José "Pepe" Hernández Bethencourt (June 6, 1927 - February 28, 2009), better known as Pepe Hern, was an American actor who played supporting roles, usually Spanish and Latins (Mexican basically), throughout his career. Pepe Hern participated in nearly 50 films, which generally were heading to television. He played their most important roles in the "Borderline" and "Make Haste to Live" films. He was brother of also actor Tom Hernández.

Biography

Pepe Hern was born on June 6, 1927, in New Jersey. His parents, Domingo Hernández and Dominga Bethencourt, were canarian immigrants from Puerto de la Cruz on the island of Tenerife, Canary Islands. He also had two older brothers, both born in the Canary Islands, one of which, Tom Hernández was also an actor. Pepe Hern debuted in his first film with only 21, under the command of Richard Fleischer, participating in the "Bodyguard" film (1948). After this, Hern extended his career for nearly forty years. It was William A. Seiter who gave to Hern his two most important roles of the '50s, in the films "Borderline" (1950) and "Make Haste to Live" (1954).



Later, in 1968, Hern had a role in "Madigan" and, in the following decades, Hern interpreted a peasant in "The Magnificent Seven" (1960) and a priest in "Joe Kidd" (1972), one of his last appearances in films.

It was on television where Hern maintained greater continuity and visibility, participating in several TV series episodes as "The Rifleman" (1961-1962), "The Fugitive" (1963), "I Spy" (1966), "The High Chaparral" (1967)," Bonanza" (1964-1970), "The Streets of San Francisco" (1972), "Lou Grant" (1977), "The Bionic Woman" (1977) and "Charlie's Angels" (1979), among others. In 1980, Hern participated in an episode of "Murder, She Wrote" TV series and in 1984, shortly after the death of his brother, Tom Hernández, he participated in an episode of "Hill Street Blues", with whom he finished his career.

He died in February 28, 2009 in Los Angeles, California.