Fernando Casado Arambillet (
La Coruña
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La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...
(
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, ...
), 20 September 1917 –
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
(Spain), 9 March 1994), best known as Fernando Rey, was a Spanish film, theatre, and television actor, who worked in both Europe and the United States. A suave, international actor best known for his roles in the films of surrealist director
Luis Buñuel (''
Viridiana'', 1961; ''
Tristana Tristana may refer to:
* ''Tristana'' (novel), a novel published in 1892 by Benito Pérez Galdós
** ''Tristana'' (film), a 1970 Spanish film directed by Luis Buñuel based on the eponymous novel
* ''Tristana'' (song), a 1987 song recorded by the ...
'', 1970; ''
Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie'', 1972; ''
That Obscure Object of Desire
''That Obscure Object of Desire'' (french: Cet obscur objet du désir; es, Ese oscuro objeto del deseo) is a 1977 comedy-drama film directed by Luis Buñuel, based on the 1898 novel '' The Woman and the Puppet'' by Pierre Louÿs. It was Buñuel's ...
'', 1977) and as the
drug lord
A drug lord, drug baron, kingpin or narcotrafficker is a high-ranking crime boss who controls a sizable network of people involved in the illegal drug trade. Such figures are often difficult to bring to justice, as they are normally not directly ...
Alain Charnier in ''
The French Connection'' (1971) and ''
French Connection II
''French Connection II'' is a 1975 American action thriller film starring Gene Hackman and directed by John Frankenheimer. It is a sequel to the 1971 Academy Award for Best Picture winner '' The French Connection''. The film continues the stor ...
'' (1975), he appeared in more than 150 films over half a century.
The debonair Rey was described by ''French Connection'' producer
Philip D'Antoni as "the last of the Continental guys". He achieved his greatest fame after he turned 50: "Perhaps it is a pity that my success came so late in life", he told the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
''. "It might have been better to have been successful while young, like
El Cordobés in the
bullring
A bullring is an arena where bullfighting is performed. Bullrings are often associated with the Iberian Peninsula, but they can also be found through Iberian America and in a few Spanish and Portuguese ex-colonies in Africa. Bullrings are ...
. Then your life is all before you to enjoy it."
Biography
The beginnings
Rey was born in
A Coruña
A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and ...
, Spain, the son of Captain Casado Veiga and Sara Arambillet Rey. He studied
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...
, but the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...
interrupted his university studies which led him to his success.
In 1936, Rey began his career in films as an
extra, sometimes even getting credited. It was then that he chose his
stage name
A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...
, Fernando Rey. He kept his first name, but took his mother's second surname, Rey, a short surname with a clear meaning ("Rey" is Spanish for "King").
In 1944, his first speaking role was the
Duke of Alba in
José López Rubio's ''Eugenia de Montijo''. Four years later, he acted the part of
Felipe I el Hermoso, King of Spain, in the Spanish cinema blockbuster ''
Locura de amor
''Madness for Love'' ( es, Locura de amor, links=no) is a 1948 in film, 1948 Spanish historical drama film directed by Juan de Orduña.Mira p.211
The movie is based on the play ''The Madness of Love (play), The Madness of Love'' written in 1855 b ...
''.
This was the start of a prolific career in film (he played in around two hundred films), radio, theatre, and television. Rey was also a great
dubbing actor in Spanish television. His voice was considered intense and personal, and he became the narrator of important Spanish movies including
Luis García Berlanga
Luis García-Berlanga Martí (12 June 1921 – 13 November 2010) was a Spanish film director and screenwriter. Acclaimed as a pioneer of modern Spanish cinema, his films are marked by social satire and acerbic critiques of Spanish culture under t ...
's ''
Bienvenido Mr. Marshall'' (1953),
Ladislao Vajda's ''
Marcelino Pan y Vino'' (1955), and even the 1992 re-dubbed version of
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...
' ''
Don Quixote''. In fact, Rey acted in four different film versions of ''Don Quixote'' in different roles, if one counts the Welles version (for which Rey supplied offscreen narration in the final scene).
His brilliant performance in the role of a demotivated and doubtful actor in
Juan Antonio Bardem's ''
Cómicos
''Comedians'' ( es, Cómicos) is a 1954 Spanish drama film directed by Juan Antonio Bardem. It was coproduced with Argentina but it is a Spanish film about Spaniards actors on stage. Bardem confessed to being inspired by ''All About Eve''. The fil ...
'' (1954), while showing him for the first time in a successful lead part, paradoxically, as he saw himself as the real incarnation of the role, plunged him in a professional depression, of which he did not emerge until his collaboration with
Luis Buñuel several years later. However, in the short term, Buñuel's disconcerting public remark on Rey's performance in another of Bardem's film, ''Sonatas'' (1959), "I love how this actor plays a corpse", could only increase Rey's apprehensions. Nevertheless, eventually Rey became Buñuel's preferred actor and closest friend.
International career
Rey's first international performance was in ''
The Night Heaven Fell
''The Night Heaven Fell'' (''Les bijoutiers du clair de lune'') is an Eastmancolor 1958 French-Italian film directed by Roger Vadim. Vadim had already acquired international fame with his daring debut '' And God Created Woman'' (1956). Like its pr ...
'' (''Les bijoutiers du clair de lune'') a 1958 French-Italian film directed by
Roger Vadim
Roger Vadim Plemiannikov (; 26 January 1928 – 11 February 2000) was a French screenwriter, film director and producer, as well as an author, artist and occasional actor. His best-known works are visually lavish films with erotic qualities, suc ...
, where he acted alongside
Stephen Boyd,
Marina Vlady
Marina Vlady (born 10 May 1938) is a French actress.
Biography
Vlady was born in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine to White Russian immigrant parents. Her father was an opera singer and her mother was a dancer. Her sisters, now all deceased, were the ac ...
and
Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a former French actress, singer and model. Famous for portraying sexually emancipated characters with hedonistic lifestyles, she was one of the ...
. Previously he had played in an American TV series, ''It happens in Spain'', the story of the exploits of a private detective, operating out in Spain, who helps distressed American tourists.
In 1959, Rey co-starred with
Steve Reeves
Stephen Lester "Steve" Reeves (January 21, 1926 – May 1, 2000) was an American professional bodybuilder, actor, and philanthropist. He was famous in the mid-1950s as a movie star in Italian-made sword-and-sandal films, playing the protagonis ...
and
Christine Kaufmann in the Italian
sword and sandal film ''
The Last Days of Pompeii''.
In 1961 Rey played in a
European Western, ''
The Savage Guns'', and as the popularity of that genre increased during that decade appeared in some other movies, including the political ''
The Price of Power
''The Price of Power'' ( it, Il prezzo del potere) is a 1969 Spaghetti Western directed by Tonino Valerii. The film stars Giuliano Gemma as the hero Bill Willer who tries to get revenge against the killers of his father while at the same time tr ...
'' (1969), the bizarre cult classic ''
Compañeros'', and two sequels of ''
The Magnificent Seven'', namely ''
Return of the Seven'' (1966) and ''
Guns of the Magnificent Seven'' (1969).
It was his work with Orson Welles and
Luis Buñuel during the 1960s and 1970s that made Rey internationally prominent; becoming the first 'international Spanish actor.' Rey starred in Buñuel's ''
Viridiana'' (1961), ''
Tristana Tristana may refer to:
* ''Tristana'' (novel), a novel published in 1892 by Benito Pérez Galdós
** ''Tristana'' (film), a 1970 Spanish film directed by Luis Buñuel based on the eponymous novel
* ''Tristana'' (song), a 1987 song recorded by the ...
'' (1970), ''
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
''The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie'' (french: Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie) is a 1972 surrealist film directed by Luis Buñuel from a screenplay co-written with Jean-Claude Carrière. The narrative concerns a group of bourgeois people ...
'' (''Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie)'' (1972) (a
surreal movie which received the 1972
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...
) and ''
That Obscure Object of Desire
''That Obscure Object of Desire'' (french: Cet obscur objet du désir; es, Ese oscuro objeto del deseo) is a 1977 comedy-drama film directed by Luis Buñuel, based on the 1898 novel '' The Woman and the Puppet'' by Pierre Louÿs. It was Buñuel's ...
'' (1977). For Welles, Rey performed in two completed films, ''
Chimes at Midnight'' (1966) and ''
The Immortal Story
''The Immortal Story'' (french: Une histoire immortelle) is a 1968 French film directed by Orson Welles and starring Jeanne Moreau. The film was originally broadcast on French television and was later released in theatres. It was based on a shor ...
'' (1968).
Rey played memorably the French villain Alain Charnier in
William Friedkin's ''
The French Connection'' (1971). Initially, Friedkin intended to cast
Francisco Rabal
Francisco Rabal Valera (8 March 1926 – 29 August 2001), better known as Paco Rabal, was a Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter born in Águilas, a town in the south-western part of the province of Murcia, Spain. Throughout his career, Raba ...
as Charnier, but could not remember his name after seeing him in
Luis Buñuel's ''
Belle de jour''; he only knew the person he had in mind was a Spanish actor who had worked with Buñuel. Rey was hired after he flew to New York to be met by a surprised Friedkin. Rey's English and French were not perfect, but Friedkin discovered that Rabal spoke neither of them, and opted to keep Rey, who reprised the role in the less successful sequel, ''
French Connection II
''French Connection II'' is a 1975 American action thriller film starring Gene Hackman and directed by John Frankenheimer. It is a sequel to the 1971 Academy Award for Best Picture winner '' The French Connection''. The film continues the stor ...
'' (1975).
Along 1970s and 1980s Rey played in many international co-productions, some of his appearances being
cameos. These films include
Lewis Gilbert's ''
The Adventurers'' (1970),
Mauro Bolognini's ''
Drama of the Rich'' (1974),
Vincente Minnelli's ''
A Matter of Time'' (1976),
Valerio Zurlini
Valerio Zurlini (19 March 1926 – 26 October 1982) was an Italian film director, stage director and screenwriter.
Biography
During his law studies in Rome, he started working in the theatre. In 1943, he joined the Italian resistance. Zurlin ...
's ''
The Desert of the Tartars
''The Desert of the Tartars'' ( it, Il deserto dei Tartari) is a 1976 Italian film by director Valerio Zurlini with an international cast including Jacques Perrin, Vittorio Gassman, Max von Sydow, Francisco Rabal, Philippe Noiret, Fernando Re ...
'' (1976),
Robert Altman's ''
Quintet'' (1979),
J. Lee Thompson's ''
Caboblanco'' (1980) and
Frank Perry's ''
Monsignor
Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ...
'' (1982). One of Rey's greater successes in these years was ''
Elisa, vida mía'', a 1977 Spanish drama film written and directed by
Carlos Saura.
On his work in
Stuart Rosenberg
Stuart Rosenberg (August 11, 1927 – March 15, 2007) was an American film and television director whose motion pictures include ''Cool Hand Luke'' (1967), ''Voyage of the Damned'' (1976), '' The Amityville Horror'' (1979), and ''The Pope of Gree ...
's ''
Voyage of the Damned'' (1976), Rey once said: "I played
ubanpresident
Brú; a cameo. They paid me a lot of money for less than six hours of shooting, in the
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
Stock Exchange building, with
James Mason. I got more money than Orson Welles, who played a great role ...".
Back in Spain
In later years, Rey preferred to work in Spain, with successes as Francisco Regueiro's ''
Padre Nuestro'' (1985),
José Luis Cuerda's ''El bosque animado'' (1987) and
Jaime de Armiñán's ''Al otro lado del túnel'' (1992) as well as his portrayal of
Don Quixote, alongside
Alfredo Landa as
Sancho Panza, in the memorable
Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón's ''El Quijote de Miguel de Cervantes'' (1991) for the
Spanish National TV.
His last appearance on the screen was in a supporting role in the Spanish
black comedy
Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to disc ...
''El cianuro ... ¿sólo o con leche?'' (''Cyanide ... pure or with milk?'') (1994).
Recognition and awards
In 1971 Fernando Rey won the best actor award in the
San Sebastián International Film Festival, for his performance in
Rafael Gil's ''La duda'', based, like ''Viridiana'' and ''Tristana'', on a novel by
Benito Pérez Galdós
Benito Pérez Galdós (May 10, 1843 – January 4, 1920) was a Spanish realist novelist. He was the leading literary figure in 19th-century Spain, and some scholars consider him second only to Miguel de Cervantes in stature as a Spanish no ...
.
Another of the successes of Rey-Buñuel's collaboration was ''
That Obscure Object of Desire
''That Obscure Object of Desire'' (french: Cet obscur objet du désir; es, Ese oscuro objeto del deseo) is a 1977 comedy-drama film directed by Luis Buñuel, based on the 1898 novel '' The Woman and the Puppet'' by Pierre Louÿs. It was Buñuel's ...
'' (1977), nominated for another Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe in the same category, though the movie failed to win either. Rey's voice had to be dubbed by
Michel Piccoli
Jacques Daniel Michel Piccoli (27 December 1925 – 12 May 2020) was a French actor, producer and film director with a career spanning 70 years. He was lauded as one of the greatest French character actors of his generation who played a wide vari ...
.
In
Lina Wertmüller's
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
-nominated film, ''
Seven Beauties'' (1975), Rey played the role of Pedro the
anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessar ...
who, as a friend of the protagonist and fellow prisoner Pasqualino Settebellezze, chooses a gruesome suicide, rather than spend another day in a
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
concentration camp.
Rey won
Best Actor
Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play.
The term most often refers to the ...
award at 1977
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
for his performance in ''Elisa, vida mía''.
In 1988 he again won the best actor award in the San Sebastián International Film Festival, this time for his performance in two films: Francisco Regueiro's ''Diario de invierno'' and
Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi's ''El Aire de un Crimen (The Hint of a Crime)''.
Fernando Rey was also awarded the gold medal of the Spanish Movie Arts and Sciences Academy.
Personal life and death
In 1960, Rey married the
Argentine actress Mabel Karr. They had a son, Fernando Casado Campolongo.
In 1992 he became chairman of the
succeeding
Antonio Giménez-Rico. He died of
bladder cancer
Bladder cancer is any of several types of cancer arising from the tissues of the urinary bladder. Symptoms include blood in the urine, pain with urination, and low back pain. It is caused when epithelial cells that line the bladder become ma ...
in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
on 9 March 1994.
He was survived by his wife, who died on 1 May 2001 at Hospital Ramon Cajal from a generalized
infection
An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable di ...
. On 25 September 2018 their son Fernando Casado confirmed she died from a sharp
mediastinitis during the filming of a tv series named ''El Secreto''.
Selected filmography
See also
*
Cinema of Spain
Cinema may refer to:
Film
* Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography
* Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image
** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking
* ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rey, Fernando
1917 births
1994 deaths
20th-century Spanish male actors
Best Actor Goya Award winners
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor winners
Deaths from bladder cancer
Deaths from cancer in Spain
Expatriate male actors in the United States
Male Spaghetti Western actors
Male actors from Galicia (Spain)
People from A Coruña
Spanish male film actors
Spanish expatriates in the United States