Carlos Iglesias Serrano (born 15 July 1955) is a Spanish actor and filmmaker. From 1998 to 2001, he starred as Benito in the comedy television series ''

Manos a la obra Manos may refer to: Films * ''The Hands'' (film) (Spanish: ''Las manos''), a 2006 Argentinean-Italian film * '' Manos: The Hands of Fate'', 1966 horror film Other uses * ''Manos'' (album), by The Spinanes * Manos (name) * Mano (stone) or manos, ...

'', extremely popular for Spanish audiences throughout its broadcasting run.

Biography

Carlos Iglesias Serrano was born on 15 July 1955 in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, living for a time with his family in

Quintanar de la Orden Quintanar de la Orden is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain located in the Toledo (province), province of Toledo, Castilla–La Mancha. The municipality spans across a total area of 87.87 km2 and, as of 1 January 2023, the municipalit ...

. From 1960 to 1966, he lived in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, where his parents had immigrated. After returning to Spain, and living in

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

and Madrid, he graduated from the RESAD. He earned early public recognition in the 1990s for his appearances as 'Pepelu' in the late-night show '. He earned further recognition for his performance in Antena 3 comedy television series ''

'' (1998–2001), a massive audience hit that broke the 6 million viewers per episode mark, starring in a tandem alongside

Ángel de Andrés Ángel de Andrés Miquel was a Spanish theatre actor and director. Background In 1938, after the Spanish Civil War broke out, the young Andrés worked as an amateur street actor and then as a "galán cómico" in the Salvador Videgain theatre ...

, respectively portraying Benito Lopera and Manolo Jumilla, two clumsy and lazy bricklayers. The broadcasting run from 1998 to 2001 comprised 6 seasons and about 130 episodes. Iglesias starred as

Sancho Panza Sancho Panza (; ) is a fictional character in the novel ''Don Quixote'' written by Spain, Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra in 1605. Sancho acts as squire to Don Quixote and provides comments throughout the novel, ...

Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón (born 2 January 1940) is a Spanish screenwriter and film director. His 1973 film '' Habla, mudita'' was entered into the 23rd Berlin International Film Festival. In 1977, he won the Silver Bear for Best Director for '' ...

's 2002 film ''

Don Quixote, Knight Errant ''Don Quixote, Knight Errant'' () is a 2002 Spanish adventure film directed and written by Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón, consisting of an adaptation of the second part of Miguel de Cervantes' ''Don Quixote''. It stars Juan Luis Galiardo and Carlos I ...

'', earning a nomination to the

Goya Award for Best New Actor The Goya Award for Best New Actor () is one of the Goya Awards, Spain's principal national film awards. The category was first presented at the 9th Goya Awards, ninth edition of the Goya Awards, with Saturnino García being the first winner for h ...

for his performance. He returned as Benito alongside Ángel de Andrés in ' (2006–2007), a revival of the popular duo that proved to be an audience failure owing to the worn-out plots, and was cancelled after 1 season of 12 episodes. Iglesias made his feature film directorial debut with the 2006 immigration comedy-drama '' Crossing the Border'' (), in which he also starred and took over writing duties. His second feature was ''Inspansi (¡Españoles!)'', whose plot also related to the

Spanish diaspora The Spanish diaspora consists of Spaniards, Spanish people and their Lineal descendant, descendants who emigrated from Spain. In the Americas, the term most often refers to residents with Spanish nationality; this is in contrast to "Hispanic" w ...

. He also directed the sequel to ''Crossing the Border'', ''2 Francos, 40 pesetas'', released in 2014.

Film director

* 2006: '' Un Franco, 14 pesetas'' (''Crossing the Border'') * 2011: ' * 2014: ' * 2020: ''La suite nupcial''

Accolades

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iglesias, Carlos 1955 births Living people 20th-century Spanish male actors Spanish male television actors Spanish male film actors Spanish film directors Spanish screenwriters Male actors from Madrid