Biography

Merel Poloway was a young, tall, dark-haired dancer back in the 1960s to the late 1970s. She performed a lot of Broadway in her time as a young dancer. She did a bit of acting in the 1980s; she acted as the character, Ms. Katz in "Baby, It's You!" (1983). Raúl described Merel as someone who's "just me in a different body, a different costume". Merel was basically an extreme like-minded individual whom he fall deeply in love with & was determined to marry. Raúl was also cited in a 1971 New York Times magazine--"Raul puts it sweetly and succinctly when he sighs, "Merel and I are together. We love together." Merel and Raúl were boyfriend and girlfriend for at least 7-8 years before getting married. They then married on June 28, 1976. Their marriage ceremony was granted and conducted by a guru named, Baba Muktananda. Merel and Raúl both had thought it was a very nice idea to get married in a Hindi procedure because Merel is of Jewish background and Raúl was a Hispanic Catholic and they didn't want to cause any conflicts. Despite her being white and him being multiracial while also coming from a Hispanic culture, they tied the knot and stayed together happily for 18 years until Raúl's fatal sudden death.
- IMDb mini biography by: Tianna Lewis

Merel Poloway met Raúl Juliá back in 1968 when they were both performing in a road company of the "Illya Darling" Broadway.