Miguel de León

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Miguel Angel de León Lopez (born February 22, 1962 in Caracas, Venezuela) is a well known actor. He is better known simply as Miguel de León.

Miguel Angel de León Lopez has acted mainly in telenovelas. This has allowed him to gain international fame across Latin America, where that type of shows is popular, specially among Hispanic women. He is also known to Hispanic aundiences in the United States.

He graduated from the Colegio Universitario de Caracas with a degree in business administration. Continuing with his studies, de León also joined the Taller Universitario de Teatro Macanillas. After graduating from that school, de León became a staff member at Radio Caracas Television, where he studied acting further.

His acting debut came in a 1988 film, "Señora Bolero" ("Ms. Bolero"). Later that year, he participated in his first telenovela, "Sueño Contigo" ("I Dream of You"). He was soon signed to a mutli-year contract by Radio Caracas Television. Other films de León has acted in include a Venezuelan version of Batman, and "El Cristo de las Violetas" ("Jesus of the Violets").

In 1989, de León played "Leonardo" in "La Revancha" ("The Rematch"), a major Venevision hit. He acted in four other telenovelas before his first appearance at a major international hit, 1993's "Kassandra", where he played "Ernesto Rangel", acting alongside Puerto Rican actor Osvaldo Rios, among others.

During the middle 1990s, de León married another Venezuelan telenovela star, Gaby Spanic. He had been previously married to Nubia Quilarte.

After "Kassandra", de León made three more telenovelas before he and his wife decided to accept offers by Mexico's Televisa. The couple then moved to Mexico City. 1998's "Gotita de Amor" ("Small Drop of Love") marked de León's debut in Mexican telenovelas. He acted alongside Laura Flores, Julio Alemán, Raul Araiza Jr., Niurka Marcos, Adriana Fonseca, Andrea Lagunes and Daniela Lujan, among others, in that telenovela. Next, he and his wife starred together in "La Usurpadora", which also became a major international hit. Around that time, de León obtained Mexican citizenship, which he later gave up after returning to Venezuela.

2000s "Carita de Angel" ("Angel Face"), gave de León an opportunity to act alongside acting legends Libertad Lamarque and Silvia Pinal. In 2001, de León acted in an episode of the well known series, "Mujer, Casos de la Vida Real" ("Women, Real Life Stories").

Around that time, his wife left Mexico to film a telenovela in Colombia alongside actor Jose Angel Llamas. Rumors of an adulterous relationship between his wife and Llamas surfaced, and the couple eventually divorced. In 2002, de León returned to Venezuela. His last Mexican telenovela was recorded before he left; "Vivan los Niños" ('Long Live the Children") pit de León with child star Andrea Legarreta and with Juan Ferrara.

Miguel de León has filmed three other telenovelas after returning to Venezuela. He was signed by Venevision to work for that channel.