Gregory Sierra, best known for his roles as Sgt. Miguel “Chano” Amanguale on “Barney Miller” and Julio Fuentes on “Sanford and Son” passed away on January 4 in Laguna Woods, California, according to reports from Orange County Health Dept. He was 83.
The New York-born and raised actor, of Puerto Rican descent, has enjoyed success in his recurring role as Fred G. Sanford’s neighbor. His career remained steady in the late 90s, and Sierra regularly found roles in law enforcement. He has appeared on ‘Miami Vice’, ‘Murder, She Wrote’, ‘Hill Street Blues’ and ‘MacGyver’. His TV roles included guest appearances in “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and “The X-Files.”
Before Sierra reached ‘Sanford and Son’, Sierra had ties to Norman Lear. He appears in one episode of the beloved sitcom “All in the Family” as Paul Benjamin, a Jewish extremist. Paul and Archie Bunker close friendship after someone paints a swastika on the front door of the family. Paul offers the Bunkers protection, but is eventually killed in a car bomb. This is the only episode with no applause from the audience to end the show.
In ‘The Towering Inferno’, he played Carlo, the bartender, and a mutant named Verger appears in ‘Beneath the Planet of the Apes’. His other films included ‘Papillon’, ‘Honey, I Blew Up the Kid’ and Orson Welles’ ‘The Other Side of the Wind’.
As a resident of Laguna Woods, he starred in 2009 in a local production of the play “See How They Run”. “Any role is demanding if you put yourself through a process,” Sierra told the Orange County Register at the time. “Because you expect something from yourself.”
He is survived by his wife, Helene.