Early life

Fargas was born in New York City to Mildred (née Bailey) and Manuel Fargas; he was one of eleven children. His father was a Puerto Rican who worked for the City of New York. His mother was from Trinidad and Tobago.

Acting career

His breakout role began in the late '60s comedy, Putney Swope, today a cult film. After starring in a string of blaxploitation movies in the early '70s, such as his role as Link Brown in the movie Foxy Brown and in Across 110th Street, he gained recognition as streetwise informant "Huggy Bear" in the mid-'70s television series Starsky and Hutch.

He appeared in ABC's All My Children in the mid-1980s as the father of Angie Hubbard.

As a nod to his early roles, he had a part in the 1988 blaxploitation spoof I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, as well as another Wayans brothers "hood" parody, Don't Be a Menace, in 1996. He guest starred in the mid-90s sitcoms Living Single, Martin, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and The Steve Harvey Show.

Fargas played the driver in the 1998 music video of Backstreet Boys hit "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)".

Some notable appearances on British television shows include participating in series 4 of the reality series I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2004 and an appearance on Frank Sidebottom's Proper Telly Show in early 2006.

He played the part of Toledo in a revival of August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester in 2006. He had a regular role as 'Doc' on the 2005-2009 TV series Everybody Hates Chris.

In 2008 Fargas acted in the British boxing film Sucker Punch.

Fargas appeared on an episode of Fox's Lie to Me as the father of a murdered firefighter.

Personal life

Fargas's son Justin Fargas, a University of Southern California alumnus, was the starting running back for the NFL team the Oakland Raiders. Fargas's daughter-in-law is LSU women's basketball coach Nikki Caldwell.

Selected filmography

• Putney Swope (1969)
• Pound (1970)
• Shaft (1971)
• Cisco Pike (1972)
• Across 110th Street (1972)
• Cleopatra Jones (1973)
• Busting (1974)
• Conrack (1974)
• Foxy Brown (1974)
• The Gambler (1974)
• Cornbread, Earl and Me (1975)
• Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976)
• Car Wash (1976)
• Pretty Baby (1978)
• Up the Academy (1980)
• Firestarter (1984)
• Crimewave (1985)
• Night of the Sharks (1988)
• Shakedown (1988)
• I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988)
• The Borrower (1991)
• Howling VI: The Freaks (1991)
• Whore (1991)
• Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996)
• The Suburbans (1999)
• 3 Strikes (2000)
• Fist of the Warrior (2007)
• Sucker Punch (2008)

In popular culture

The 1998 song "Antonio Fargas" by Argentine band Babasónicos, from their 1998 B-sides album Vórtice Marxista, repeats the phrase "Antonio Fargas is Huggy Bear" in Spanish.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]