Bertila Damas

Bertila Damas is an American television, film and theater actress. She is known for her no-nonsense approach to acting and life, as well as her irreverent sense of humor, her compassion, and a straight-up, heart of gold, no crap kind of energy. Her work has been consistently admired in publications like Variety, the LA Times, Curtain Up and more. Some notable quotes; "Damas simply radiates as Clemencia [in "Electricidad" at the Mark Taper Forum]", "Damas -- who has shades of the round-eyed but tough femininity of the original Nora, Helen Hayes -- is just as stellar", "Such lovely emotional resonance in the performances of Jorja Fox, and guest star Bertila Damas (Mrs. Santiago)", "Bertila Damas has an impeccable charm as well as a regal allure which is most enchanting", and "Damas' sexual toughness lends electricity to the mother-daughter confrontations". She has worked off-Broadway and in regional theater. Her Broadway debut was playing Juliet in Romeo & Juliet for Joseph Papp's NYSF on Broadway, directed by Academy Award-winning actress Estelle Parsons. In regional work she played the title character in a stage production of Federico García Lorca's Yerma at the Arena Stage. She began her formal professional work in Miami working in Spanish speaking theater and television while attending college. She went on to study in New York at the prestigious Circle in the Square Professional Theater School, the Actor's Studio, with Stella Adler as an advanced acting student and in Adler's acclaimed Script Analysis classes. She has a long list of TV credits, from The John Larroquette Show (1993) to King of the Hill, from NYPD Blue to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and from NCIS to Grimm (2011). On international Spanish television, Bertila is known for her role as the villainous Marta on Angélica, mi vida (1988) for Telemundo. She has been seen and heard in dozens of commercials and voice-overs in both English and Spanish. It does look like Hollywood is trying to find a place for this talented enchantress and this writer hopes that happens sooner than later.