Celebrity
This Daytime Emmy Winner Celebrates His 78th Birthday, Decades After His Most Iconic Soap Role
Decades after his Daytime Emmy-winning role, he’s landed new TV roles and even reconnected with a former co-star to help her through a health battle.
Actor A Martinez, known by soap opera fans for playing Cruz Castillo on Santa Barbara, is celebrating his 78th birthday on September 27.
Martinez’s full name is Adolfo Larrue Martinez III, and he grew up in California. Before he was a professional actor, TV Guide notes, he played semi-professional baseball for five seasons.
According to TV Overmind, Martinez was interested in music, acting, and sports throughout high school. He was in a rock band as a high school senior, but he also competed on the track team. He even won a singing competition at the Hollywood Bowl when he was just 12.
On Santa Barbara, which aired from July 1984 to January 1993, Martinez appeared in nearly 1,500 episodes. He became part of the beloved supercouple Eden and Cruz, with Marcy Walker playing Eden Capwell.
In addition to his long run on Santa Barbara, Martinez has also appeared on General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, The Bold and the Beautiful, and One Life to Live. In 1990, Martinez won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his work on Santa Barbara.
Many of his fans adore Martinez because of the work he’s done on soaps. However, he also has around 100 credits for other roles he’s tackled. His earliest gig was in the 1968 drama The Young Animals, where he played Johnny. By the time he was cast for Santa Barbara, Martinez already had more than 60 other roles under his belt.
Although Martinez has spent years starring on various soap operas, he has done plenty of work in primetime television, too. He appeared on L.A. Law and Profiler, and he had a recurring role on Longmire.
Martinez had a very short-lived marriage to St. Elmo’s Fire star Mare Winningham before Santa Barbara began. In July 1982, he married Leslie Martinez, and they have raised three children together.
Even though it has been about 34 years since Walker and Martinez worked together, they recently reconnected. Walker has been navigating difficult health problems for a while, and in June, Martinez shared an update on Walker via his Instagram page, where he also shared a GoFundMe link to support her.
Martinez hasn’t actively worked on soaps in several years, but he is keeping plenty busy. Since playing Eduardo Hernandez on Days of Our Lives, he has had roles on The Bay and now plays a sheriff on Dark Winds.
The beloved actor may now be 78 years old, but it doesn’t appear he’s interested in slowing down or retiring anytime soon.
