Gregory Sierra, best known for his roles as a sergeant. Miguel “Chano” Amanguale in Barney Miller and Julio Fuentes in Sanford and Son, died at the age of 83.
Sierra died on January 4 of cancer, a family spokesman confirmed to our sister site Deadline, but news of her death did not become public until Friday. Had he lived, Sierra would have turned 84 on January 25.
A veteran New York actor of Puerto Rican descent, Sierra used to break racial barriers and challenge stereotypes by portraying a range of high-ranking police officers and prosecutors in everything from Hill Street Blues for Miami Vice. He played an FBI agent on Falcon Crest and captains of police in the original MacGyver and shorter-lived ones Something is out there.
Sierra also had a knack for comedy timing and, in addition to his recurring role as Fred Sanford’s sarcastic neighbor, Julio, he enjoyed small, but notable, guest star roles in Growing Pains, Fresh prince of Bel Air, Soap and It’s a life. Its complete appearance in Everyone in the family I saw him play a Jewish extremist named Paul Benjamin, who unexpectedly befriends Archie Bunker, but later dies in a car bomb. Instead of public applause, the episode ended in bleak silence.
Sierra lived in Laguna Woods, California, and leaves his wife, Helene.