Famous Dominicans

Mr_DR

Silver
May 12, 2002
2,506
60
0
Are you familiar with some of these personalities ?
How many can you count on knowing or heard of ?

Can you think of any that were left out?
Please add them to the list for bonus on your points


150+ .......... At this level you probably became a DR citizen. Please don't scam other
expats/tourists


126-150......... Excellent, you are in tune with domicanism and you can teach a thing or
two to others about us. You must be a DR resident.

101-125....... Very good, you can definately fire up a good conversation with any dominican

76-100......... You are on top of DR things.

51-75.......... You have done your share of DR related readings.

26-50.......... You are avg

10-25.......... You barely pass, but watch it.

5-9............. Do you need help?

0-4............. Do you even know where DR is? I hope you can add a couple to the list for
your DR1 respect sake.



Add 5 points for every personality you add, but each personality must be googleable so that
we can read about it in order for dr1 members to give an approval. Otherwise you will need atleast 5 dr1 members to quote your add-on by stating that they are familiar with that Add-on.

Please, resort's sankies does not count.

FAMOUS DOMINICANS



Authors
? Julia Alvarez
? A?da Cartagena Portalat?n
? Hilma Contreras
? Junot Diaz
? Virgilio Diaz Grullon
? Fabio Fiallo
? Pedro Henriquez Ure?a
? Guillermo Linares
? Leopoldo Minaya
? Pedro Mir
? Samuel Nina Ortiz
? Salom? Ure?a
? Otilio Vigil D?az

Beauty Queens
? Mariasela Alvarez - Miss World 1982
? Claudia Cruz - Miss World 2004 1st runner up
? Denny Mendez - Miss Italy 1996
? Susie Castillo- Miss USA 2003
? Ruth Ocumarez- Miss Dominican Republic 2001, actress/television host
? Amelia Vega - Miss Universe 2003

Historical Figures
? Francisco del Rosario S?nchez - one of the founding fathers of the Dominican Republic.
? Juan Pablo Duarte - one of the founding fathers of the Dominican Republic.
? Pedro Florentino - hero of the Battle of Jacuba in the War of Independence from Haiti.
? M?ximo G?mez - military commander of Cuban Independence campaign of Dominican origin.
? Ram?n Mat?as Mella - One of the founding fathers of the Dominican Republic.
? The Mirabal sisters - political dissidents

Motion Picture & Television Personalities
? Nancy Alvarez, psychologist/television talk show host
? Tina Aumont, French actress (daughter of Maria Montez)
? Freddy Beras-Goico comedian/television host/producer (cousin of Charytin)
? Julissa Bermudez, television personality (BET)
? Charytin, actress
? Tony Dandrades, television journalist/host
? Andres Garcia, actor
? Luis Lopez, actor (film Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights)
? Yorlin Madera, actor (television series One Life To Live)
? Agliberto Mel?ndez, film director
? Maria Montez actress
? Omahyra Mota, actress/model
? Patricia Mota, actress (sister of Omahrya Mota)
? Judy Reyes, actress (television show Scrubs)
? Alfonso Ribeiro Actor/Singer Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air
? Birmania Rios, television personality (television show Despierta America)
? Michelle Rodriguez, actress (Dominican mother)
? Julio Sabala, comedian/celebrity impersonator
? Zo? Salda?a, actress
? Merlin Santana, actor
? Rosanna Tavarez, actress/singer (group Eden's Crush)
? Celines Toribio ,actress
? Sandra Zaiter, television personality in Puerto Rico

Notable and Newsworthy Personalities
? Felix Acosta-Nunez Journalist
? Sully Bonnelly, fashion designer
? Margarita Cede?o de Fern?ndez, First Lady of the Dominican Republic
? Oscar de la Renta, famous fashion designer
? Magali Febles, owner of the Miss Dominican Republic and Miss Puerto Rico pageant franchises
? Providencia Paredes, assistant/confidante to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
? Ilka Tanya Payan, actress, AIDS/HIV activist
? Camille ****arro, French painter (Dominican mother)
? Porfirio Rubirosa, famous playboy
? Miguel Suero, notorious New York City drug dealer
? H?ctor Valdez Albizu, economist

Singers and Musicians
? Manny Albam, jazz musician
? Jos? Alberto (aka El Canario), singer
? Ana?s, singer
? Andy Andy, Bachata singer
? Aventura, Bachata Group
? AZ, Rapper
? Eddie Baez, International deejay/dance music producer
? Alex Bueno Singer
? Michel Camilo, jazz pianist
? Angela Carrasco singer
? Coro, freestyle singer/actor
? Juan Luis Guerra, merengue Singer
? Los Hermanos Rosario, merengue group
? Kinito Mendez merengue singer
? Pavel Nunez, rock musician/composer
? Johnny Pacheco, salsa singer/producer
? Proyecto Uno merengue rap group
? Milly Quezada, singer
? Fausto Rey, singer/composer
? Anthony R?os, singer/composer
? Raulin Rosendo, salsa singer
? To?o Rosario merengue singer
? Roger Sanchez, international deejay/ dance music producer
? Antony Santos Bachata Singer
? Luis Segura singer
? Toque Profundo, Rock Band
? Luis Vargas bachata singer
? Sergio Vargas Merengue singer
? Wilfrido Vargas Merengue singer
? Johnny Ventura Merengue singer
? Fernando Villalona, singer

Sports
? Danny Almonte Scandal-plagued Little Leaguer
? Felipe Alou Baseball manager and player
? Jes?s Alou Baseball player
? Matty Alou Baseball player
? Mois?s Alou Baseball player
? Joaqu?n And?jar Baseball player
? Tony Batista Baseball player
? Danny Bautista Baseball player
? George Bell Baseball player
? Ronnie Belliard baseball player
? Adri?n Beltr? Baseball player
? Francisco Cabrera Baseball player, hero of the 1992 NLCS for the Atlanta Braves
? Melky Cabrera Baseball player
? Robinson Can? Baseball player
? Bernie Castro Baseball player
? Luis Castillo Football Player NFL National Football League
? Bartolo Col?n Baseball player
? Carlos Cruz (1937-1970), World boxing champion
? Leo Cruz world boxing champion (brother of Carlos Cruz)
? Edwin Encarnacion Baseball player
? Juan Encarnacion Baseball player
? Edward Vinicio Espinal Soccer player
? Mary Joe Fern?ndez Tennis Player
? Julio Franco Baseball player
? Francisco Garcia Basketball Player NBA
? Vladimir Guerrero Baseball Player
? Joan Guzman World boxing champion
? Tito Horford Basketball Player NBA
? Francisco Liriano Baseball player
? Genaro De Le?n Tennis player
? Felipe L?pez NBA basketball player
? Hector Luna Baseball player
? Juan Marichal Baseball Hall of Famer
? Pedro Mart?nez Cy Young Award winning baseball player
? Eleoncio Mercedes 1985 World boxing champion
? Ra?l Mondes? Baseball player
? David Ortiz Baseball player
? Wily Mo Pena Baseball player
? Jhonny Peralta Baseball player
? Albert Pujols Baseball player
? Hanley Ramirez Baseball player
? Manny Ram?rez Baseball player
? Jos? Reyes Baseball player
? Alex Rodriguez Baseball player
? Alfonso Soriano Baseball player
? Sammy Sosa Baseball player
? F?lix S?nchez Olympic gold medal winning hurdler
? Humberto A.Sanchez Baseball player
? Ervin Ramon Santana Baseball player
? Miguel Tejada Baseball player
? Juan C. Uribe Baseball player
? Rafael Veras Long distance runner
? Charlie Villanueva, NBA Basketball Player
? Hector Wagner Baseball player
 

wuarhat

I am a out of touch hippie.
Nov 13, 2006
1,378
89
48
I've heard of twenty-three, and I think that Roberto Clemente Baseball Player, Frank Reyes musician, and Hector Acosta musician belong on the list.
 
Last edited:

wuarhat

I am a out of touch hippie.
Nov 13, 2006
1,378
89
48
I've heard of twenty-three, and I think that Roberto Clemente Baseball Player, Frank Reyes musician, and Hector Acosta musician belong on the list.

It appears that Roberto was from Puerto Rico.
 

Mr_DR

Silver
May 12, 2002
2,506
60
0
The add-on list

Frank reyez....................Musician
Hector Acosta ...............Musician
 

Mr_DR

Silver
May 12, 2002
2,506
60
0
points List

Points List

1. waurhat................ 33 came struggling but made it
 

Mr_DR

Silver
May 12, 2002
2,506
60
0
Ilka Tanya Pay?n

Wow!!!

That is a great one travelsalot. I will have to give you and automatic 25 points for this one.

Sadly she passed away in 1996.


Conversations/Ilka Tanya Payan; An Actress Openly Faces AIDS And Receives an Audience's Ovation
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By MIREYA NAVARRO
Published: December 5, 1993
ILKA TANYA PAYAN was unequivocal about one thing when she revealed her H.I.V. infection, a seven-year secret, at a recent press conference.

"I'm not Magic Johnson or Arthur Ashe," Ms. Payan said. "As a public person, I won't devote myself to being an official spokesperson in the struggle for dignity for people with H.I.V. or AIDS."

She lied. Since her announcement in October, Ms. Payan, a New York City human rights commissioner and immigration lawyer who is better known in Hispanic circles as an actress in Spanish-language soap operas and theater, has done nothing but talk about the disease.

In the United States, she is the new darling of AIDS conferences and events, including a United Nations forum on World AIDS Day Wednesday.

Her disclosure was big news in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and New York City, where El Diario-La Prensa gave her four pages of coverage, including its cover under the headline "A Lesson in Courage." Ms. Payan wrote a regular column on immigration and human rights for the paper until recently. And in her native Dominican Republic, where she is remembered as the villainous Carmen Delia in the soap "Angelica, Mi Vida" ("Angelica, My Life"), she appeared for nearly four hours on a national television show last month. She surrounded herself with relatives as well as her doctor and nutritionist. Ms. Payan mixed unabashed sentimentalism with AIDS education, including how machismo and its rejection of condoms help spread the disease.

"My message is, 'Look at me,' " said Ms. Payan, who is 50. "I'm a relatively healthy woman. Why must I be looked upon as being a pariah? I won't accept it. And that's the way it is when you're hiding and when you're in fear."

So far, her public has embraced her as fervently as if her drama were unfolding daily on television. Dominican organizations, newspaper articles and letters praise her bravery. On New York City streets, people stop her to thank her.

"I think I've opened up something, at least the freedom to speak about the illness," she said.

Ms. Payan is a rarity because very few Hispanic artists with the virus have come out publicly. Because of her celebrity, she believes she can dispel misconceptions among Hispanic people about AIDS. Already an advocate for people with H.I.V. for five years, an involvement triggered by the deaths of friends in the theater, Ms. Payan said messages on prevention fail to reach their intended audience. Myths Abound

"Nobody reads those pamphlets," said Ms. Payan, who worked as a staff attorney for Gay Men's Health Crisis until last year. "We need soap operas and radio.

"People have an exaggerated idea of how H.I.V. is transmitted," she said. "They don't know how AIDS is not transmitted." Many Hispanics, she says, believe the virus can be spread through casual contact like sharing a glass or "having somebody breathe on you."

In the Dominican Republic, where most of her family lives and many people travel back and forth to the United States, the ignorance about the disease is "atrocious," Ms. Payan said. When AIDS patients go home to die, she said, many families are ashamed to tell the truth and face the ostracism peculiar to a disease largely associated with promiscuity and drug use. They list the cause of death as something else. "There's an epidemic of brain tumors right now," she said.

It was these attitudes that kept her quiet. Ms. Payan, who emigrated to the States when she was 13, said she was infected in 1981 by a lover who has since died of the disease. She did not test for the virus until 1986, after she had been married for five years. Her husband, whom she later divorced, escaped infection despite the years of unprotected sex with her.

At first she told only her 29-year-old daughter, a niece and a handful of friends.

"I wasn't ready to take on H.I.V. and society's rejection," she said. "I wasn't strong enough for that."

Tall, with long white-streaked hair, hazel eyes and olive skin and, in the words of one admiring theater critic, "a mercurial face," Ms. Payan appears self-assured. But for years, she said, she died "little deaths" whenever those people suspicious of her AIDS work would start a rumor that she was infected. Once, when she lost more than 10 pounds over the break-up of her marriage, the rumors were so relentless she denied them in the press. Although she knew she had the virus, she said the disease had not then progressed to AIDS.



Part 2
Conversations/Ilka Tanya Payan; An Actress Openly Faces AIDS And Receives an Audience's Ovation

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By MIREYA NAVARRO
Published: December 5, 1993
Her fears were many. She thought of relatives refusing to let her stay in their homes and of being shunned by her neighbors in the Manhattan midtown building where she has lived since 1975. She became panic stricken about never finding a man to love. She said she also feared a tarnished image and a resulting loss of work. Out With It

Ms. Payan, who has acted since 1969, performs mostly in Spanish-language theater in New York City, but she has also worked in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Spain and played parts in American movie and television productions. She became a lawyer in 1981, she said, because she thought she could not support herself acting. After she became a lawyer, Ms. Payan still performed in at least one play a year, reluctant to abandon a career she had chosen as a way to keep up her Spanish.

Her decision to talk about H.I.V. came after a man she liked asked her point-blank if she had the virus. "He said I was sending him coded messages," Ms. Payan recalled. She told him. The next day was one of "existentialist turmoil," she said. She spent it reading philosophy and pondering whether the solution was to move and "start a life where nobody knows who I was," she said.

By the following day, she had decided the secret was over.

"Once it became clear to me that what I have is a medical condition, I was comfortable with it," she said.

Her immune system is weak enough to classify Ms. Payan as having AIDS, not just the infection. Although she has had herpes zoster and bronchitis, she looks and feels well. She has shunned drugs for a regime of rest, vitamins, yoga and acupuncture.

After her announcement she wanted to retreat into privacy and concentrate on her personal life and projects like writing a cookbook based on family recipes. But Ms. Payan says the positive reaction has surprised her.

"I'm still overwhelmed by the support, particularly from Latino men," she said. "It gives me a sense of joy to know that human beings are human beings. When they understand, they respond."

But there still has been a price to pay. Certain people, including officials from a theater repertory company Ms. Payan planned to work with, have remained silent. She said she dreads auditioning in her new status and being rejected, but she wants to act again.

Three sisters in the Dominican Republic -- Ms. Payan has 10 sisters and six brothers -- refuse to speak to her, having chided her for not consulting them about something that could stigmatize them.

"They insist that I don't understand society," she said. "They say a Latino woman would not do what I did."
 

Mr_DR

Silver
May 12, 2002
2,506
60
0
Dr. Guillermo Linares
First Dominican to hold public office in US

Another goodone.


An Immigrant Success Wants Others to Have a Chance


By ROBIN FINN
Published: April 7, 2006
A SYNONYM for the immigrant success story that he is, Guillermo Linares ? who grew up dirt poor in a dirt-floored hut in the Dominican Republic, came to New York City at age 15 knowing not a word of English, drove a taxi to pay for a college education that culminated with a doctorate, and believes he is the first Dominican to hold public office in the United States ? is having a touchy time keeping his cool as the immigration battle heats up on Capitol Hill.

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James Estrin/The New York Times
"I fail to see the connection between immigrant workers who are looking to survive and help their families and the security threats that this country has."
GUILLERMO LINARES
More than 11 million life stories ? Mr. Linares estimates that there are at least 500,000 illegal immigrants in New York City alone ? are at stake, and some of them remind him of his own.

Yes, he takes it personally that politicians like Representative Peter King, a Republican from Long Island, have proposed a bill in the House that would make it a felony for immigrants to be in this country illegally. No documentation, automatic deportation. The bill also endorses a barrier wall along the Mexican border and seeks to criminalize some activities assisting illegal immigrants. "I fail to see the connection between immigrant workers who are looking to survive and help their families and the security threats that this country has," he says. "When I see a debate like this that tends to be driven more by political expediency than by real circumstances, I feel we are not being realistic. We are having a Band-Aid approach that solves nothing."

Because Mr. Linares serves as the commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, where his mission is to be a bridge between immigrants and city government and services regardless of his clients' immigration status, the pending legislation strikes him as un-American. Not to mention that Immigration History Week is right around the corner, running from April 17 to 23. He's in charge, and the festivities begin with a reception at Gracie Mansion. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is, he says, supportive of the city's immigrants: they are 43 percent of its work force.

"I agree with the mayor that we need to find a way of controlling our borders, but I also believe the mayor understands and values the place of immigrants in our city and favors a sensible approach that allows those who work hard and play by the rules, and have roots here, well, we owe them the opportunity to work to become legal citizens," he says, his posture erect and syntax meandering as he presides at a mini-conference table in his office, at 100 Gold Street. "It's consistent with the tradition of this country."

A GARISHLY sequined carnival mask ? it depicts a congenial Dominican devil and was worn (not by him) in the Carnaval del Boulevard, a parade held in Washington Heights, last July ? brightens the windowsill, and Dominican art decorates the walls alongside photographs of career highlights: there he is being appointed chairman of the White House Initiative for Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans by Bill Clinton in 1999; there he is with Mayor Bloomberg, a Republican who endorsed his unsuccessful State Senate bid in the 2002 Democratic primary, and with the fashion designer Oscar de la Renta, "by far the greatest ambassador we Dominicans have."

Well, that's not counting Pedro Mart?nez, whose arrival on the Mets has complicated Mr. Linares's territorial affiliation with the Yankees. (He grew up in East Tremont and lived in Washington Heights before buying a house in Marble Hill in 1994 with his wife, Evelyn, who is the principal of Public School 210 in Washington Heights.)

Mr. Linares, 55, with the silver moustache and undulating hairline of an old-time matinee idol and a halting way of genteelly hammering home his point, is a former teacher, city councilman and lifelong Democrat who was appointed to his position by Mr. Bloomberg in 2004. He is a dapper dresser and happily reveals that Mr. de la Renta, besides supporting a foundation that Mr. Linares established to promote scholarship among Dominican youth, designed his favorite sport jacket, a beige number that handles anything from jeans to finery. He gets around: Jackson Heights, Flushing, Sunset Park, Washington Heights, East Harlem, and Staten Island ? where Mexicans are the second-largest immigrant group. "I'm on the side of facilitating legalization of those who are here working, and we've also got to take a closer look at our labor laws to make sure that those who do come here are not exploited."

Mr. Linares, the oldest of nine children, grew up in Cabrera, where school ended in the eighth grade. His father was a tailor and his mother a seamstress who spurred the family's move to New York; his parents arrived on tourist visas in the 60's, overstayed them, and later applied for green cards. He found a $15-a-week job in a bodega and struggled to finish high school: "My adviser said I was not college material."

He became an American citizen during his sophomore year at City College, where he received B.A. and M.S. degrees and took a teaching job. He served on the local school board, then was elected to the City Council in 1991, a job he loved and left only because of term limits. "I came into office as the first Latino elected to city government, but once in, I found myself representing not just District 10, but immigrants throughout the city." He is doing it again.
 

Mr_DR

Silver
May 12, 2002
2,506
60
0
Dania Ram?rez

She is one of my favorite actresses.

NameDania Ramirez
Date of BirthSunday November 30 1980
BornSanto Domingo (Dominican Republic)
Partial BiographyNo biography available.

Filmography
The 5th Commandment (2008) (for strong violence and brief language)Actor/Actress
American Gangster (2007) 18 (Contains strong violence and hard drug use)Actor/Actress
Illegal Tender (2007) (for violence, language and some sexuality)Actor/Actress
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) 12A (Contains sustained moderate violence)Played Callisto
Fat Albert (2004) (for momentary language)Played Lauri
She Hate Me (2004) 15 (Contains strong language and sex)Played Alex Guerrero