Kamar de los Reyes obit

Kamar de los Reyes, ‘One Life to Live’ and ‘Call of Duty’ Star, Dies at 56

A native of Puerto Rico, he also stood out in ‘Love & Suicide’ and appeared on ‘Sleepy Hollow,’ ‘The Rookie’ and ‘All American.’ 

He was not on the list.

Kamar de los Reyes, the compelling Puerto Rican actor who portrayed the troubled cop Antonio Vega on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live and the villain Raul Menendez in Call of Duty video games, has died. He was 56.

De los Reyes died on Christmas Eve in Los Angeles after a brief battle with cancer, a family spokesperson announced.

De los Reyes also appeared as Watergate burglar Eugenio Martínez in Oliver Stone’s Nixon (1995) and starred as Tomas in Lisa France’s Love & Suicide (2005), a feature shot clandestinely in Cuba while the principals were attending the Havana International Film Festival.

Most recently, he had recurring roles as Jobe on Fox’s Sleepy Hollow in 2017, as a detective on ABC’s The Rookie in 2021 and as a college football coach on the CW’s All American since 2022.

On One Life to Live, de los Reyes first showed up in Llanview as Antonio in 1995. His character was a former gang member who had unjustly served time in prison for a murder done in self-defense, then became a lawyer and a cop.

De los Reyes left the daytime drama in 1998 but would return in 2000 and remain until the soap’s demise in 2013.

He played the vicious Menendez, a Nicaraguan arms dealer and terrorist who had an extreme hatred for America, in 2012’s Call of Duty: Black Ops II, 2018’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, 2019’s Call of Duty: Mobile and 2021’s Call of Duty: Vanguard.

“I walked away from this experience knowing that I had just finished work on one of the most amazing projects I’ve ever been a part of,” he said in a 2012 interview.

One of five kids and the youngest of three sons, de los Reyes was born on Nov. 8, 1967, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and raised in Las Vegas. His father is famed Cuban percussionist Walfredo de los Reyes.

He came to Los Angeles and landed work as a dancer in the Boaz Davidson-directed Salsa (1988).

In Public Theater productions directed by George C. Wolfe, he played the Irish-Mexican boxer Pedro “Roadman” Quinn in 1994’s Blade to the Heat and Ferdinand alongside Patrick Stewart as Prospero in 1995’s The Tempest.

He starred on the syndicated series Valley of the Dolls in 1994 and was named to People magazine’s “Fabulous 50” list in 1997, then romanced Toni Braxton in her 2000 music video for “Spanish Guitar.”

His résumé also included the films The Cell (2000), Mambo Café (2000), Cayo (2005) and Salt (2010) and guest-starring stints on ER, New York Undercover, Touched by an Angel, Early Edition, Law & Order, CSI: Miami, Blue Bloods and Castle.

After the devastation of Hurricane Maria in 2017, he led recovery efforts in his beloved home.

At the time of his death, de los Reyes was at work on All American and had recently shot a role for Hulu’s not-yet-released Washington Black, starring Sterling K. Brown. He also has a significant part in Marvel’s upcoming Daredevil series.

In addition to his father and mother, Matilde, survivors include his wife, The Fosters actress Sherri Saum, whom he married in 2007 (they worked together on One Life to Live, and their characters were romantically involved); their 9-year-old fraternal twin sons, John and Michael; another son, Caylen; his brothers, percussionists Walfredo Reyes Jr. and Daniel de los Reyes; and his sisters, Lily and Ilde.

 

Filmography

Television

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1994    The Corpse Had a Familiar Face            Puerto Rican    TV movie

Valley of the Dolls    Ray Ariaz    65 episodes

1995    ER            Hernandez            Episodes: "Sleepless in Chicago",

"Full Moon, Saturday Night",

& "House of Cards"

1995-2009            One Life to Live            Antonio Vega    Regular cast member

1996    New York Undercover            Luis            Episodes: "Bad Blood"

& "Fire Show"

Swift Justice            Palo Montega            Episode: "No Holds Barred"

1998    Four Corners            Tomas Alvarez —

Blood on Her Hands  Gavin Kendrick            TV movie

1998-99            Promised Land            Leon Flores            Episodes: "Denver: Welcome Home",

"Out of Bounds",

"The Visitor",

& "All in the Family"

1999    Total Recall 2070            Jack Brant            Episodes: "Paranoid"

& "Restitution"

Touched by an Angel   Eddie Testaverde            Episode: "Godspeed"

Early Edition            Ramon Archiletta            Episode: "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"

2000    The 27th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards            Himself            Television special

2001    The 28th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards            Himself            Television special

The Way She Moves            Nicholas           TV movie

2002    The 29th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards            Himself            Television special

2003            Undefeated      Jose Beveagua            HBO TV movie

2004    The 31st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards            Himself            Television special

SOAPnet Reveals ABC Soap Secrets            Himself            TV movie documentary

2005    The 32nd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards            Himself            Television special

Presenter for Outstanding Young Actor in a Drama Series

Law & Order            Aberto Moretti            Episode: "Dining Out"

2006    Wheel of Fortune            Himself - Celebrity Contestant            Episode: "Soap Stars 1"

The 33rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards            Himself            Television special

The 2nd Annual Quill Awards            Himself            Television special

SoapTalk            Himself            Episodes: dated March 6, 2006

& October 17, 2006

2007    6ABC Boscov's Thanksgiving Day Parade            Himself            TV movie

2008    Paula's Party    Himself            Episode: dated January 18, 2008

2009    CSI: Miami   Jason Molina            Episode: "Collateral Damage"

Law & Order: Criminal Intent            Teru            Episodes: "The Glory That Was..."

& "Alpha Dog"

2011    The Mentalist            Omar Vega            Episode: "Pink Tops"

Reed Between the Lines            Anthony Guillory            Episodes: "Let's Talk About Change",

"Let's Talk About Ms. Helen's Son, Part 2",

& "Let's Talk About Game Night"

2013    Blue Bloods Santana            Episodes: "The Bitter End"

& "This Way Out"

Pretty Little Liars            Dominic Russo            Episode: "Into the Deep"

2014    Major Crimes Dr. Enrique Cabrera            Episode: "Frozen Assets"

2015    Castle            Manuel Villalobos            Episode: "Private Eye Caramba!"

2016            Kingdom            Detective Poole            Episode: "Take Pills"

Shooter            —            Episode: "Recon by Fire"

2017    Sleepy Hollow Jobe            13 episodes

Home and Family  Himself            Episode: "Carla Jimenez/Kamar de los Reyes/Shirley Chung/King"

2018            MacGyver       Captain Delarosa            Episode: "Wind + Water"

The Gifted            Sebastian Diaz            Episode: "coMplications"

SEAL Team            Comandante Salas, Priest            Episodes: "Prisoner's Dilemma" and "Santa Muerte"

2019    The Passage            Julio Martinez            Episode: "You Are Like the Sun",

"You Are Not That Girl Anymore",

& "Stay in the Light"

2021    The Rookie Ryan Caradine            5 episodes

2022-2023            All American            Coach Montes 7 episodes

Film

Year     Film            Role            Notes

1988    Salsa            Featured Dancer            credited as Kamar Reyes

1989    Ghetto Blaster  Chato            —

East L.A. Warriors            Paulo            credited as Kamar Reyes

1990            Coldfire          Nick            —

1991    Lethal Ninja    Sonny            Direct-to-video

1992    The Silencer            Kickboxer       —

1993    Street Knight            Smokey          —

Da Vinci's War            Latin Dancer —

Fatherhood            Drug Dealer #2            —

1995    Nixon            Eugenio Martinez            Watergate Burglar

1996            Daedalus Is Dead            Wilson Ortiz     Short film

1997    In Search of a Dream  Marcos            —

2000    Mambo Café     Manny            —

The Cell            Officer Alexander            —

2004    One Life to Live's: Daytime's Greatest Weddings            Antonio Vega / Antinio Vega    Video documentary, Archive footage

2005    Love & Suicide Tomas            —

Cayo    Young Ivan      —

2010    Salt            Secret Service Agent            —

2013    Hot Guys with Guns            Producer One  —

2014    LA Apocalypse            Carlos Dorado            —

2016            Abducted: The Story of Jocelyn Shaker Javier            —

2017    Amelia 2.0       Vaughn            —

First Strike Butcher Knife            —            Short film

 

Videogame

Year     Title            Role

2012    Call of Duty: Black Ops II  Raul Menendez

2018    Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

2022    Call of Duty: Vanguard