Merlin Santana

Merlin Santana
Born	(1976-03-14)March 14, 1976 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	November 9, 2002(2002-11-09) (aged 26) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Homicide
Resting place	Saint Raymond's Cemetery Bronx, New York, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupations	Actor rapper
Years active	1991–2002
Known for	Romeo Santana  – The Steve Harvey Show

Merlin Santana (March 14, 1976 – November 9, 2002) was an American actor and rapper. 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 (1996 – 2002).

Early life

Born in 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.

Acting career

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.

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

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. 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. In 2001, he played the role of Jermaine in the movie Flossin. 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. His last television acting role was on the UPN series, Half & Half, his last film role was a 2003 comedy film, The Blues with Deon Richmond.

Death

Shooting

On November 9, 2002, Santana was murdered while sitting in a car in Los Angeles. Santana and his friend, actor Brandon Adams, just left an acquaintance's home in the Crenshaw District when the suspect Damien Andre Gates 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, age 26, was buried on November 18, 2002, at Saint Raymond's Cemetery in The Bronx borough of New York City.

Trial and Allegations against Santana

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, the other suspect who 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 shooter Gates's girlfriend, only aged 15 at the time, falsely claimed that Santana made sexual advances towards her which prompted the Gates' and Bynes' attack.

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

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Major Dad	Marvin	2 episodes
1991	Law & Order	Roneld Griggs	Episode: "Mushrooms"
1991	The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez	Newsboy
1991–1992	The Cosby Show	Stanley	7 episodes
1992	In the Line of Duty: Street War	Mikie	TV movie
1993–1994	Getting By	Marcus Dixon	31 episodes
1994	Sister, Sister	Joey	Episode: "Joey's Choice"
1995	Under One Roof	Marcus Henry	6 episodes
1995	Street Gear	Derick Davis	13 episodes
1995–1996	Hangin' with Mr. Cooper	Calvin	2 episodes
1996	Harambee!	Flex	Television movie
1996–1999	Moesha	Ohagi	4 episodes
1996–2002	The Steve Harvey Show	Romeo Santana	122 episodes
1997	NYPD Blue	Warren	Episode: "A Draining Experience"
2001	Flossin	Jermaine
2002	Showtime	Hector
2002	JAG	Seaman Aubrey McBride	Episode: "Port Chicago"
2002	Play'd: A Hip Hop Story	Mayhem	TV movie
2002	Half & Half	Dante Aldente	Episode: "The Big Pimpin' Episode"
2003	The Blues	Goya	Direct-to-video release, (final film role)

External links

• Merlin Santana at IMDb
• Merlin Santana at Find a Grave