Rubén Blades

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna (born July 16, 1948) is a Panamanian salsa singer, songwriter, lawyer, actor, Latin jazz musician, and politician, performing musically most often in the Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz genres. As songwriter, Blades brought the lyrical sophistication of Central American nueva canción and Cuban nueva trova as well as experimental tempos and political inspired Nuyorican salsa to his music, creating thinking persons' (salsa) dance music. Blades has composed dozens of musical hits, the most famous of which is "Pedro Navaja," a song about a neighborhood thug who appears to die during a robbery (his song "Sorpresas" continues the story), inspired by "Mack the Knife." He also composed and sings what many Panamanians consider their second national anthem. The song is titled "Patria" (Fatherland). He is an icon in Panama and is much admired throughout Latin America, and managed to attract 18% of the vote in his failed attempt to win the Panamanian presidency in 1994. In September 2004, he was appointed minister of tourism by Panamanian president Martín Torrijos for a five-year term. He holds a law degree from the University of Panama and a master's in international law from Harvard University. He is married to singer Luba Mason. Description above from the Wikipedia article Rubén Blades, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For: Acting

Born: Panama City, Panama, 1948-07-16

Died: null

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1979	Beats of the Heart: Salsa	Self	0
2	1983	The Last Fight	Andy "Kid" Clave	44
3	1985	The Making of Sun City	Self	0
4	1985	Crossover Dreams	Rudy Veloz	57
5	1985	The Return of Rubén Blades	himself	0
6	1987	Critical Condition	Louis	55
7	1987	Fatal Beauty	Carl Jimenez	55
8	1988	The Milagro Beanfield War	Sheriff Bernabe Montoya	65
9	1988	Homeboy	Doctor	49
10	1989	Dead Man Out	Ben	63
11	1989	Disorganized Crime	Carlos Barrios	54
12	1989	The Lemon Sisters	C.W.	46
13	1990	The Heart of the Deal		0
14	1990	Mo' Better Blues	Petey	65
15	1990	The Two Jakes	Mickey Nice	60
16	1990	Predator 2	Danny Archuleta	63
17	1991	The Josephine Baker Story	Count Giuseppe Pepito Abatino	60
18	1991	One Man’s War	Perrone	68
19	1991	Crazy From the Heart	Ernesto Ontiveros	38
20	1991	Rabbit Ears - Joseph and His Brothers	Narrator (voice)	0
21	1991	The Super	Marlon	59
22	1993	Miracle on Interstate 880	Pastor Beruman	49
23	1994	A Million to Juan	Bartender	54
24	1994	Color of Night	Hector	58
25	1995	Somos un solo pueblo	Self	0
26	1996	Scorpion Spring	Border Patrolman Sam Zaragosa	66
27	1996	Al compás de un sentimiento: la música de Pedro Flores		0
28	1997	The Devil's Own	Edwin Diaz	62
29	1997	From Son to Salsa		0
30	1997	Chinese Box	Jim	59
31	1998	A Roll of the Dice: The Capeman on Broadway		0
32	1998	Willie Colón & Rubén Blades - Live In Venezuela	Rubén Blades	0
33	1999	Cradle Will Rock	Diego Rivera	65
34	2000	All the Pretty Horses	Rocha	57
35	2002	Encuentro		0
36	2003	The Maldonado Miracle	Cruz	47
37	2003	Assassination Tango	Miguel	53
38	2003	Once Upon a Time in Mexico	Jorge, Retired FBI Agent	63
39	2003	Imagining Argentina	Silvio Ayala	56
40	2003	Spin	Ernesto	60
41	2004	Secuestro Express	Carla's Father	64
42	2004	En mi país	Rubén Blades	90
43	2005	The Hunters and the Hunted: The Making of 'Predator 2'	Self (archive footage)	60
44	2007	Lo mejor de nuestra música popular: 15 años de éxitos	Self	10
45	2008	La clave		0
46	2009	Spoken Word	Cruz-Sr.	48
47	2011	Rubén Blades: Todos Vuelven Live, Vol. 2		52
48	2011	Rubén Blades: Todos Vuelven Live, Vol. 1		52
49	2011	The Next Season	Benito	0
50	2011	¡Sonó, Sonó… Tite Curet!		80
51	2012	Safe House	Carlos Villar	65
52	2012	Outlaws - For Greater Glory	Président Calles	67
53	2013	The Counselor	Jefe	53
54	2014	Invasion	Self	73
55	2014	Yo soy la salsa		0
56	2016	Hands of Stone	Carlos Eleta	66
57	2018	Ruben Blades Is Not My Name	Self	64
58	2018	John Leguizamo's Latin History for Morons	Self	75
59	2019	Raúl Juliá: The World’s a Stage	Self	0
60	2021	Red Pill	Rocky	60
61	2021	Nueva York: A Musical History of Latin New York	Self (archive footage)	80
62	2024	Stay Homas. The Band That Shouldn’t Exist	Self - Singer	80
63	2024	Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple	Self	73
64	2025	Salsa Lives	Ruben Blades	0

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1993	The X-Files	Conrad Lozano	84
2	1997	Arthouse	Self	0
3	2000	Latin Grammy Awards	Self	70
4	2000	Gideon's Crossing	Dr. Max Cabranes	60
5	2002	Las Lunas del Auditorio	Self	73
6	2011	Músicos de Latinoamérica	Self	0
7	2015	Fear the Walking Dead	Daniel Salazar	76

Rubén Blades

Film

Television