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Hugo Armando Higuera, his real name, was born in Arcabuco, Boyacá, and during his school days he used to recite poems to the flag and was a fan of movies, going to the theater with his brothers every Sunday morning. He finished high school in Bogotá, but before finishing, he already knew he would study theater. He was 18 years old when he entered the National School of Dramatic Art. It was a decisive stage in his training because he not only learned scenic art, literature, music, dance, and body expression, but he also had contact with renowned actors and young talents, like Consuelo Luzardo, Frank Ramírez, and Gordo Benjumea. He especially remembers the teachings of Don Víctor Mallarino Sr., who at that time (early 60s) was the director of the school. He used to tell him, "If you don't focus, you won't do things well." Interestingly, he also studied forestry engineering, a career he pursued parallel to his theatrical learning. "I studied that engineering more to please my father, who wanted to see me become a doctor as the oldest in the family." But he never graduated or practiced that career. On the contrary, a year and a half before, he had already entered television as an extra, and a year later in 1966 he starred in his first soap opera: Destination: The City. Those were pleasant days, and to top it off, he personally met one of his greatest idols: the Italian actor Ugo Tognazzi. "He was a master, he gave me a lot of advice, and to pay tribute to him, I adopted the name Ugo (without an H)." At the end of the 60s, he consecutively starred in three novels written by Bernardo Romero Pereiro: Almost a Stranger, alongside Rebeca López (1968); Candó, with Judy Henríquez (1969), and Catanci, with Dora Cadavid (1970). In 1971, he made what he considers his best performance: Martín Balanta, in Gale, a story about the massacre of the banana workers. "It gave me the opportunity to reaffirm my leadership, because that character, who really existed, was one of those who led the revolt."
