Olga Merediz

Olga Merediz is an American actress and singer born on February 15, 1956, in Guantánamo, Cuba. She left Cuba with her family at age five, relocating first to Miami, Florida, and later to Puerto Rico, where she was raised. Merediz attended Commonwealth High School in San Juan, where she began developing her performing skills through theatrical productions. She went on to earn a bachelor's degree from Newcomb College, the women's college within Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Merediz made her film debut in 1984 with The Brother from Another Planet and has since accumulated a substantial screen filmography. Her film appearances include The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), City of Hope (1991), Evita (1996), Music of the Heart (1999), K-PAX (2001), Remember Me (2010), Custody (2016), and Humor Me (2017). In 2021, she reprised her stage role as Abuela Claudia in the film adaptation of In the Heights, and that same year provided the singing voice of Alma Madrigal in the animated feature Encanto. Her television work spans both drama and comedy, with recurring and guest appearances on Orange Is the New Black, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, New Amsterdam, Madam Secretary, and Diary of a Future President. She served as a series regular on the UK comedy Bounty Hunters and the American series Saint George, and has appeared in episodes of both Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU.

On Broadway, Merediz's career spans from 1984 to 2008, with credits including Les Misérables, Reckless, Man of La Mancha, and The Human Comedy. Her most prominent stage role came when she originated the part of Abuela Claudia in the Broadway musical In the Heights, playing the character for the production's entire run. That performance earned her a 2008 Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Prior to the Broadway transfer, she had appeared in the Off-Broadway production of In the Heights, for which she received a 2007 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance. She also originated her role in The Human Comedy Off-Broadway before that production moved to Broadway. Additional Off-Broadway credits include Women without Men, The Haggadah, Lullabye and Goodnight, and The Blessing. Earlier in her career, she was directed by John Cassavetes in a stage production called Thornhill.

Merediz has maintained an extensive voice-over and narration career, lending her voice to animated series including Dora the Explorer, Go, Diego, Go!, and Elena of Avalor, as well as to the feature film Encanto. She has narrated multiple PBS Nature documentaries, among them Bears, Hotel Armadillo, Jungle Animal Hospital, Nature's Miracle Orphans, and Cuba: The Accidental Eden. Earlier in her career she served as spokesperson for the MTA New York City Transit Authority. Among her additional honors, she received a 2003 HOLA Tespis Award from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors.