In the last few hours, the photo of actor Héctor Echemendía that heads this text has appeared in several groups on Facebook. Published by the user Mayito Cordero in various spaces on that social network, the image is accompanied by the text: «I want to share with your entire audience, this recent photo of our beloved, Cuba’s First Actor, Héctor Echemendía. Héctor enjoys his well-deserved retirement, enjoying good health, in the joy of his family and friends. He sends you a big hug, for the affection and love that he always received from all of you.
Looking closely at the snapshot, one of the first elements that stands out are the cars and their license plates, which clearly belong to a foreign territory, which is why many of the comments that the post has received refer to the departure of the well-known actor from the country. At the moment, we have not been able to confirm where in the world the Camagüeyan, owner of an immense career in theater, radio, film and television, is.
As we published in a previous work, the man born on November 17, 1938 initially wanted to become a radio announcer and at 17 he was already an operator of commercial radio plant equipment. Five years later he began in amateur theater and, under that condition, he played a sergeant of the Rebel Army in a play called Mount inside.
Then Héctor, who until now had only advanced to the second year of high school and completed a shorthand course, began to study aviation and alternate it with theater. He went through Guiñol, the Camagüey Dramatic Ensemble, Radio Cadena Agramonte, Cabildo Teatral Santiago and he left his mark on all of them.
The brigadier (1977), One woman, one man, one city (1978), The beauty of the Alhambra (1989), Small Tropicana (1997) and Vertical love (1997) were some of the films he worked on.
On television he made his debut with the memorable role of Andrés Iznaga in the famous adventure Siblings, that man who was shot and uttered the famous cry by which the dramatist was known: “Lorencitoooo.” “To my surprise, I appeared in the credits as a special performance. Another surprise was seeing my character in fragments of scenes in the presentation,” he said on one occasion.
One of his most recent interventions on the small screen came with the soap opera Look again (2021), focused on different situations experienced by older adults. On that occasion he placed himself in Felito’s shoes and his story was that of a father of two women – Consuelo (Beatriz Viñas) and Soledad (Yerlín Pérez) – with many differences between them.
In addition to the productions mentioned, Echemendía was in When water returns to the land (1989, directed by Mirta González, in which he played Onésimo); Passion and prejudice (1992, under the orders of Eduardo Macías, with the character of Ramón) and many others, among which are The orphans of the Obra Pía, Between screens, The echo of the stones, Friends, Violets of water, If you could love me and Wild land.
He has accumulated several awards and recognitions, from the Caricato to the Distinction for National Culture, in addition to the most important: the admiration of an audience that, when a long time goes by without seeing him on screen, wonders what has become of him.
