Lillian Hurst (born August 13, 1943 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican comedian and actress.

Lillian was born in the Villa Palmera section of San Juan, where the middle class families live. Her father was the owner of the "Farmacia Hurst" (Hurst Pharmacy) located in Santurce. Lillian is also a cousin of Puerto Rican T.V. producer Tommy Muñiz. She received her primary and secondary education in the Capital.

At a young age, Lillian told her parents that she wanted to be an actress. They enrolled her in the modeling academy of Anna Sabastian. In 1960, when she was 17 years old, she was "clowning" around with her friends while waiting for her turn at the academy. T.V. producer, Gaspar Pumarejo, happened to enter the academy looking for "fresh" talent for a new show that he was producing, when he discovered Lillian.

That year Lillian was contracted and she starred and debuted on the T.V. comedy "Pompillo y su Familia" (Pompillo and her Family), which was transmitted through WAPA-TV. Eventually, she hosted "La Hora del Niño" (Children's Hour) in Channel 6. Some of the other comedies in which she participated in the 1960s were "Casos y Cosas de la Casa" (Cases and Things of the House) with actor Braulio Castillo and "Matrimonio y Algo Más" (Marriage and Something More). In 1969, Lillian was contracted by Panamericana de Television of Lima, Peru to work in the program "El Hit del Momento" (The Hit of the Moment), for a year.

When Lillian returned to Puerto Rico, she went to work in some of the programs produced by her cousin. She also participated in various theater productions for the first time. Among them were "La Casa de las Hojas Azules" (The House with the Blue Leafes) and "La Verdadera Historia de Pedro Navaja" (The True Story of Pedro Navaja). In 1980, Lillian wrote and produced a stage show which she presented at the Condado Beach Hotel in San Juan.

Lillian went to New York were she worked for a short time on some Off-Broadway productions. Then in 1989, she moved to Los Angeles, California where she enrolled in the Santa Monica College and majored in psychology. Lillian was able to work in both Spanish and English language productions. She landed roles in "Windows" (1991) as "Mrs. Maris", which was presented at the Taper Forum Theater and in "La Balada de Tina Jaurez" (The Ballad of Tina Juarez) (1992) as "Lola". She was also the founder of an acting school for Hispanic children.

Lillian has participated in 20 movies and is currently cast as "Juanita" in the film "English as a Second Language", which is in the post-production stages and is to be released in 2005. She has also made over 30 T.V. Guest Appearances in programs such as JAG as "Sra. Escamilla, NYPD Blue as "Mra. Marquez", The X-Files as "Flakita" in episode #411, ER and most notably in Dharma and Greg where she played the role of "Celia" in 16 episodes.

Lillian Hurst currently resides in Los Angeles, California where she continues to work as an actress.

See also

• List of famous Puerto Ricans