Ernest Abuba

{{Infobox person

| name = Ernest Abuba

| birth_date = {{birth date|1947|08|25}}

| birth_place = Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii

| death_date = {{death date and age|2022|06|21|1947|08|25}}

| death_place = New York City, U.S.

| spouse = Tisa Chang (divorced)

| children = 1

| website = {{url|https://www.ernestabuba.com/}}

}}

Ernest Abuba (August 25, 1947 – June 21, 2022) was an American actor, playwright, and theatre director of Filipino descent. He appeared on stage and on film, with more than one hundred stage appearances,{{Cite news |last=Rabinowitz |first=Chloe |date=2022-06-21 |title=Pan Asian Repertory Theatre Announces Passing of Founding Member Ernest Abuba |language=en |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/off-broadway/article/Pan-Asian-Repertory-Theatre-Announces-Passing-of-Founding-Member-Ernest-Abuba-20220621 |access-date=2022-06-21}} and was the co-founder of the Pan Asian Repertory Theatre.{{Cite news |last=Ang |first=Walter |date=2018-11-08 |title=Pan Asian Rep honors Fil-Am actor-director-playwright |url=https://usa.inquirer.net/16686/pan-asian-rep-honors-fil-am-actor-director-playwright |access-date=2022-06-21 |language=en}}

Early life

Born in Honolulu to Filipino parents, Abuba was raised in San Diego and Texas.{{Cite web |last=Rabinowitz |first=Chloe |title=Pan Asian Repertory Theatre Announces Passing of Founding Member Ernest Abuba |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/off-broadway/article/Pan-Asian-Repertory-Theatre-Announces-Passing-of-Founding-Member-Ernest-Abuba-20220621 |access-date=2022-07-01 |website=BroadwayWorld.com |language=en}} He trained at the Actors Studio.{{Cite web |title=Ernest Abuba's Resume |url=https://www.ernestabuba.com/resume |access-date=2024-02-29 |website=www.ernestabuba.com |language=en}}

Career

Abuba received an Obie Award in 1983 for his portrayal of Kenji Kadota in Yellow Fever.{{Cite news |date=1998-09-24 |title=Ernest Abuba to be King of La MaMa's Lier Rex, Sept. 24-Oct. 11 |work=Playbill |url=https://playbill.com/article/ernest-abuba-to-be-king-of-la-mamas-lier-rex-sept-24-oct-11-com-77495}} His Broadway credits include: Pacific Overtures, Loose Ends, Zoya's Apartment, and Lincoln Center Theatre's The Oldest Boy, which was his final Broadway role. Among the highlights of his long Off-Broadway career is that he was the first Asian-American in the role of Sakini in Teahouse of the August Moon, and the first Asian-American as MacBeth in Shogun Macbeth. On screen he was known for 12 Monkeys, Call Me, Forever Lulu and many more roles.

As a playwright, he was known for 2013's Dojoji.{{Cite news |last=Rocco |first=Claudia La |date=2013-05-27 |title=Now Resurfacing, the Myth of the Serpent Scorned |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/28/theater/reviews/dojoji-the-man-inside-the-bell-at-clurman-theater.html |access-date=2022-06-21 |issn=0362-4331}}

Abuba was on the theatre faculty at Sarah Lawrence College.

Personal life

Abuba and Tisa Chang married in 1976 and had one son before divorcing.{{Cite news |date=1976-01-26 |title=Tisa Chang Married Here to Ernest Abuba |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/01/26/archives/tisa-chang-married-here-to-ernest-abuba.html |access-date=2022-07-01 |issn=0362-4331}} Abuba died in New York City on June 21, 2022.{{cite web |title=In Memoriam, Summer 2022 |url=https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1475555-summer-2022/63? |website=SAG-AFTRA |access-date=11 August 2022 |pages=60}}