Grew up in the working-class neighborhood of Carrasquilla in Panama City, Panama

Student riot against US forces in the Canal Zone awakened his political sensibilities; 21 Panamanians were killed and another 500 wounded; from that point on, stopped singing in English

Recorded first album with Los Salvajes del Ritmo (The Rhythm Savages)

Recorded and released first album in New York, "De Panama a Nueva York"

Went back to Panama to obtain law degree

Returned to USA, remaining for a year with his parents in Miami, Florida

Moved to NYC; rented a tiny apartment on East 61st Street for $175 a month, within walking distance of Fania Records, where he would get a job in the mailroom for $125 a week; sang with salseros Ray Barretto and Larry Harlow (known as 'El Judio Maravilloso/The Marvelous Jew')

Teamed up with trombonist Willie Colon for a series of albums including "Siembra", the biggest-selling salsa record to that date

First film as actor, "The Last Fight" (also wrote songs), directed by and co-starring Fred Williamson; also co-starred Colon

Composed first musical film score for feature "When the Mountains Tremble"

Signed with Elektra records

Profiled in the documentary "The Return of Ruben Blades"; aired on PBS in 1988

First film as co-screenwriter, "Crossover Dreams"; also starred and composed score

Portrayed Sheriff Bernabe Montoya in "The Milagro Beanfield War"

Wrote and performed the song "Tu y Yo" in Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing"

TV acting debut as a Death Row inmate in "Dead Man Out" (HBO); first collaboration with actor Danny Glover

Played Stevey in Lee's "Mo' Better Blues"

Composed the score for Sidney Lumet's "Q & A"

Reteamed with Glover in "Predator 2"

Received first Emmy nomination for supporting role of the gigolo who groomed the title character for stardom in the HBO biopic "The Josephine Baker Story", starring Lynn Whitfield

Acted opposite Anthony Hopkins in HBO's "One Man's War", portraying a reluctant attorney who helps Hopkins in his pursuit of justice

Launched the political party Papa Egoro ("Mother Earth") in his native Panama

Garnered second Emmy nomination for leading performance as a janitor romancing Christine Lahti's high school principal in "Crazy From the Heart" (TNT)

Ran for the presidency of Panama; placed third; first free elections in Panama in a quarter century

Portrayed an abrasively funny L.A. detective in Richard Rush's "Color of Night"

Played Harrison Ford's police partner in "The Devil's Own"

Brought some mild humor to small role as a photojournalist in Wayne Wang's "The Chinese Box"

Made emergency trip to Panama to assume the presidency of the political party Papa Egora in an effort to rescue it from internal dissent

Starred in the Paul Simon-Derek Walcott Broadway musical "The Capeman"; played older incarnation of the title character, Salvator Agron, who as a teen gang member stabbed to death two NYC teenagers

Appeared in "Cradle Will Rock" as Mexican artist Diego Rivera

Co-starred in the ABC fall drama "Gideon's Crossing", playing a medical colleague of Andre Braugher's Dr. Ben Gideon

Acted in Billy Bob Thornton's "All the Pretty Horses", adapted from the best-selling novel by Cormac McCarthey