During her 50 years in
the industry, CARMEN ZAPATA has
enjoyed a highly-diversified career as an actress,
producer,
translator, lecturer
and narrator. Her acting career began in 1945
on Broadway, and includes television, feature film
and
regional theater. Her film and TV credits are
numerous, and include nine seasons on PBS's "Villa
Alegre," three
years on "Santa Barbara," hundreds
of guest appearances on TV dramas sitcoms, and
feature roles in "Sister
Act" and "Sister Act II." Since
1973, Carmen Zapata has been the President, Producing
Director
and
Co-Founder of the Bilingual Foundation of the
Arts (BFA), an
Hispanic performing arts organization dedicated
to presenting Spanish-language classics through
bilingual
theater productions. As BFA’s
Producing Director, she produced over 80 plays
on the theater’s
mainstage, and 11 children’s productions
that toured Southern and Northern California.
She produced
7 major statewide tours of BFA’s
mainstage productions, as well as a New York
production
at Lincoln Center. Her list of awards is also
numerous,
but includes an Emmy Award for the Documentary
"Cinco Vidas," an Oscar
Nomination for "Las
Madres de la Plaza de Mayo," a Treasure
of Los Angeles Award from the Central City
Association of LA
in 1998,
and one of the highest honors in Hollywood: a
Star on the Walk of Fame. In 1990, Ms.
Zapata was Knighted
by His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain and
presented with the Cross of Isabel La Católica for
her contributions to the promotion and development
of
Hispanic American culture.
