Top TV Moments: Gregory Sierra

We live in a time when diversity and inclusion are paramount when it comes to television casting. Those who champion this approach often cite the contrast between our current era and what they consider to be less enlightened times, when (they assert) actors of non-white races and ethnicities did not have the same access to significant series roles.

At a macro level this is undeniable – yet I always cringe when the classic TV era is dismissed as one that denied acknowledgement and opportunities to what we now refer to as “people of color.” There are just too many examples to refute that condemnation.

The career of Gregory Sierra, born in New York and of Puerto Rican descent, is one that could be cited by both sides of this debate. 

His TV resume is dominated by Latino roles, ranging from servants to South American dictators. But he also played doctors and police officers and other characters where his heritage was not a defining characteristic. He worked steadily and often across a 40-year span, and was not limited to portraying one ethnicity, though he'd likely be even more fondly recalled today were it not for some unfortunate career choices. Let's take a look at some of his most memorable TV moments.

It Takes a Thief (1969)

In “Rock-Bye, Bye Baby,” reformed thief Al Mundy has to break into an un-crackable safe to steal the little black book of a mob boss. In his first TV role Gregory Sierra’s character gets a name – Fletcher – but no lines. He appears in one short scene, mostly with his back to the camera, as a hood fencing stolen jewelry. The best part of this substandard episode is Gavin McLeod as a sniveling hood that Mundy repeatedly humiliates, even while being held at gunpoint.

Sanford and Son (1972)

Sierra made his first of 12 episodes appearances as Fred’s neighbor Julio Fuentes in “The Puerto Ricans are Coming!” Fred’s reaction?  “There goes the neighborhood.” “There wasn’t one cockroach in Harlem before the Puerto Ricans moved in,” he tells Lamont, and he was just getting warmed up. “Julio Fuentes? That don’t sound like no name – that sounds like somethin’ you get from drinkin’ their water.” The entire episode is mainly Redd Foxx, a force of nature here as always, going full Don Rickles on Puerto Rico, at a time when it was still safe to laugh at this stuff. Sierra’s Julio does not respond in kind, and thus emerges as the better man, but not the more memorable character. 

All in the Family (1973)

Norman Lear must have liked something in Sierra beyond Julio, as he offered him a more substantial role in his flagship series. In “Archie is Branded,” Sierra plays Jewish radical Paul Benjamin, who believes in meeting violence with violence against the modern-day Nazis who paint a swastika on Archie’s door. 

This episode ranks among the most memorable with many series fans, especially with its powerful ending, and Sierra makes his biggest and best impression yet as a talented character actor. 

The Waltons (1973)

From Puerto Rican to Jewish to Roma, as Sierra here plays one of a traveling band of gypsies that arrive on Walton’s Mountain and crash at the Baldwin home while the sisters are away. Some of the locals are hostile but John-Boy invites the gypsies, led by Sierra’s tempestuous Volta, to camp on their land. It’s a nice little culture-clash story and the best dramatic credit on the early part of the actor’s resume. 

Barney Miller (1975)

For casual TV fans, Detective Sergeant Chano Amenguale is certainly Gregory Sierra’s most familiar role. Barney Miller had one of those magical ensembles that clicked from day one. The series shined with smart writing, diversity that seemed natural and not forced, and what was probably a more realistic take on urban police work than some law and order dramas. I always enjoyed the camaraderie not just between the men of the 12^th but between the cops and crooks, who often seemed to commiserate as they all tried survive another day in New York, at a time when that was no easy task. Chano was there for just the first two seasons. Why? That brings us to our next show. 

A.E.S. Hudson Street (1978)

Sierra left Barney Miller for a more prominent role in this new ABC sitcom from the same creative team. He played Tony Menzies, chief resident of a rundown New York hospital. I never saw it, so I don’t know if it deserved to be canceled after just five episodes. I do know that comedies set in hospitals have always been a tough sell on TV, at least until Scrubs. I never saw that one either.

Soap (1980)

“When there is a lady in distress

El Puerco will get into her dress”

Unlike on Sanford and Son, where Sierra merely did his best with a stereotypical role, he seems to be having the time of his life here as Carlos "El Puerco" Valdez (his friends call him “El”) a khaki-clad revolutionary clearly modeled on Fidel Castro. Soap’s fourth and final season probably holds up better than you remember, and it still amazes me how it can switch from the silliest comedy to straight moments that really make you care about the characters. 

Lou Grant (1982)

Based on Sierra’s resume you might expect an episode titled “Immigrants” to focus on the Southern border, giving the actor another opportunity to play someone from a Hispanic nation. Surprise – the show is about the challenges faced by Vietnamese immigrants, one of whom becomes a Tribune photographer. Sierra plays a state investigator looking into a welfare fraud scheme tied to the Vietnamese community. It’s just a two-scene appearance, but he’s proficient as always, and I’ll never pass up an opportunity to put in a good word for this series.

Hill Street Blues (1983)

Sierra appears as ADA Alvarez in four episodes of this acclaimed series’ third season. Like so many others who pass through this fictional world, Alvarez seemed fully formed after just a few moments on screen. He’s a small cog in an unwieldy criminal justice machine, who does the best he can while always aware it’s not enough. Once again, Sierra shows a chameleon-like quality in joining an established group and appearing as if he’s lived in that world the whole time.

Zorro and Son (1983)

Five years after A.E.S. Hudson Street, Sierra found his luck as a series regular had not improved. He plays Captain Paco Pico opposite Henry Darrow as Zorro, but once more it was five episodes and that's all she wrote. I loved that the show used the same theme as the 1950s classic starring Guy Williams. After that? Well, “hit and miss” might be generous, but with a game Sierra and a cast of comedy vets like Bill Dana, Barney Martin and Dick Gautier (as “El Excellente”) giving their all, you’ll likely laugh at least twice per episode. 

Miami Vice (1984)

This is the one that got away for Gregory Sierra, though he might not see it that way because he made the decision to leave. Had he not, he might be as well remembered today as Lt. Lou Rodriguez as he is for Chano. But he asked to be written out after just four episodes, apparently because he hated living in Miami. He was replaced by Edward James Olmos, who apparently liked the climate just fine.