Jorge Pupo

Jorge Pupo is a Cuban American actor and narrator of audiobooks for The Library of Congress. His work in film and media arts spans more than three decades. Jorge's voice work includes 'The King of Flan' for the animated television series, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Late Show with David Letterman, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. Jorge was born in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba and moved with his family to Madrid, Spain as political exiles before being admitted to the United States via New York City in 1970. He called Providence, Rhode Island and West New York, New Jersey home before settling in San Juan, Puerto Rico where he attended military and catholic high schools. He graduated from Colegio Madre Cabrini in 1977 and later that year was admitted with a full scholarship to Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. Jorge attended The College of Liberal Arts of Drew University for two years. Under the tutelage of Theatre Arts Department Director, Robert "Buzz" McLaughlin. While at Drew Jorge became one of the founding members of The Drew University Dramatic Society and its Membership Director in 1978, helping to give birth to Drew's 1st Annual, D.U.D.S. Ball and 'Cheekie Awards.' Jorge transferred to New York University in 1979 and graduated in 1981 with a BFA from Tisch School of the Arts having studied at Jack Garfein's Actors and Directors Lab and The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, studying with Marcia Hauffrecht and Geoffrey Horne. To this day he still cherishes his independent study work with Marketa Kimbrell in her master class,"The Actor's Craft" at NYU's Film & Television Department. Jorge became a member of Screen Actors Guild, (Sag-Aftra) in 1983. Soon after, Pupo began alternating his acting pursuits with film and commercial production work. When he was hired by producer Luis Argueta at Guede Films, a top international film production company in New York City, Pupo worked with seasoned filmmakers Orlando Jimenez Leal on The Other Cuba (L'altra Cuba) and with Nestor Almendros on 8-A and Mauvaise Conduite. He also worked with commercial directors Max Flores and Emilio Guede shooting advertising campaigns for Coca Cola, Parkay, Kraft, Advil, McDonald's, Budweiser, Alka-Seltzer, Charmin and Banner among others. At La Casa Films, Pupo worked with film director Jorge Ulla shooting Dr. Pepper and Ziploc Bags commercials with television star, Dom Deluise and while freelancing at Ampersand Studios, Pupo experienced first hand, the fine craft of table-top photography from Santiago Suarez. When Jorge Pupo arrived at Max Mambrú Films he met León Ichaso, Manuel Arce and Octavio Soler and was hired to work on their new independent film, Crossover Dreams. He also worked on the production team of various music videos for John Waite, Rubén Blades, Bobby Capó and José Alberto (El Canario). During the same period of time and for a few years Pupo also worked as right-hand man for Advertising Manager, Justo Rodriguez Santos at Goya Food's Inter-Americas Advertising, producing TV spots for Café Bustelo, Arroz Canilla, Habichuelas Goya, Sazón Goya, Salsa de Tomate, Adobo Goya and the whole Goya family of Foods. As a professional actor in New York City and member of Repertorio Español, Jorge performed in Gloria Gonzalez's comedy hit, Café con Leche for three years while touring nationally and internationally with award winning Spanish Golden Age classics like El Burlador de Sevilla by Tirso de Molina and Don Juan Tenorio by José Zorrilla. They were all directed by Artistic Director, René Buch, designed by Robert Weber Federico and produced by Gilberto Zaldivar. Jorge also wrote, directed and produced Spanish radio spots to promote their theatrical productions. Over the years Jorge performed in classics like Gabriel García Márquez's Innocent Erendira, directed by Jorge Alí Triana and Albert Camus's The Misunderstanding, directed by Braulio Villar. With director Angel Gil Orrios he performed in Federico Garcia Lorca's The Audience and Play Without a Title, as well as in Pedro Almodovar's Dark Habits and Griselda Gambaro's Las Paredes. Jorge's theatrical collaborations with Martin Balmaceda gave birth to Under the Speed of Dreams and Juan Riquelme's La Odisea según Calipso, Inmortales en el Jardin and the Sally Van Lier Directing Fellowship recipient, Pier #13. At the 92nd Street Y, Jorge performed in 'Faces of War' by Stephanie Liss and at The New School he performed in 'La Destreza de la Lluvia' by Mauricio Fuentes directed by Martin Balmaceda. In other staged readings, Jorge performed in Kimberly del Busto's 'Hurricane In A Glass,' directed by Jeremy Bloom and in 'Cartas' by León Acosta, directed by Carlos Armesto. Jorge has also narrated the Spanish versions of many award winning children's stories (awards given by ALA, American Library Association) for Weston Woods Studios/Scholastic: Harry, the Dirty Dog, Knuffle Bunny, Curious George Rides a Bicycle, Duck for President, Chato's Kitchen, Doctor DeSoto... Also, the audio recording of José Martí's, Los Zapaticos de Rosa, for Lectorum Publications, directed by Teresa Mlawer and produced by New York Audio Productions. Jorge was photographed by David Barry and appeared on the cover of New York Magazine in June 1998 as 'The Chauffeur.' In 2002, he worked with celebrity photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders to shoot an international, all media print ad campaign for UPS appearing as 'The Shipping Manager.' In 1999, Entre Amigos-Among Friends, made its New York television debut. This lively interview show, focused on the advent of successful Latinos as we were entering the new millennium. Created by Jorge Pupo (Host, Executive Producer) and Roland Millman (Director, DP, Producer) the programs aired in Manhattan on MNN for two years and some can now be enjoyed on YouTube. For Recorded Books Jorge narrated various audiobooks in Spanish: Dilemma by Padre Alberto Cutié; Reinventar el Cuerpo, Resucitar el Alma (Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Sou) by Deepak Chopra); Camino de Milagros (Path of Miracles ) by Samuel Rodriguez; El Factor Fred (The Fred Factor) by Mark Sanborn; El Lenguaje de la Intuición (Sarah Bachaou); Las Crónicas de Jackson Heights by Orlando Tobón; La Revolución del Silencio by Consuelo Martin; El Vendedor de Sueños by Ernesto Quiñonez; La Materia del Deseo by Edmundo Paz Soldán and Conocer y Decidir by Federico Reyes-Heroles. His principal work in industrial films include: American Express, Visa, HBO, Direct-TV, Merryl Lynch, New York Life, Mastercard, Pepsi, Met Life, USPS, José Cuervo International, Walt Disney World, Daimler Chrysler... AT&T. Jorge's work in television and radio commercials include such fine clients as Showtime, Tri-Honda, Publix, SC Johnson, Budweiser, Bacardi, Zest, Campbell's, Spiriva, Boar's Head, The New York Times, Cellular One (as Napoleon), Con Edison, Herbal Essences, Verizon, Coca Cola, Huggies, McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, New York Lottery, Time Warner Cable, Pillsbury, Kellogg's, Pfizer, Ad Council, Procter & Gamble, Sprint, Johnson & Johnson, 311 Info, Country Buffet, Detergente Ace, Old Country Buffet, Ryans's, Daimler Chrysler, Exxon, Western Union, UPS, Marines, US Coast Guard, US Navy, US Air Force. Namaste