Merlin Santana

Actor

Birthday March 14, 1976

Birth Sign Pisces

Birthplace Manhattan, New York, U.S.

DEATH DATE 2002-11-9, Los Angeles, California, U.S. (26 years old)

Nationality United States

#15989 Most Popular

1976

Merlin Santana (March 14, 1976 – November 9, 2002) was an American actor and rapper.

1990

Beginning his career in the early 1990s, Santana was best known for his roles as Rudy Huxtable's boyfriend Stanley on The Cosby Show, Marcus Dixon on Getting By, Marcus Henry in Under One Roof and Romeo Santana on The WB sitcom The Steve Harvey Show (19962002).

He was also known for his recurring role as Ohagi on the UPN sitcom Moesha.

Born in Washington Heights, New York City to parents from the Dominican Republic, Santana's career in show business began with a push from his parents, who wanted to keep him off the tough streets of New York.

He began his career at the age of three as an advertising model for a fast food chain.

His first screen appearance was as an extra in the Woody Allen film, The Purple Rose of Cairo.

1991

In 1991, Santana landed a recurring role on The Cosby Show as Stanley, the boyfriend of Rudy Huxtable and the rival of Rudy's friend Kenny (Deon Richmond).

He was then cast as Marcus Dixon in the short-lived sitcom, Getting By, starring Cindy Williams and Telma Hopkins.

Deon Richmond was cast as his brother Darren, due to their interaction on The Cosby Show.

1994

In November 1994, Santana appeared on Sister, Sister as Joey, who falls in love with Tia and Tamera (Tia and Tamera Mowry) at Rocket Burger.

1995

In 1995, Santana was cast as Marcus Henry in the short-lived CBS family drama Under One Roof, co-starring with James Earl Jones, Joe Morton and Vanessa Bell Calloway.

1996

Between 1996 and 1999, he played the role of Ohagi on Moesha.

In 1996, he landed the role of Romeo Santana on The Steve Harvey Show.

2001

In 2001, he played the role of Jermaine in the movie Flossin.

2002

In 2002, he appeared in the VH1 TV movie, Play'd: A Hip Hop Story with Toni Braxton.

That same year, Santana had a role in the Eddie Murphy comedy Showtime.

On November 9, 2002, Santana was murdered while sitting in a car in Los Angeles.

Santana and his friend, actor Brandon Adams, had just left an acquaintance's home in the Crenshaw District when Damien Andre Gates, 19 at the time, fired the shot that entered through the trunk of the vehicle in which Santana was a passenger.

The bullet penetrated the right-front passenger headrest and entered Santana's head, killing him.

Santana was buried at Saint Raymond's Cemetery in The Bronx borough of New York City.

He was survived by his daughter, Melinda.

2003

His last television acting role was on the UPN series, Half & Half, while his last film role was in the 2003 comedy film, The Blues with Deon Richmond.

In 2003, Gates was convicted of the first-degree murder of Santana and the attempted murder of Adams and was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences plus 70 years in prison.

Brandon Douglas Bynes, who was 23 at the time and was with Gates during the shooting, received a 23-year sentence after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon.

An LAPD officer involved in the case testified that Monique King, reportedly Gates's girlfriend, only aged 15 at the time, falsely claimed that Santana made sexual advances towards her, which prompted the attack.

2004

In January 2004, King was found guilty of second-degree murder and attempted murder, but was acquitted on two murder charges, receiving ten years in juvenile custody as a result of Santana's death.