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BEVERLY HILLS – August 12: Silva at the 24th Annual Golden Boot Awards on August 12, 2006 at Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA, photo by s_bukley /Bigstock.com
Date of Birth: September 23, 1926
Place of Birth: Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.
Date of Death: September 14, 2022
Place of Death: Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Ethnicity: Puerto Rican/Spanish, possibly Italian Sicilian
Henry Silva was an American actor. His films include Ocean’s 11 (1960), The Manchurian Candidate , Johnny Cool , The Secret Invasion , The Plainsman , The Return of Mr. Moto , White Fang to the Rescu , Crimebusters , Alligator , Above the Law , Dick Tracy , and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai . He was particularly known for having played roles of a smorgasbord of ethnicities, including Chinese and Japanese, often villains.
Henry was the son of Angelina/Angeline Martinez and Jesus Silva, a sailor. His mother was born in Puerto Rico. It appears that his father was born in Puerto Rico as well. In the DVD commentary for The Return of Mr. Moto , Henry said that he was of Spanish and Italian descent.
He was raised mostly by his mother, in Spanish Harlem, Manhattan.
Henry had two children with his former wife Ruth Earl.
Sources: https://major-smolinski.com https://www.nytimes.com https://www.washingtonpost.com https://www.latimes.com
Henry Silva on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org Henry Silva on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org