James Victor or “Jimmy Victor” as he was affectionately referred to by family and friends, was a character actor who you have surely seen in the over 40 film and television projects he has done in his career. This past week friends and family were sad to learn that on June 20th, James Victor passed away.
Born in the Dominican Republic on July 27, 1939, Victor immigrated with his family to New York City as a child. Victor caught the acting bug when he joined Miriam Colon’s bilingual theater company, where he was mentored and where he got his early training. Another major influence on his career was his good friend and mentor, the late John Cassavetes.
Enrique Castillo with Jimmy Victor on the right
Victor was one of the most popular Latino character actors from the 70’s well into the 2000’s. He garnered national and international recognition with roles in motion pictures like Losin’ It working alongside Shelly Long and a young Tom Cruise. Previous to that film he had co-starred alongside Charles Bronson in Borderline with Ed Harris and Enrique Castillo, both were cast in their first co-starring roles in that film. Victor’s other film roles include playing the heavy in Rolling Thunder starring William Devane. He also starred in the Oscar nominated Stand and Deliver starring Edward James Olmos.
It was on television that Victor did his most memorable work. He starred in two groundbreaking TV series, ABC’s Viva Valdez alongside the late Carmen Zapata in 1976. It was a summer replacement about a Mexican-American family living in East Los Angeles. In 1983 he starred as the grandfather in the sitcom Condo created by Sheldon Bull. The series which deftly played on stereotypes revolved around a Latino family and an Anglo family living next to each other in condo units. Although the parents had trouble getting along, their daughter (Julie Carmen) and their son (Mark Schubb), respectively fall in love, get married and are about to have a baby. The sitcom lasted only one season on ABC. It starred Luis Avalos as the Montoya dad with Yvonne Wilder as his wife Maria. The Anglo couple was played by McLean Stevenson and Brook Alderson. Although Wilder was in reality two years older than Victor, he was given heavy makeup and a graying beard enabling him to play her on-screen father.
Another role Victor brought to life brilliantly was that of the cowardly and yet endearing Sgt. Jaime Mendoza in A & E’s Zorro which ran from 1990 to 1993. The series was set in Spanish California and was the retelling of the adventures of Don Diego de la Vega (Duncan Regehr) who doubled as Zorro the protector of the Pueblo of Los Angeles. Patrice Martinez (Beetlejuice, Three Amigos) played the love interest and Henry Darrow played the patriarch Don Alejandro de la Vega.
Henry Darrow, Patrice Martinez, James Victor (as Mendoza) and H.G. Hertzler in Zorro.
Victor was a beloved individual known to many of his friends for his kindness and his infectious laugh.
Actor and good friend Rudy Ramos used social media to pay tribute to his friend when he learned of his passing. They had worked together on the John Flynn directed film Defiance and forged a friendship that lasted until his death.
Rudy Ramos in “Defiance”
“James Victor, you were going to come and see my show again but you weren’t feeling well. You said you were having some health issues. We decided to have dinner together when the run of my show was over. I am sorry we won’t get to have that dinner,” he wrote in part on Facebook. “You and Miguel Piñero made me believe in my talent and that I belonged in the acting community. Your creation of Sergeant Mendoza in Zorro is a classic and will be forever remembered.”
Noted actor Richard Yñiguez, who worked with Victor on Zorro remembered him this way:
“Jimmy contributed so much to our community as an active member of our film and theater family here as well as New York. All I can really say is that he never had a negative thing to say about anybody and always asked first about my family each time we met. He was always prepared when on set and a blast to be with in the wild. While in Spain working on Zorro he made my time there easy as pie and memorable.” And added, “He will be missed but he will always live on as the great artist he was in film, television and theater.”
Many of Victor’s friends share the same sentiments. Ramos encapsulated it well when he said, “You were one of a kind. You were a ‘diamond in the rough’. Go in peace my brother and rest in the arms of the angels. They will carry you to the hands of God.
Memorial services had not yet been determined and we will update this article when we have the information.
UPDATE: Funeral services will take place at 1 p.m. on July 10 at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
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