Kamar de los Reyes, who portrayed the troubled cop Antonio Vega on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, has died. He was 56.
A family spokesperson said that de los Reyes died on Christmas Eve in Los Angeles after a brief battle with cancer.
Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, de los Reyes moved to the United States at age two. He grew up in Las Vegas, surrounded by a family of professional musicians. No stranger to the spotlight, he began playing the trumpet at age four, playing on stage alongside Dizzy Gillespie and Harry James, and he recently joined his family to play percussion and sing backup vocals on his brother Daniel's debut album, San Rafael 560.
In 1994 he made his off-Broadway debut in Blade to the Heat, and in 1995 he played opposite Patrick Stewart in the Shakespeare in the Park production of The Tempest in New York City.
That same year, de los Reyes made his daytime television debut on One Life to Live, when Antonio was serving time in prison for murder, even though the killing had been done in self-defense. Police Commissioner Bo Buchanan made a deal with Antonio to release him from prison early if he helped flush out the dirty cop who was selling stolen guns to the teenage gangs in Angel Square. Antonio eventually ended up pursuing a career in law enforcement and became a detective with the Llanview Police Department.
De los Reyes left the daytime drama in 1998, but he returned in 2000 and remained with the show through 2009.
Outside of daytime, de los Reyes also appeared as Watergate burglar Eugenio Martínez in Oliver Stone's Nixon and starred as Tomas in the 2005 film Love & Suicide (2005), a feature shot clandestinely in Cuba while the principals were attending the Havana International Film Festival. His television credits include recurring roles in television series such as New York Undercover, Promised Land, ER and the Showtime science fiction drama Total Recall 2070. He appeared in Touched by an Angel and co-starred in the television movie Blood on Her Hands, opposite Susan Lucci.
De los Reyes starred in the VH1 made-for-television film, The Way She Moves, opposite Annabeth Gish, in which he displayed his considerable dancing talent. He also co-starred with singing sensation Toni Braxton in her music video, Spanish Guitar. In July 2003, he appeared as boxer Jose Beveagua in the HBO original movie Undefeated. The following year, he traveled to Puerto Rico to shoot the feature film Cayo.
De los Reyes recently shot a role for Hulu's not-yet-released Washington Black, starring Sterling K. Brown. He also has a significant part in Marvel's upcoming Daredevil series.
De los Reyes was married to Sherri Saum, whom he married in 2007. The couple met while working together on One Life to Live. The couple has nine-year-old fraternal twin sons, John and Michael, and another son, Caylen.
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