Xabier González Elorriaga (born 1 April 1944 in

Maracaibo Maracaibo ( , ; ) is a city and municipality in northwestern Venezuela, on the western shore of the strait that connects Lake Maracaibo to the Gulf of Venezuela. It is the largest city in Venezuela and is List of cities in Venezuela by population ...

) is a Spanish film and TV actor, writer and director.

Biography

His exiled parents returned to

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

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, in 1969 where he commenced studying Law, Engineering and the Merchant Marine but soon switched to the theatre, becoming well known as an actor in the Bilbao of the 1970s. He then moved to

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 ...

where he studied journalism and worked in the university. He made his prize-winning film debut in 1975 with ''

La ciutat cremada ''La ciutat cremada'' (''The Burned City''; Spanish title: ''La ciudad quemada'') is a 1976 Spanish historical film directed by Antoni Ribas Antoni Ribas i Piera (27 October 1935 – 3 October 2007) was a Catalan Spanish film director an ...

'' and he has subsequently appeared in over 50 films. A number of these have been released internationally in English, including: # ''The Dancer Upstairs'' (Pasos de baile, 2002) # ''To Love Too Much'' (Demasiado amor, 2002) # ''My Mother Likes Women'' (A mi madre le gustan las mujeres, 2002) # ''Sleeping Beauties'' (Bellas Durmientes, 2001, English subtitles) # ''Thesis'' (Tesis, 1996) # ''To the Four Winds'' (A los cuatro vientos, 1987) # ''The Secret Garden'' (El jardín secreto, 1984) # ''Man of Fashion'' (El hombre de moda, 1980) # ''Blindfolded Eyes'' ( Los ojos vendados, 1978) # ''The Burned City '' (La ciudad quemada, 1976) Together with Arantxa Urretavizcaya, he is credited with the screenplay of Zorrilla's ''A los cuatro vientos'' (1987). He directed the short film ''Ikuska 4'' (1980). His TV work includes the series ''Anillos de oro'', ''Clase media'', and ''La verdad de Laura''. He has made episodic appearances in Telecinco's ''Hospital Central'' and was involved with TVE-1's miniseries ''Las Cerezas del Cementerio''.

Prizes

*1977 CEC Prize for '' A un dios desconocido'' *1976 CEC Prize for '' La ciudad quemada''

Selected filmography

External links

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Xabier Elorriaga on Nuestrocine (in Spanish)
1944 births Living people People from Maracaibo University of Deusto alumni 20th-century Venezuelan male actors Venezuelan people of Basque descent Venezuelan emigrants to Spain 21st-century Venezuelan male actors Venezuelan male film actors Venezuelan male stage actors Venezuelan male television actors Basque-language actors Spanish film actors {{Venezuela-actor-stub