The Mambo Kings

…appeared in the cult favorite The Mambo Kings, playing a young Cuban musician living in New York City. Although he spoke almost no English, Banderas was able to learn his lines phonetically and later took intensive English courses, which helped him land the role of Tom Hanks’s lover in the…

…she appeared in the films The Mambo Kings (1992; based on a novel by Oscar Hijuelos) and The Perez Family (1995). Her autobiography, Celia: My Life (2004; originally published in Spanish), was written with Ana Cristina Reymundo. Her many honours included three Grammy Awards and four Latin Grammys for recordings…

…including Radio Days (1987) and The Mambo Kings (1992), and was responsible for introducing American audiences to a number of Latin musicians, most notably Cuban singer Celia Cruz. Puente received five Grammy Awards as well as numerous other honours, and he played 200 to 300 engagements a year until shortly…