Andrés García
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Andrés García (born May 25, 1941 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a Mexican actor who is known throughout Latin America and among Hispanics in the United States.
Born to Spanish parents, Garcia lived briefly in the Dominican Republic and moved to Mexico in his childhood, where he became a naturalized citizen. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, García became a sex symbol in Mexico and the rest of Latin America, participating in movies, Hispanic soap operas and photo-operas (magazine features showing photos of actors who create a story—a popular phenomenon across Latin America during the 1970s).
In 1977, García tried his hand at Hollywood films, acting in Cyclone, alongside Heather Thomas. Cyclone, however, flopped at the box office.
In 1984 García participated in Tú o nadie, with Lucía Mendez and Salvador Pineda. Tú o nadie became a major hit, and helped García to receive many international offers. He accepted an offer to go to Puerto Rico in 1986, where he acted in WAPA-TV's Escándalo, with Iris Chacon and Charytin. Escándalo, however, also flopped and the number of episodes recorded for that soap opera was cut in half by the television channel.
García is known for his portrayals of tough men, what some call the "typical Mexican macho". In real life, he allegedly enjoys living that way too. He has been involved in many controversies, scandals and gossip. In 1995, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and he travelled to Atlanta, Georgia, to seek treatment. He was declared cured of the cancer, and he began to promote a herbal product based on Cat's Claw. He continues to maintain that this product cured him. He has also admitted to having an inflatable penile prosthesis implanted (La Bombita), and he has defended his son, Andrés García Jr., from allegations of homosexuality that Lupita D'Alessio, a famous singer, had made. In addition to that, he has hired security guards to follow him closely, worried about the recent streak of famous kidnappings in Mexico.
In 2001, García built a mansion that resembles a castle.
In September 2003, he made one of his several appearances on Cristina, the Spanish-language talk show hosted by Cristina Saralegui, to defend entertainers against paparazzi. He also made a few comments of a controversial nature during that show.
In October 2003, Andrés García invited a fellow actor to his mansion for a "shoot-out". The García mansion was surrounded by television cameras, crews and police. However, the other actor refused the offer, after which García invited him to take one of two hot dogs he served. One of the hot dogs was supposedly poisoned. As it was, the actors called off the shoot-out and shook hands afterwards, causing many to believe that the entire drama was a publicity stunt.
In July 2005, Garcia declared on United States Hispanic television that he believes in reincarnation. He also said that he thinks he was Simon Bolivar during a previous life, and that if he had been a woman before, he probably was a prostitute.
García has participated in over fifty different projects, including film, theater, soap opera and photo-opera work.
García has also been involved romantically, and remains friends, with model Carmen Campuzano.
Later on in 2005, García participated in a reality show, named "El Principe Azul", ("Blue Prince"), a show which was geared towards finding his other son, Leonardo, a woman "fitted" to marry him. García began to flirt with the young women on the show, however, going as far as having an on camera kiss with one of the contestants, making his son grow frustrated and, eventually, leave the show. Two previously unknown men were then cast to participate in the show and try to conquer one of the ladies involved in it.
