Ilka Tanya Payán
Ilka Tanya Payán | |
|---|---|
| File:Ilkatanya.jpg | |
| Born | January 7, 1943 |
| Died | April 6, 1996 (aged 53) |
Ilka Tanya Payán (January 7, 1943 – April 6, 1996) was a Dominican-born actress and attorney who later became a prominent HIV/AIDS activist in the United States.
Early life
Payán was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and immigrated to the United States at the age of thirteen, settling permanently in New York City.
Acting career
She became widely recognized for her role in the Spanish-language telenovela Angelica, Mi Vida ("Angelica, My Life"). It was from her role on this serial that provided Payán with the experience to move on to bigger roles in Hollywood with a small role in the film Scarface, and a guest role on the television series Hill Street Blues. Prior to these roles, she had worked in local theatrical and television projects in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Spain. She also worked hard to encourage New York's Latino theater community. She was a founder of the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA), and was heavily involved with International Arts Relations (INTAR).
AIDS activism
Payán studied law at Peoples College of Law in Los Angeles, California, and became an attorney in 1981,[1] practicing immigration law. It was around this time she contracted HIV from a former lover, for which she did not test positive until 1986. Caught completely off guard by the discovery, she revealed her status to her husband, her then 22-year-old daughter, her niece, and several friends. She and her second husband separated several years later, and ultimately divorced. He never contracted HIV. Payán did not publicly disclose her status until 1993. Payán's announcement shocked many in the Hispanic community because she was one of the first Latino celebrities to do so. While it was widely believed that the death of singer Héctor Lavoe in June 1993 influenced her, Payán in an interview with the New York Times said that it was an encounter with a man who she liked that helped her make the decision to announce her status. She confirmed to having HIV upon being asked by the interviewer.[2]
Tributes
Since 1999, the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA) has given out the HOLA Ilka Award for Humanitarianism in her honor. On March 1, 2002, New York City renamed a park in the predominantly-Dominican Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights in her honor. The "Ilka Tanya Payán Park" is located on the Greenstreet bounded between 156th and 157th Streets, and Broadway and Morgan Place.[3] On September 27, 2005, the "Ilka Tanya Payán Theatre" located at the Times Square Arts Center was dedicated. It is meant to serve as an experimental theater for Latino actors and productions.[4] There are two panels in the AIDS Quilt commemorating her.[5]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Hill Street Blues | Teresa | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1983 | Scarface | Mrs. Gutierrez | |
| 1986 | Florida Straits | Carmen | TV movie |
| 1990 | Sesame Street Home Video Visits the Firehouse | Dolores - Neighbor (as Ilka Tanya Payan) | VHS |
References
- Notes
- ↑ "Attorney Search". The State Bar of California. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
- ↑ Navarro, Mireya (5 December 1993). "Conversations/Ilka Tanya Payán; An Actress Openly Faces AIDS And Receives an Audience's Ovation". The New York Times.
- ↑ "RENAMING A PARK IN MEMORY OF ILKA TANYA PAYAN: SOAP OPERA STAR, IMMIGRATION LAWYER, AND AIDS ACTIVIST" (Press release). New York City Parks and Recreation Department. 26 February 2022. Archived from the original on 27 August 2003.
- ↑ Fernandez-Soberon, Miriam (20 August 2005). "Teatro llevará nombre de Ilka Tanya Payán". El Diario La Prensa (in español). Archived from the original on 3 January 2006.
- ↑ "Interactive AIDS Quilt". www.aidsmemorial.org.
External links
- 1943 births
- 1996 deaths
- Actors from Santo Domingo
- American HIV/AIDS activists
- Dominican Republic emigrants to the United States
- AIDS-related deaths in New York (state)
- People's College of Law alumni
- American film actresses
- 20th-century American actresses
- American television actresses
- 20th-century American lawyers
- 20th-century American women lawyers