Miriam Colon (Maria Santos)

Miriam Colon has been playing Maria Santos on Guiding Light since 1999. As the beloved abuela to her grandsons - mobsters Danny and Tony, and Ray, a priest - Maria is a stern and proud woman whose desire to protect her family at any cost underscores her every move.

Born and raised in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Colon wanted to pursue acting as a career since childhood. She often performed in school plays and was a member of the drama department of the University of Puerto Rico, which later awarded her a scholarship to New York to study at the Dramatic Workshop and Technical Institute.

Colon's extensive film credits include the starring role in Isabel, la Negra opposite Jose Ferrer and Raul Julia; One Eyed Jacks and The Appaloosa, both starring Marlon Brando; Backroads, co-starring with Sally Field; The Possession of Joel Delaney with Shirley MacLaine; and Scarface, in which she played Al Pacino's mother. Her latest film credits are John Sayles' Lone Star; Gabriel Garcia Marquez' film, Epido Alcalde; Sabrina; The House of the Spirits with Meryl Streep and Glenn Close; The Blue Diner; the soon-to-be-released All the Pretty Horses with Matt Damon; and Havana Nocturne with Andy Garcia.

As its artistic Director and Founder, Colon has guided the operations of the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre for the past 33 years, producing 104 plays. A frequent presence on stage, Colon has starred on Broadway in The Wrong Way Lightbulb; opposite Dame Judith Anderson in In the Summer House; and in The Innkeepers with Geraldine Page. Among her numerous Off-Broadway and regional theater credits in Eduardo Machado's Floating Islands at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, for which she won the 1994 Dramalogue Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theatre. The previous year, in 1992, Colon received an Obie award for Lifetime Achievement.

Colon has given performances in over 250 television shows ranging from such classic programs as Alfred Hitchock Presents, The Virgininian, Gunsmoke, The Fugitive and Sanford and Son, to the more contemporary fare of Murder She Wrote, Law & Order, The Cosby Mysteries and NYPD Blue.

Colon is a member of the Board of Directors of the Actors Studio. She is married to Dr. Fred Valle, a plastic surgeon whom she met while he was auditioning for a role in the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre's production of The Oxcart.


	With Love To... The SOAPS! Grant Aleksander (Phillip Spaulding) - ADDED PICTURES \| George Alvarez (Father Ray Santos) \| Laura Bell Bundy (Marah Lewis) \| Beth Chamberlin (Lorelei) \| Crystal Chappell (Olivia Spencer Lewis) - ADDED PICTURES \| Jordan Clarke (Billy Lewis) \| Bradley Cole (Prince Richard Winslow) - ADDED PICTURES \| Magaly Colimon (Ruth Lockhart) \| Miriam Colon (Maria Santos) \| Jim Davidson (Alonzo Baptiste) \| Justin Deas (Frank "Buzz" Cooper, Sr.) \| Frank Dicopoulos (Frank Cooper) \| Mark Dobies (Dr. Noah Chase) \| Beth Ehlers (Harley Spaulding) \| Maureen Garrett (Holly Reade) \| Ricky Paull Goldin (Gus Aitoro) \| Jessica Jimenez (Catalina Quesada) \| Billy Kay (Shayne Lewis) \| Elizabeth Keifer (C. Blake Marler) \| David Andrew Macdonald (Prince Edmund Winslow) \| Oliver Marceady (Henry "Romeo" Jones) \| Mackanzie Mauzy (Lizzie Spaulding) \| Robert Newman (Joshua Lewis) - ADDED PICTURES \| Michael O'Leary (Dr. Rick Bauer) \| Victoria G. Platt (Vicky Brandon) \| Susan Pratt (Dr. Clare Ramsey) \| Ron Rains (Alan Spaulding) \| Wesley A. Ramsey (Sam Spencer) \| Paul Rauch (Executive Producer) \| Nancy St. Alban (Michelle Bauer Santos) \| Tina Sloan (Lillian Raines) \| Paul Anthony Stewart (Danny Santos) \| Mary Stuart (Meta Bauer) \| Terrell Tilford (David Grant) \| Jerry Ver Dorn (Ross Marler) \| Jordi Vilasuso (Tony Santos) - ADDED PICTURES \| Laura Wright (Princess Cassandra "Cassie" Layne Winslow) - ADDED PICTURES \| Kim Zimmer (Reva Lewis) - ADDED PICTURES Miriam Colon (Maria Santos) Miriam Colon has been playing Maria Santos on Guiding Light since 1999. As the beloved abuela to her grandsons - mobsters Danny and Tony, and Ray, a priest - Maria is a stern and proud woman whose desire to protect her family at any cost underscores her every move. Born and raised in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Colon wanted to pursue acting as a career since childhood. She often performed in school plays and was a member of the drama department of the University of Puerto Rico, which later awarded her a scholarship to New York to study at the Dramatic Workshop and Technical Institute. Colon's extensive film credits include the starring role in Isabel, la Negra opposite Jose Ferrer and Raul Julia; One Eyed Jacks and The Appaloosa, both starring Marlon Brando; Backroads, co-starring with Sally Field; The Possession of Joel Delaney with Shirley MacLaine; and Scarface, in which she played Al Pacino's mother. Her latest film credits are John Sayles' Lone Star; Gabriel Garcia Marquez' film, Epido Alcalde; Sabrina; The House of the Spirits with Meryl Streep and Glenn Close; The Blue Diner; the soon-to-be-released All the Pretty Horses with Matt Damon; and Havana Nocturne with Andy Garcia. As its artistic Director and Founder, Colon has guided the operations of the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre for the past 33 years, producing 104 plays. A frequent presence on stage, Colon has starred on Broadway in The Wrong Way Lightbulb; opposite Dame Judith Anderson in In the Summer House; and in The Innkeepers with Geraldine Page. Among her numerous Off-Broadway and regional theater credits in Eduardo Machado's Floating Islands at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, for which she won the 1994 Dramalogue Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theatre. The previous year, in 1992, Colon received an Obie award for Lifetime Achievement. Colon has given performances in over 250 television shows ranging from such classic programs as Alfred Hitchock Presents, The Virgininian, Gunsmoke, The Fugitive and Sanford and Son, to the more contemporary fare of Murder She Wrote, Law & Order, The Cosby Mysteries and NYPD Blue. Colon is a member of the Board of Directors of the Actors Studio. She is married to Dr. Fred Valle, a plastic surgeon whom she met while he was auditioning for a role in the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre's production of The Oxcart.