

Born 1937-01-25 · New York City, New York, USA

Gregory Sierra (January 25, 1937 – January 4, 2021) was a distinguished American actor, celebrated for his versatility and powerful presence on both television and film. Born on January 25, 1937, in New York City's Spanish Harlem, Sierra was of Puerto Rican descent and faced a challenging upbringing after being abandoned by his parents and raised by an aunt. Despite his early hardships, he found a path to acting after impressing at an impromptu audition for an acting school in Manhattan. Sierra's career began on stage, notably with the National Shakespeare Company and performances at the New York Shakespeare Festival. He transitioned to television in the late 1960s and quickly became a familiar face, first gaining major attention as Julio Fuentes, the memorable Puerto Rican neighbor on Sanford and Son, and then as Detective Sergeant Chano Amengual on Barney Miller—two roles that remain among his most enduring contributions to classic TV. Sierra's roster of work included appearances on The Flying Nun, Soap, Miami Vice, Hill Street Blues, Zorro and Son, and scores of guest roles on popular series such as All in the Family, The X-Files, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. His film credits span genres and decades, featuring roles in Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Papillon, The Towering Inferno, and Deep Cover. Gregory Sierra was admired for bringing depth, nuance, and authenticity to every character he portrayed, endearing him to fans and earning the respect of peers. He passed away on January 4, 2021, in Laguna Woods, California, leaving behind a rich legacy in entertainment that spanned nearly fifty years.

Acting credits

Hot Shots! Part Deux poster
6.5

Topper Harley is found to be working as an odd-job-man in a monastery. The CIA want him to lead a rescue mission into Iraq, to rescue the last rescue team, who went in to rescue the last rescue team—who went in to rescue hostages left behind after Desert Storm.

Hot Shots! Part Deux

1993

Papillon poster
7.8

A man befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence on a dreadful prison island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.

Papillon

1973

Beneath the Planet of the Apes poster
6.1

The sole survivor of an interplanetary rescue mission lands on the planet of the apes, and uncovers a horrible secret beneath the surface.

Beneath the Planet of the Apes

1970

Honey, I Blew Up the Kid poster
5.3

Wayne Szalinski is at it again. But instead of shrinking things, he tries to make a machine that can make things grow. As in the first one, his machine isn't quite accurate. But when he brings Nick & his toddler son Adam to see his invention, the machine unexpectedly starts working. And when Adam comes right up to the machine, he gets zapped along with his stuffed bunny.

Honey, I Blew Up the Kid

1992

Vampires poster
6.3

The church enlists a team of vampire-hunters to hunt down and destroy a group of vampires searching for an ancient relic that will allow them to exist in sunlight.

Vampires

1998

The Towering Inferno poster
7.0

At the opening party of a colossal—but poorly constructed—skyscraper, a massive fire breaks out, threatening to destroy the tower and everyone in it.

The Towering Inferno

1974

Deep Cover poster
6.8

Black police officer Russell Stevens applies for a special anti-drug squad which targets the highest boss of cocaine delivery to LA—the Colombian foreign minister's nephew. Russell works his way up from the bottom undercover, until he reaches the boss.

Deep Cover

1992

The Laughing Policeman poster
6.2

When a gunman opens fire on a crowded city bus in San Francisco, Detective Dave Evans is killed, along with the man he'd been following in relation to a murder. Evans' partner, Sgt. Jake Martin, becomes obsessed with solving the case.

The Laughing Policeman

1973

The Thief Who Came to Dinner poster
7.0

A computer programmer decides to become a thief. And when he starts making waves, an insurance investigator hounds him. He also meets a woman who becomes his accomplice.

The Thief Who Came to Dinner

1973

Let's Get Harry poster
6.2

Harry Burck has been kidnapped by South American terrorists, and when the US Government refuses to intervene, Harry's friends decide to take matters into their own hands!

Let's Get Harry

1986

Pocket Money poster
5.6

Broke and in debt, an otherwise honest cowboy and his buddy get mixed up in some shady dealings with a crooked cattle dealer.

Pocket Money

1972

The Other Side of the Wind poster
6.7

At a media-swamped party to celebrate his seventieth birthday and screen his avant-garde film-in-progress, a legendary but jaded Hollywood director is faced both with voracious fans and unsettling questions about what became of his lead actor.

The Other Side of the Wind

2018

Jane Austen's Mafia! poster
5.5

After growing up poor in Salmonella, Vincenzo Cortino installs himself as the preeminent, if bumbling, Mafia don of the New World. But now he must pass on power to one of his two sons: either level-headed veteran Anthony or vituperative loose cannon Joey.

Jane Austen's Mafia!

1998

A Low Down Dirty Shame poster
5.7

A black detective becomes embroiled in a web of danger while searching for a fortune in missing drug money. During the course of his investigation, he encounters various old connections, ultimately confronting the criminal responsible for Shame's expulsion from the force. He must also deal with two women, Angela, a beautiful old flame, and Peaches, his energetic but annoying sidekick.

A Low Down Dirty Shame

1994

The Castaway Cowboy poster
6.7

A Wayward Texas cowboy washes up on the beaches of Hawaii and is taken home by an fatherless boy. He saves the family's business while romancing the single mom.

The Castaway Cowboy

1974

Honky Tonk poster
8.0

In the wild west con-man 'Candy' Johnson heads to Nevada to set up his own gambling den and teams up with Lucy Cotton, a young woman he meets there. This failed television pilot film is loosely based on Honky Tonk (1941), which starred Clark Gable.

Honky Tonk

1974

The Prisoner of Zenda poster
5.7

Anthony Hope's classic tale gets a decidedly 'un-classic' treatment at the hands of Peter Sellers. Following the story somewhat, friends of the new King Rudolph of Ruritania fear for his life, and switch him with a look-a-like London cabby. Throw in two(!) lovely blondes, treachery, and a battle for life and honour, and enjoy life at its zaniest.

The Prisoner of Zenda

1979

Miami Vice: Brother's Keeper poster
7.8

Miami detective Sonny Crockett reluctantly teams with New York City cop Rico Tubbs when both of them end up pursuing a drug dealer who killed their respective partners.

Miami Vice: Brother's Keeper

1984

The Culpepper Cattle Co. poster
6.4

Working as an assistant on a long cattle drive, the young Ben Mockridge contends between his dream of being a cowboy and the harsh truth of the Old West.

The Culpepper Cattle Co.

1972

Getting Straight poster
6.3

Graduate student Harry Bailey was once one of the most visible undergraduate activists on campus, but now that he's back studying for his master's, he's trying to fly right. Trouble is, the campus is exploding with various student movements, and Harry's girlfriend, Jan, is caught up in most of them. As Harry gets closer to finishing his degree, he finds his iconoclastic attitude increasingly aligned with the students rather than the faculty.

Getting Straight

1970

The Gambler: The Adventure Continues poster
7.0

Brady Hawkes, Billy Montana, and Jeremiah Hawkes are on a train bound for a huge gambling event when the train is taken over by a gang of vicious killers in search of money. As ransom, the gang takes young Jeremiah hostage. Brady and Billy embark on a quest to rescue him and form a small gang of their own along the way.

The Gambler: The Adventure Continues

1983

The Night They Took Miss Beautiful poster
5.6

Criminals hijack an airplane carrying five beauty contest finalists, but unknowingly they've also kidnapped a government agent carrying a dangerous virus that is to be used in bacterial warfare.

The Night They Took Miss Beautiful

1977

The Wrath of God poster
5.5

Set in the 1920s, several foreigners held by a South American military group are offered possible freedom if they accept to topple a local crazed military leader.

The Wrath of God

1972

Unspeakable Acts poster
5.5

Two psychologists try to demonstrate that a man is a pedophile and has abused many children.

Unspeakable Acts

1990