- Born
- Died
- Merlin Santana was born in New York to parents from the Dominican Republic. His mother pushed him into a showbusiness career to keep him off the mean streets and out of trouble. He began as an advertising model for a fast-food chain at age 3, and soon became noticed as Stanley, one of Rudy Huxtable's admirers on the hit TV show The Cosby Show (1984). At 15, he co-starred in the short-lived sitcom Getting By (1993) alongside Cindy Williams and Telma Hopkins. His best-known role was as smooth-talking Romeo Santana on the popular WB series The Steve Harvey Show (1996) in 1996.
Merlin Santana was murdered on November 9, 2002 in Los Angeles, California, while he was sitting in a car. He was 26 years old.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Sonya
- ParentsLea Santana
- Two 20-year-old men and a 15-year-old girl were arrested for his murder. The mens' arrests came just a week after the girl was arrested in connection with the case. Santana was shot dead on November 9 while sitting in the passenger seat of a car in south Los Angeles.
- Was of Dominican ancestry. His parents emigrated from the Dominican Republic and moved to New York in order to find a better life.
- His acting mentor was Steve Harvey.
- In early 1979, he began a career as an advertising model.
- Close friends with Brandon Quintin Adams.
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