Luis Avalos
©1997 Angela María Ortíz S.
It’s been a rough few months for Latino Hollywood, and the news of the death of Luis Avalos just makes it worse.
You know Luis; in fact, almost every Latino in the industry knows Luis. He’s best known to the general public for his years as “Doctor Doolots” on The Electric Company, from the second year it was produced until it ended in 1977. He also appears in a wide variety of feature films and in more TV series than you can count, from Hill Street Blues to The Jeffersons, to Resurrection Blvd. to Hanging with Mr. Cooper.
But that barely scratched the surface of a life well-lived. Born in Cuba in 1946, he began to appear in American television when he was in his 20’s, and continued without pause until the mid 2000’s. He worked in theater, he worked behind the scenes, he composed music and did some producing. For many, he’s best remembered for Paquito’s Christmas Special, a holiday pleasure in which Luis composed the music and wrote the play. And most important: he was a mentor to many, a really nice guy, and very funny, too. We had the pleasure of knowing him, if only a little, and we can say it with sincerity and real sorrow: Luis Avalos will be missed.
