Troy Kurtis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Troy Kurtis "Troy Tuminelli" | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Danbury, Connecticut |
| Country | United States |
| Years active | 2000—present |
| Genres | Latin music |
Troy Kurtis (born December 30, c. 1980 in Danbury, Connecticut) is the film and television stage name of actor and singer Troy "El Romantico", who became a member of the well known Puerto Rican group MDO "aka: Menudo".
[edit] Biography
Like an increasing number of Americans, Troy, the son of native New Yorkers Rene Tres Palacios, a strong Cuban and Puerto Rican woman born and raised in the Bronx, and GeneTuminelli, an Italian from Brooklyn, was raised by his single mother and grandparents. Heavily influenced by his live-in grandparents, Rudolfo Tres Palacios and Elsie Salazar, and by their music and vibrant personalities, Troy soon became transfixed by performing, both as an actor and a singer. Hurt by the absence of his father during his childhood, Troy adopted the stage name 'Kurtis', and planned to make his mark on popular culture.
Troy moved to Miami in '98 and after a number of auditions was finally discovered by Desmond Child, a well known producer with connections to Edgardo Diaz and who was the manager of fellow former Menudos Ricky Martin and Robi Rosa at the time. Child contacted Diaz immediately; Diaz eventually signed Troy to a contract in 2000.
Troy would record one CD with MDO, 2001's "Subir al Cielo" ("Climbing to Heaven"), which scored one major hit: "Te Quise Olvidar" spent five weeks as number one on Billboard's Latin charts. It was during this time that, after locating his estranged son through his music, that Troy reunited with his father. Later that year, Troy left the group and moved to New York to pursue a career in acting. He was replaced by Caleb Aviles, a Puerto Rican born in Wisconsin.
In 2003, Troy signed on to play "Nico Castaneda" in the American soap opera, "Guiding Light". His character was a singer songwriter, and as Nico, Troy was able to both write and perform songs for the program. On August 24 of that year, Kurtis made his television acting debut, as Castaneda, in the aforementioned show. He left the program after Guiding Light's May 13, 2004 episode, when the relentless Nico was written off the show as having left in search of his first record deal.
In the Fall of 2006 Troy began work on his new album with cuban-american producer Chris "Blanckito" Rojas in New York City. The album is set to debut in 2007.
