Fortunio Bonanova, pseudonym of Josep Lluís Moll, (13 January 1895 – 2 April 1969) was a Spanish

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

singer and a film, theater, and television actor. He occasionally worked as a producer and director. According to Lluis Fàbregas Cuixart, the pseudonym ''Fortunio Bonanova'' referred to his desire to seek fortune, and his love of the Bonanova neighborhood in his native Palma.

Biography

As a young man, living under his birthname, he was a professional

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

operator. He studied

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

with the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Giovachini. In 1921, he debuted as a singer in '' Tannhäuser'', at the Teatre Principal in Palma. That year, along with a group of

Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

n intellectuals and

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo ( ; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish literature, Spanish-language and international literatur ...

(who was briefly living in Majorca with his parents and sister), he signed the Ultraist Manifesto, using the name Fortunio Bonanova. Also in 1921, he appeared in a silent film of '' Don Juan Tenorio'' by the brothers Baños, which was shown the following year in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

. He later directed his own ''Don Juan'' in 1924. In 1927, he acted in ''Love of Sunya'', directed by Albert Parker and starring

Gloria Swanson Gloria Mae Josephine Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most famously for h ...

. In 1932 he had small parts in Hollywood productions featuring Joan Bennett and Mary Astor. In the same period, he appeared in New York in several

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

s as well as the

zarzuela () is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as dance. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but some propose it may derive from the name o ...

s ''La Canción del Olvido'' ("The song of forgetting"), ''La Duquesa del Tabarín'' ("The Duchess of Tabarín"), ''Los Gavilanes'', and ''La Montería''. In 1934, he returned to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, where he had a major role in the film ''El Desaparecido'' ("The disappeared one") written and directed by Antonio Graciani. In 1935 he acted and sang in the film ''Poderoso Caballero'' ("A Big Guy"), directed by Màximo Nossik. In 1936, with the outbreak of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, he returned to the United States, where he played the role of Captain Bill in a film called ''Capitán Tormenta'', directed by Jules Bernhardt. A sequence of increasingly larger acting and singing roles mostly in English-language films followed, especially after 1940. Among his roles were Signor Matiste, Susan Alexander Kane's opera coach in ''

Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...

'' (1941); General Sebastiano in ''

Five Graves to Cairo ''Five Graves to Cairo'' is a 1943 war film directed by Billy Wilder and starring Franchot Tone and Anne Baxter. Set in World War II, it is one of a number of films based on Lajos Bíró's 1917 play ''Hotel Imperial: Színmű négy felvonásba ...

'' (1943); Don Miguel in '' The Black Swan'' (1942); Fernando in ''

For Whom the Bell Tolls ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'' is a novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1940. It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American volunteer attached to a Republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. As a dynamiter, he is assigned ...

'' (1943); Sam Garlopis in ''

Double Indemnity ''Double Indemnity'' is a 1944 American film noir directed by Billy Wilder and produced by Buddy DeSylva and Joseph Sistrom. Wilder and Raymond Chandler adapted the screenplay from James M. Cain's Double Indemnity (novel), novel of the same na ...

'' (1944); and a singing

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

in '' Where Do We Go From Here?''. He continued for the next several decades in a miscellany of character roles. Bonanova was also an uncredited technical consultant for the film '' Blood and Sand'' (1941), and produced and appeared in the Spanish-language film ''La Inmaculada'' (a name of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, "Immaculate")(1939). Bonanova played the father of twins

Esther Williams Esther Jane Williams (August 8, 1921 – June 6, 2013) was an American competitive swimmer and actress. She set regional and national records in her late teens on the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Ol ...

, and Ricardo Montalbán in the 1947 film '' Fiesta''. In 1949, Bonanova collaborated with Ambrose Barker on a musical entitled "Glamor/Glamour is the Gimmick." It got bad reviews—what may have been popular and witty when Barker developed it in the early 1930s didn’t make it in 1949.Billboard, 22 October 1949, pg. 24 In the 1950s, he appeared in an episode of ''

I Love Lucy ''I Love Lucy'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes spanning six seasons. The series starred Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz, along with Vivian ...

'' as a fake psychic who uses his stage apparatus to make it appear as though Lucy is able to speak Spanish to her mother-in-law. In 1952, he played an Italian opera singer, Anthony Branchetti, in the fourth episode of '' My Little Margie'' where Margie helps her father by convincing Mr. Branchetti to appear at a party in his honor to impress a reluctant client of Honeywell & Todd. In 1953 he played

Lou Costello Louis Francis Cristillo (March 6, 1906 – March 3, 1959), better known as Lou Costello, was an American comedian, actor and producer. He was best known for his double act with Bud Abbott and their routine " Who's on First?". Abbott and Cos ...

's Uncle Bozzo in the

Abbott & Costello Abbott and Costello were an American comedy duo composed of comedians Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, whose work in radio, film, and television made them the most popular comedy team of the 1940s and 1950s, and the highest-paid entertainers in t ...

episode of "Uncle Bozzo's Visit." In 1955, he portrayed an opera star in an episode of the

situation comedy A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

Willy Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Allen (basketball) (born 1949), American basketball player and ...

''. Bonanova died in 1969 in

Woodland Hills, California Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California, United States. History The area was inhabited for around 8,000 years by Native Americans in the United States, ...

of a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its ventricles, or into both. An ICH is a type of bleeding within the skull and one kind of stro ...

and is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights, Californi ...

Partial filmography

* ''Don Juan Tenorio'' (1922) - Don Juan Tenorio * ''Don Juan'' (1924) * '' Careless Lady'' (1932) - Rodriguez (film debut) * '' A Successful Calamity'' (1932) - Pietro Rafaelo, the Pianist * ''He Who Disappeared'' (1934) - Reporter * ''El capitan Tormenta'' (1936) - Capt. Bill * ''Poderoso caballero'' (1936) * ''El carnaval del diablo'' (1936) * '' Beg, Borrow or Steal'' (1937) - ISMAN (uncredited) * '' Romance in the Dark'' (1938) - Tenor * '' Tropic Holiday'' (1938) - Barrera * '' Bulldog Drummond in Africa'' (1938) - African Police Corporal (uncredited) * '' La Inmaculada'' (1939) * ''

I Was an Adventuress ''I Was an Adventuress'' is a 1940 American drama film directed by Gregory Ratoff, starring Vera Zorina, Richard Greene, Erich von Stroheim, and Peter Lorre. An actress/ballerina works as decoy for two international con artists. Plot Countess Ta ...

'' (1940) - Orchestra Leader * '' Down Argentine Way'' (1940) - Hotel Manager * '' The Mark of Zorro'' (1940) - Sentry (uncredited) * '' That Night in Rio'' (1941) - Pereira * '' They Met in Argentina'' (1941) - Pedro, Ranch Blacksmith (uncredited) * ''

'' (1941) - Signor Matiste * '' Blood and Sand'' (1941) - Pedro Espinosa * '' Moon Over Miami'' (1941) - Mr. Pretto * '' Unfinished Business'' (1941) - Impresario (uncredited) * '' A Yank in the R.A.F.'' (1941) - Louie - Headwaiter * '' Two Latins from Manhattan'' (1941) - Armando Rivero * '' Mr. and Mrs. North'' (1942) - Buano * ''

Four Jacks and a Jill Four Jacks and a Jill is a South African folk rock ensemble. Career They originally formed in 1964 without a "Jill" under the name "The Nevadas". Subsequently, they became the first group in South Africa to wear their hair long and they changed ...

'' (1942) - Mike - Nightclub Owner (uncredited) * '' Call Out the Marines'' (1942) - Chef (uncredited) * '' Obliging Young Lady'' (1942) - Chef * '' Sing Your Worries Away'' (1942) - Gaston - Headwaiter (uncredited) * '' Larceny, Inc.'' (1942) - Anton Copoulos * '' Girl Trouble'' (1942) - Simon Cordoba * '' The Black Swan'' (1942) - Don Miguel (uncredited) * '' Hello, Frisco, Hello'' (1943) - Opera Singer (uncredited) * ''

'' (1943) - Gen. Sebastiano * ''

Dixie Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas have shifted over the years), or the extent of the area i ...

'' (1943) - Waiter * ''

'' (1943) - Fernando * ''

The Sultan's Daughter ''The Sultan's Daughter'' is a 1943 American comedy film directed by Arthur Dreifuss Arthur Dreifuss (sometimes credited as Dreyfuss; March 25, 1908 – December 31, 1993)

'' (1943) - Kuda * '' The Song of Bernadette'' (1943) - Imperial Prince Louis (uncredited) * '' Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves'' (1944) - Old Baba * '' My Best Gal'' (1944) - Charlie * ''

Going My Way ''Going My Way'' is a 1944 American musical comedy drama film directed by Leo McCarey and starring Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald. Written by Frank Butler and Frank Cavett, based on a story by McCarey, the film is about a new young priest ...

'' (1944) - Tomaso Bozanni * ''

'' (1944) - Sam Garlopis * '' Mrs. Parkington'' (1944) - Signor Cellini * ''

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

'' (1944) - Senor Renaldo Da Silva * '' Where Do We Go from Here?'' (1945) - Christopher Columbus * '' Mischievous Susana'' (1945) - Conde Mauricio Tonescu * '' A Bell for Adano'' (1945) - Gargano - Chief of Police * '' Man Alive'' (1945) - Prof. Zorado * '' Hit the Hay'' (1945) - Mario Alvini * ''

The Red Dragon Red Dragon may refer to: Entertainment * ''The Red Dragon'' (magazine), a Welsh historical and literary magazine published 1882–1887 * ''Red Dragon'' (novel), a 1981 book by Thomas Harris ** ''Manhunter'' (film), a 1986 film directed by Micha ...

'' (1945) - Insp. Luis Carvero * '' The Sailor Takes a Wife'' (1945) - Telephone Man (uncredited) * '' Pepita Jiménez'' (1946) - Don Pedro Vargas * '' Monsieur Beaucaire'' (1946) - Don Carlos * '' Fiesta'' (1947) - Antonio Morales * '' The Kneeling Goddess'' (1947) - Nacho Gutiérrez * '' The Fugitive'' (1947) - The Governor's Cousin * '' Rose of Santa Rosa'' (1947) - Don Manuel Ortega * ''

Romance on the High Seas ''Romance on the High Seas'' (released in the United Kingdom as ''It's Magic'') is a 1948 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Michael Curtiz, and starred Jack Carson, Janis Paige, Don DeFore and Doris Day in her film debut. Bus ...

'' (1948) - Plinio * '' Angel on the Amazon'' (1948) - Sebastian Ortega * '' Adventures of Don Juan'' (1948) - Don Serafino Lopez * '' Bad Men of Tombstone'' (1949) - John Mingo * ''

Whirlpool A whirlpool is a body of rotating water produced by opposing currents or a current running into an obstacle. Small whirlpools form when a bath or a sink is draining. More powerful ones formed in seas or oceans may be called maelstroms ( ). ''Vo ...

'' (1950) - Feruccio di Ravallo * '' Nancy Goes to Rio'' (1950) - Ricardo Domingos * ''

September Affair ''September Affair'' is a 1950 American romantic drama film directed by William Dieterle and starring Joan Fontaine, Joseph Cotten, and Jessica Tandy. It was produced by Hal B. Wallis. Plot Marianne "Manina" Stuart (Joan Fontaine), a prominent c ...

'' (1950) - Grazzi * '' Havana Rose'' (1951) - Ambassador DeMarco * ''

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario. Its population i ...

'' (1953) - Sheriff Antoine Chighizola * '' The Moon Is Blue'' (1953) - Television Performer * '' Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach'' (1953) - TV Ansager * '' So This Is Love'' (1953) - Dr. Marafioti * '' Second Chance'' (1953) - Mandy * '' Conquest of Cochise'' (1953) - Mexican Minister * '' New York Confidential'' (1955) - Senor * ''

Kiss Me Deadly ''Kiss Me Deadly'' is a 1955 American film noir produced and directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart, Juano Hernandez, and Wesley Addy. It also features Maxine Cooper and Cloris Leachman appearing i ...

'' (1955) - Carmen Trivago * ''

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

'' (1956) - Francisco Servente * '' An Affair to Remember'' (1957) - Courbet * '' The Saga of Hemp Brown'' (1958) - Serge Bolanos * '' Thunder in the Sun'' (1959) - Fernando Christophe * '' The Running Man'' (1963) - Spanish Bank Manager * ''La muerte silba un blues'' (1964) - Comisario Fenton (final film role)

Notes

References

* Catalina Aguiló & J.A. Mendiola, ''Fortunio Bonanova : un home de llegenda'', Mallorca 1997. ''Much of the material in this article comes from the corresponding article in the Catalan Wikipedia''.

External links

*
Opera singers in the movies

Fortunio Bonanova on Cinefania

Fortunio Bonanova on Rotten Tomatoes
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonanova, Fortunio 1895 births 1969 deaths Male film actors from Catalonia Spanish male film actors Singers from Catalonia Actors from Palma de Mallorca Singers from the Balearic Islands 20th-century Spanish male actors 20th-century Spanish male opera singers Spanish expatriates in the United States Spanish operatic baritones