Abraham Stavchansky Altschuler (1 January 1933 – 5 March 2019), known as Abraham Stavans, was a Mexican actor and

theater director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

. He was known for his work in film,

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar Drama (film and television), drama genres around the w ...

s, and other

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

, including the Mexican sitcom, ''

El Chavo del Ocho ''El Chavo'' ("The Kid/The Boy", Spanish also meaning " cent"), also known as ''El Chavo del Ocho'' ("The Kid/Boy from Number Eight") during its earliest episodes, is a Mexican television sitcom series created by Roberto Gómez Bolaños (Che ...

''. Stavans appeared in more than thirty telenovelas and forty-five plays and theater productions during his career.

Biography

Stavans was born Abraham Stavchansky Altschuler in 1933 in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

to Jewish immigrants from the

Pale of Settlement The Pale of Settlement was a western region of the Russian Empire with varying borders that existed from 1791 to 1917 (''de facto'' until 1915) in which permanent settlement by Jews was allowed and beyond which the creation of new Jewish settlem ...

. After early schooling, he began studying theater in 1949 at the Instituto Andrés Soler of the

National Association of Actors The National Association of Actors (, ANDA) is the Mexican actors guild. It is a member of the Bloque Latinoamericano de Actores (BLADA, the Latin American Actors' Block) that includes all of the actors' unions in Latin America. The ANDA is head ...

(ANDA). As a student, he studied under the noted theater directors, José de Jesús Aceves and Seki Sano. Stavans made his acting debut, at the age of 20, in the Spanish-language stage productions of ''"Las cinco preciosidades francesas"'' and ''"Prueba de fuego"'' by American playwright

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

. His professional work as a

began in 1981 with the production of "Frío almacenaje" (''Cold Storage''). He compiled more than forty-five stage credits as an actor and theater director during his career. In addition to his work in theater and television, Stavans appeared in several Mexican and international films. His notable roles included '' Once Upon a Scoundrel'' (1973), a

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

film, ''

Licence to Kill ''Licence to Kill'' is a 1989 spy film, the sixteenth in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the second and final film to star Timothy Dalton as the MI6 agent James Bond (literary character), J ...

'' (1989); ''

Original Sin Original sin () in Christian theology refers to the condition of sinfulness that all humans share, which is inherited from Adam and Eve due to the Fall of man, Fall, involving the loss of original righteousness and the distortion of the Image ...

'' (2001), in which he played opposite

Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie ( ; born Angelina Jolie Voight, , June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Angelina Jolie, numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards ...

and

Antonio Banderas José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received numerous accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award ...

; ' (2007), and ''The Story of Pancho Villa''. Stavans also taught theater with his wife, Ofelia, including a course called "Psicoteatro para crecimiento personal." Abraham Stavans died on March 5, 2019, at the age of 86. He was survived by his three children: Ilan Stavans, an essayist and professor at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in the United States, Darien, and Liora Stavchansky.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stavans, Abraham 1933 births 2019 deaths Mexican male film actors Mexican male television actors Mexican male telenovela actors Jewish actors Mexican Jews Mexican people of Russian-Jewish descent Male actors from Mexico City