Kamar de los Reyes, the compelling Puerto Rican actor celebrated for his roles as the conflicted cop Antonio Vega on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live and the formidable villain Raul Menendez in the Call of Duty video game series, has passed away at the age of 56.
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De los Reyes succumbed to cancer on Christmas Eve in Los Angeles, as confirmed by a family spokesperson.
His diverse acting career included portraying Watergate burglar Eugenio Martínez in Oliver Stone’s Nixon (1995) and taking on the role of Tomas in Lisa France’s Love & Suicide (2005), a film shot discreetly in Cuba during the Havana International Film Festival.
In recent years, he had notable recurring roles, including Jobe on Fox’s Sleepy Hollow in 2017, a detective on ABC’s The Rookie in 2021, and a college football coach on the CW’s All American from 2022 onwards.
De los Reyes made his debut on One Life to Live as Antonio in 1995, depicting a character who transformed from a former gang member wrongly imprisoned for a murder in self-defense to a lawyer and police officer. Though he initially left the daytime drama in 1998, he returned in 2000 and remained until the show concluded in 2013.
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His portrayal of the ruthless Menendez, a Nicaraguan arms dealer and terrorist with a deep-seated animosity toward America, left a lasting impact in the Call of Duty video game franchise, featuring in titles such as 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.
Reflecting on his experience with the Call of Duty project in a 2012 interview, he remarked, “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.”
Born on November 8, 1967, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and raised in Las Vegas as the youngest of three sons in a family of five children, de los Reyes came to Los Angeles and initially found work as a dancer in the 1988 film Salsa, directed by Boaz Davidson.
His stage performances at the Public Theater, under the direction of George C. Wolfe, included notable roles such as 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.
In 1994, he starred in the syndicated series Valley of the Dolls and earned a spot on People magazine’s “Fabulous 50” list in 1997. Additionally, he featured in Toni Braxton’s 2000 music video for “Spanish Guitar,” further showcasing his multifaceted talent.
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