Pepe Soriano

Pepe Soriano (born José Carlos Soriano, on September 25, 1929) is a prominent Argentine actor and playwright.

Life and work

Soriano was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Enrolling at the prestigious University of Buenos Aires Law School, he entered one of the university's numerous theatre groups and, leaving law school to devote himself to the theatre, he produced his first work, El chaleco encantado ("The Enchanted Sweater") in 1950, among four other works he completed and staged while in school. Soriano debuted professionally in a production of A Midsummernight's Dream at the renowned Colón Theatre, in 1953.

Debuting in television in 1954, Soriano soon starred in leading roles in Argentine premieres of Paddy Chayefsky's The Tenth Man Marcel Achard's Voulez-vous jouer avec moi? ("Would You Like to Play with Me?"), Eugene O'Neill's Ah, Wilderness! and Carlos Gorostiza's adaptation of Ryūnosuke Akutagawa's Rashomon. These performances earned Soriano the "Martin Fierro" and "Cóndor del Plata" Prizes in 1964, two of the most coveted in Argentine entertainment. Having accepted occasional supporting roles in Argentine cinema, he was cast as the lead in Juan José Jusid's production of Roberto Cossa's tragedy, Tute Cabrero (1968) and in Raúl de la Torre's character study, Juan Lamaglia y Sra. ("Mr. and Mrs. Juan Lamaglia," 1970).