#Caesar Cordova, ‘Scarface’ and ‘Carlito’s Way’ actor, dead at 84

By Pat Saperstein, Variety

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Caesar Cordova (middle) with Steven Bauer and Al Pacino
Cordova family/Facebook

Caesar Cordova, a character actor who appeared with Al Pacino in “Scarface” and “Carlito’s Way,” died of natural causes Wednesday in Atlantic City, N.J. He was 84.

His son, actor Panchito Gomez “American Me,” “Mi Vida Loca”), announced his death.

In Brian de Palma’s “Scarface,” Cordova played the taco cook at the El Paraiso lunch stand. Though the film was set in Miami, the scene was actually shot in downtown Los Angeles. In “Carlito’s Way,” he played the barber.

Cordova was a lifetime member of the Actors Studio. He also appeared on Broadway with Pacino in “Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?”

His film credits include “Where the Buffalo Roam,” opposite Peter Boyle and Bill Murray, “Nighthawks” with Sylvester Stallone and Billy Dee Williams and “Shark’s Treasure,” where he appeared opposite Cornel Wilde, who also wrote and directed the film.

On television, he had guest appearances on “Kojak,” “Cagney and Lacey,” “A-Team,” “Baretta” and the early New York series with George C. Scott, “East Side, West Side.”

Cordova also produced the independent feature “Paco,” starring Jose Ferrer and Panchito Gomez. He appeared in the Los Angeles Actors Theatre production of “The Sun Always Shines for the Cool” by Puerto Rican playwright Miguel Pinero.

Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, he was raised in New York City and served in the Army during the Korean conflict.

He is survived by his wife Gladys Gomez; sons Panchito Gomez and Luis Gomez, daughters Ana Sanchez Gomez and Elena Gomez Martinez, and children from his first marriage Damarys Cordova, Abigail Cordova and Jesse Cordova.