Fernando Rey
Encyclopedia
Fernando Casado Arambillet (20 September 1917 – 9 March 1994), best known as Fernando Rey, was a Spanish
film, theatre, and TV 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
(Tristana
, 1970; Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
, 1972; That Obscure Object of Desire
, 1977) and as a drug lord
in The French Connection
(1971), 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 notoriety after he turned 50: "Perhaps it is a pity that my success came so late in life", he told The Times of Madrid
in 1973. "It might have been better to have been successful while young, like El Cordobes
in the bullring
. Then your life is all before you to enjoy it."
, but the Spanish Civil War
interrupted his university studies which led him to his success.
In 1936, Rey began his career in movies as an extra
, sometimes even getting credited. It was then that he chose his stage name
, 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
.
This was the start of a prolific career in movies (he played in around two hundred films), radio, theater, 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 like Luis García Berlanga's Bienvenido Mr. Marshall
(1953), Ladislao Vajda's Marcelino Pan y Vino
(1955), and even the 1992 re-dubbed version of Orson Welles
' 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 (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 other Bardem's film, Sonatas (1959), "I love how this actor plays a corpse", could only increase Rey's apprehensions; but anyway Rey became eventually Buñuel's preferred actor and closest friend.
(Les bijoutiers du clair de lune) a 1958 French-Italian film directed by Roger Vadim
, where he shared cast with Stephen Boyd
, Marina Vlady
and the French sex symbol
Brigitte Bardot
. 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
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
(1969), the bizarre cult classic Companeros
", 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 indeed the first 'international Spanish actor'. Rey starred in Buñuel's Viridiana
(1961), Tristana
(1970), The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
(Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie) (1972) (a surreal
movie which received the 1972 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
) and That Obscure Object of Desire
(1977). For Welles, Rey performed in two completed films, Chimes at Midnight
(1966) and The Immortal Story
(1968).
Rey played memorably the French villain Alain Charnier in William Friedkin
's The French Connection
(1971). Initially, Friedkin intended to cast Francisco Rabal
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 before Friedkin could see him. 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
(1975).
Along 70s and 80s Rey played in many international co-productions of the most heterogeneous film genres, some of his appearances being almost just cameos
. Among them, to name only a few, Lewis Gilbert
's The Adventurers (1970), Mauro Bolognini
's Fatti di gente per bene/Drama of the Rich (1974), Vincente Minelli's A Matter of Time
(1976), Valerio Zurlini
's The Desert of the Tartars
(1976), Robert Altman
's Quintet
(1979), J. Lee Thompson
's Cabo Blanco (1980) and Frank Perry
's Monsignor
(1982). But Rey's great success in that years indisputably was Elisa, vida mía
, a 1977
Spanish drama film
written and directed by Carlos Saura
.
On his work in Stuart Rosenberg
's Voyage of the Damned
(1976), Rey once said: "I played [Cuban] president Prío Socarrás
; a cameo. They paid me a lot of money for less than six hours of shooting, in the Barcelona
Stock Exchange building, with James Mason
. I got more money than Orson Welles, who played a great role ...".
(1985), José Luis Cuerda
's El bosque animado (1987) or Jaime de Armiñán's Al otro lado del túnel (1992), and above all his incarnation 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 in the screens was in a supporting role in the Spanish black comedy
El cianuro ... ¿sólo o con leche? (Cyanide ... pure or with milk?) (1994).
, for his performance in Rafael Gil
's La duda, based, like Viridiana and Tristana, in a novel by Benito Pérez Galdós
.
Another of the successes of Rey-Buñuel's tandem was That Obscure Object of Desire
(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.
In Lina Wertmüller
's Academy Award-nominated film, Seven Beauties
(1975), Rey played the role of Pedro the anarchist who, as a friend of the protagonist and fellow prisoner, Pasqualino Settebellezze, chooses a gruesome suicide rather than spend another day in a Nazi concentration camp.
Rey won Best Actor
award at 1977 Cannes Film Festival
by his performance in Elisa, vida mía.
In 1988 he won again 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 awarded too with the gold medal of the Spanish Movie Arts and Sciences Academy.
actress Mabel Karr. In 1992 he became chairman of the Spanish Movie Arts and Sciences Academy
. He died of cancer
in Madrid
in 1994.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
film, theatre, and TV 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
Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel Portolés was a Spanish-born filmmaker — later a naturalized citizen of Mexico — who worked in Spain, Mexico, France and the US..-Early years:...
(Tristana
Tristana
Tristana is a 1970 Spanish film directed by Luis Buñuel. Based on the eponymous novel by Benito Pérez Galdós, it stars Catherine Deneuve and Fernando Rey and was shot in Toledo, Spain. The voices of French actress Catherine Deneuve and Italian actor Franco Nero were dubbed to Spanish...
, 1970; Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
-External links:* at Rotten Tomatoes* * Roger Ebert's review of *...
, 1972; That Obscure Object of Desire
That Obscure Object of Desire
That Obscure Object of Desire is a 1977 film directed by Luis Buñuel. Set in Spain and France against the backdrop of a terrorist insurgency, the film tells the story of an aging Frenchman who falls in love with a young woman who repeatedly frustrates his romantic and sexual desires.-Synopsis:A...
, 1977) and as a drug lord
Drug lord
A drug lord, drug baron or kingpin is the term used to describe a person who controls a sizable network of persons involved in the illegal drugs trade. Such figures are often difficult to bring to justice, as they might never be directly in possession of something illegal, but are insulated from...
in The French Connection
The French Connection (film)
This article is about the 1971 film. For the British fashion label, see French Connection .The French Connection is a 1971 American crime film directed by William Friedkin. The film was adapted and fictionalized by Ernest Tidyman from the non-fiction book by Robin Moore...
(1971), he appeared in more than 150 films over half a century.
The debonair Rey was described by French Connection producer Philip D'Antoni
Philip D'Antoni
-Work:D'Antoni won an Academy Award in 1971 for the Best Picture, for The French Connection. He also won a Golden Globe award in 1972 for the Best Motion Picture Drama for The French Connection. He began his career on TV with the glamorous productions, "Sophia Loren in Rome," "Elizabeth Taylor in...
as "the last of the Continental guys". He achieved his greatest notoriety after he turned 50: "Perhaps it is a pity that my success came so late in life", he told The Times of Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
in 1973. "It might have been better to have been successful while young, like El Cordobes
El Cordobés
Manuel Benítez Pérez , more commonly known as El Cordobés , is a famous matador of the 1960s who brought to the bullring an unorthodox acrobatic and theatrical style.-Career:...
in the bullring
Bullring
A bullring is an arena where bullfighting is performed. Bullrings are often associated with Spain, but they can also be found in neighboring countries and the New World...
. Then your life is all before you to enjoy it."
The beginnings
Rey was born in La Coruña, Spain, the son of Captain Casado Veiga. He studied architectureArchitecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
, but the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
interrupted his university studies which led him to his success.
Extra (actor)
A background actor or extra is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera or ballet production, who appears in a nonspeaking, nonsinging or nondancing capacity, usually in the background...
, sometimes even getting credited. It was then that he chose his stage name
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
, 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
José López Rubio
José López Rubio y Herreros was a Spanish playwright, screenwriter, film director, theatre historian and humorist, a member of the Generation of '27....
's Eugenia de Montijo. Four years later, he acted the part of Felipe I el Hermoso
Philip I of Castile
Philip I , known as Philip the Handsome or the Fair, was the first Habsburg King of Castile...
, King of Spain, in the Spanish cinema blockbuster Locura de amor
Locura de amor
Locura de amor is a 1948 Spanish historical drama film directed by Juan de Orduña.The movie is based on the play La Locura de Amor written in 1855 by Manuel Tamayo y Baus around the figure of Queen Joanna of Castile; who attracted authors, composers, and artists of the romanticist movement, due to...
.
This was the start of a prolific career in movies (he played in around two hundred films), radio, theater, and television. Rey was also a great dubbing actor
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
in Spanish television. His voice was considered intense and personal, and he became the narrator of important Spanish movies like Luis García Berlanga's Bienvenido Mr. Marshall
Welcome Mr. Marshall!
Welcome Mr. Marshall! is a 1953 Spanish comedy film directed by Luis García Berlanga and considered one of the masterpieces of Spanish cinema...
(1953), Ladislao Vajda's Marcelino Pan y Vino
Marcelino Pan y Vino
Marcelino Pan Y Vino is a 1955 Spanish film. It was a success, and other countries have produced versions of it. The 1955 film was written by José María Sánchez Silva, who based it on his novel, and directed by Ladislao Vajda...
(1955), and even the 1992 re-dubbed version of Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
' 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 (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
Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel Portolés was a Spanish-born filmmaker — later a naturalized citizen of Mexico — who worked in Spain, Mexico, France and the US..-Early years:...
several years later. However, in the short term, Buñuel's disconcerting public remark on Rey's performance in other Bardem's film, Sonatas (1959), "I love how this actor plays a corpse", could only increase Rey's apprehensions; but anyway Rey became eventually Buñuel's preferred actor and closest friend.
International career
Rey's first international performance was in The Night Heaven FellThe Night Heaven Fell
The Night Heaven Fell is a 1958 French-Italian film directed by Roger Vadim. Vadim had already acquired international fame with his daring debut And God Created Woman...
(Les bijoutiers du clair de lune) a 1958 French-Italian film directed by Roger Vadim
Roger Vadim
Roger Vadim was a French screenwriter, director, and producer as well as a journalist, author and actor, who launched Brigitte Bardot's career in the film And God Created Woman.-Early life:...
, where he shared cast with Stephen Boyd
Stephen Boyd
Stephen Boyd was an Irish actor, from Glengormley, Northern Ireland, who appeared in around 60 films, most notably in the role of Messala in Ben-Hur.-Biography:...
, Marina Vlady
Marina Vlady
Marina Vlady is a French actress.She won the Best Actress Award at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival for The Conjugal Bed. From 1955 to 1959 she was married to actor/director Robert Hossein...
and the French sex symbol
Sex symbol
A sex symbol is a celebrity of either gender, typically an actor, musician, supermodel, teen idol, or sports star, noted for their sex appeal. The term was first used in the mid 1950s in relation to the popularity of certain Hollywood stars, especially Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte...
Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot is a French former fashion model, actress, singer and animal rights activist. She was one of the best-known sex-symbols of the 1960s.In her early life, Bardot was an aspiring ballet dancer...
. 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
Steve Reeves
Stephen L. Reeves was an American bodybuilder and actor. At the peak of his career, he was the highest-paid actor in Europe.-Childhood:...
and Christine Kaufmann
Christine Kaufmann
Christine Maria Kaufmann is a German actress. In 1961 she won the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actress, the only German to be so honoured....
in the Italian sword and sandal
Sword and sandal
The Peplum , also known as Sword-and-Sandal, is a genre of largely Italian-made Historical or Biblical Epics that dominated the Italian film industry from 1957 to 1965, eventually being replaced in 1965 by the "Spaghetti Western"...
film The Last Days of Pompeii
The Last Days of Pompeii (1959 film)
The Last Days of Pompeii is an Italian sword and sandal action film, starring Steve Reeves, Christine Kaufmann and Fernando Rey, and directed by Sergio Leone...
.
In 1961 Rey played in a European Western, The Savage Guns
Savage Guns (1961 film)
The Savage Guns is a 1961 Eurowestern film, a joint production by the United Kingdom and Spain. Based on a specially commissioned screenplay, The San Siado Killings, written by Peter R...
, 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
The Price of Power is an Spanish-Italian Spaghetti Western directed by Tonino Valerii.-Political references:The film has many political overtures, most notably drawing similarities between the assassinations of two American presidents James Garfield and John F. Kennedy...
(1969), the bizarre cult classic Companeros
Compañeros
Compañeros is an Italian Zapata-themed spaghetti western film directed by Sergio Corbucci in 1970. The film stars Franco Nero, Tomas Milian, Jack Palance and Fernando Rey...
", and two sequels of The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven is an American Western film directed by John Sturges, and released in 1960. It is a fictional tale of a group of seven American gunmen who are hired to protect a small agricultural village in Mexico from a group of marauding Mexican bandits...
, namely Return of the Seven
Return of the Seven
Return of the Seven , is the first sequel to the 1960 western, The Magnificent Seven. Made in 1966, Yul Brynner is the sole returning cast member from the first film, portraying Chris Adams....
(1966) and Guns of the Magnificent Seven
Guns of the Magnificent Seven
Guns of the Magnificent Seven is a Zapata Western and the second sequel to the 1960 western film, The Magnificent Seven ....
(1969).
It was his work with Orson Welles and Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel Portolés was a Spanish-born filmmaker — later a naturalized citizen of Mexico — who worked in Spain, Mexico, France and the US..-Early years:...
during the 1960s and 1970s that made Rey internationally prominent; becoming indeed the first 'international Spanish actor'. Rey starred in Buñuel's Viridiana
Viridiana
Viridiana is a 1961 Spanish-Mexican motion picture, directed by Luis Buñuel and produced by Mexican Gustavo Alatriste. It is loosely based on Halma, a novel by Benito Pérez Galdós....
(1961), Tristana
Tristana
Tristana is a 1970 Spanish film directed by Luis Buñuel. Based on the eponymous novel by Benito Pérez Galdós, it stars Catherine Deneuve and Fernando Rey and was shot in Toledo, Spain. The voices of French actress Catherine Deneuve and Italian actor Franco Nero were dubbed to Spanish...
(1970), The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
-External links:* at Rotten Tomatoes* * Roger Ebert's review of *...
(Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie) (1972) (a surreal
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
movie which received the 1972 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
) and That Obscure Object of Desire
That Obscure Object of Desire
That Obscure Object of Desire is a 1977 film directed by Luis Buñuel. Set in Spain and France against the backdrop of a terrorist insurgency, the film tells the story of an aging Frenchman who falls in love with a young woman who repeatedly frustrates his romantic and sexual desires.-Synopsis:A...
(1977). For Welles, Rey performed in two completed films, Chimes at Midnight
Chimes at Midnight
Chimes at Midnight, also known as Falstaff and Campanadas a medianoche , is a 1965 film directed by and starring Orson Welles. Focused on William Shakespeare's recurring character Sir John Falstaff, the film stars Welles himself as Falstaff, Keith Baxter plays Prince Hal , and John Gielgud plays...
(1966) and The Immortal Story
The Immortal Story
The Immortal Story 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 theaters. It was based on a short story by the Danish writer Karen Blixen...
(1968).
Rey played memorably the French villain Alain Charnier in William Friedkin
William Friedkin
William Friedkin is an American film director, producer and screenwriter best known for directing The French Connection in 1971 and The Exorcist in 1973; for the former, he won the Academy Award for Best Director...
's The French Connection
The French Connection (film)
This article is about the 1971 film. For the British fashion label, see French Connection .The French Connection is a 1971 American crime film directed by William Friedkin. The film was adapted and fictionalized by Ernest Tidyman from the non-fiction book by Robin Moore...
(1971). Initially, Friedkin intended to cast Francisco Rabal
Francisco Rabal
Francisco Rabal , perhaps better known as Paco Rabal, was a Spanish actor born in Águilas, a small town in the province of Murcia, Spain....
as Charnier, but could not remember his name after seeing him in Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel Portolés was a Spanish-born filmmaker — later a naturalized citizen of Mexico — who worked in Spain, Mexico, France and the US..-Early years:...
's Belle de jour
Belle de jour
Belle de Jour is a 1967 French film directed by Luis Buñuel. The film stars Catherine Deneuve as a woman who decides to spend her days as a prostitute while her husband is at work....
; he only knew the person he had in mind was a Spanish actor who had worked with Buñuel. Rey was hired before Friedkin could see him. 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
French Connection II is a 1975 crime drama film starring Gene Hackman and directed by John Frankenheimer. It is a fictional sequel to the initially true story of the 1971 Academy Award winning picture The French Connection...
(1975).
Along 70s and 80s Rey played in many international co-productions of the most heterogeneous film genres, some of his appearances being almost just cameos
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
. Among them, to name only a few, Lewis Gilbert
Lewis Gilbert
Lewis Gilbert CBE is an English film director, producer and screenwriter.-Early life:He was the son of music hall performers, and spent his early years travelling with his parents, and watching the shows from the side of the stage. He first performed on-stage at the age of 5, when asked to drive a...
's The Adventurers (1970), Mauro Bolognini
Mauro Bolognini
Mauro Bolognini was an Italian film director of literate sensibility, known for masterful handling of period subject matter.-Biography:Mauro Bolognini was born in Pistoia, Tuscany....
's Fatti di gente per bene/Drama of the Rich (1974), Vincente Minelli's A Matter of Time
A Matter of Time (1976 film)
A Matter of Time is a 1976 American/Italian musical fantasy film directed by Vincente Minnelli. The screenplay by John Gay is based on the novel Film of Memory by Maurice Druon...
(1976), Valerio Zurlini
Valerio Zurlini
Valerio Zurlini 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. Zurlini became a member of the Italian Communist Party...
's The Desert of the Tartars
The Desert of the Tartars
The Desert of the Tartars is a 1976 award-winning film by Italian director Valerio Zurlini with an international cast, including Jacques Perrin, Vittorio Gassman, Max von Sydow, Francisco Rabal, Helmut Griem, Giuliano Gemma, Philippe Noiret, Fernando Rey, and Jean-Louis Trintignant...
(1976), Robert Altman
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
's Quintet
Quintet (film)
Quintet is a post-apocalyptic science fiction film by Robert Altman produced in 1979. It features among others Paul Newman, Brigitte Fossey, Bibi Andersson, Fernando Rey, Vittorio Gassman and Nina Van Pallandt....
(1979), J. Lee Thompson
J. Lee Thompson
John Lee Thompson , better known as J. Lee Thompson, was an English film director, active in England and Hollywood.- Early years :...
's Cabo Blanco (1980) and Frank Perry
Frank Perry
Frank J. Perry, Jr. was an American stage and film director, producer and screenwriter. His directorial debut, the 1962 film David and Lisa, earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Director....
's Monsignor
Monsignor (film)
Monsignor is a 1982 drama film about a Roman Catholic priest's rise through the ranks of the Vatican, during and after World War II. Along the way, he involves the Vatican in the black marketeering operations of a Mafia don, and has an affair with a woman in the postulant stage of becoming a nun...
(1982). But Rey's great success in that years indisputably was Elisa, vida mía
Elisa, vida mía
Elisa, vida mía is a 1977 Spanish drama film written and directed by Carlos Saura. The film stars Saura's long-term companion and frequent collaborator, Geraldine Chaplin...
, a 1977
1977 in film
The year 1977 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*In the Academy Awards, Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway and Beatrice Straight win Best Actor and Actress and Supporting Actress awards for Network....
Spanish drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
written and directed by Carlos Saura
Carlos Saura
Carlos Saura Atarés is a Spanish film director and photographer.-Early life:Born into a family of artists , he developed his artistic sense in childhood as a photography enthusiast.He obtained his directing diploma in Madrid in 1957 at the Institute of Cinema Research and Studies...
.
On his work in Stuart Rosenberg
Stuart Rosenberg
Stuart Rosenberg was an American film and television director whose notable works included the movies Cool Hand Luke , Voyage of the Damned , The Amityville Horror , and The Pope of Greenwich Village .-Early life and career:Born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, Rosenberg studied Irish...
's Voyage of the Damned
Voyage of the Damned
Voyage of the Damned is the title of a 1974 book written by Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts, which was the basis of a 1976 drama film with the same title.The story was inspired by true events concerning the fate of the MS St...
(1976), Rey once said: "I played [Cuban] president Prío Socarrás
Carlos Prío Socarrás
Carlos Prío Socarrás was the President of Cuba from 1948 until he was deposed by a military coup led by Fulgencio Batista on March 10, 1952, three months before new elections were to be held.- Governance :...
; a cameo. They paid me a lot of money for less than six hours of shooting, in the Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
Stock Exchange building, with James Mason
James Mason
James Neville Mason was an English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. Mason remained a powerful figure in the industry throughout his career and was nominated for three Academy Awards as well as three Golden Globes .- Early life :Mason was born in Huddersfield, in the...
. 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 NuestroPadre nuestro (1985 film)
Padre nuestro is a 1985 Spanish drama film directed by Francisco Regueiro. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Victoria Abril - Cardenala* Rafaela Aparicio* Luis Barbero* Lina Canalejas...
(1985), José Luis Cuerda
José Luis Cuerda
José Luis Cuerda is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer.He has produced three films of Alejandro Amenábar .-Filmography as Film Director:* 1982 - Pares y nones...
's El bosque animado (1987) or Jaime de Armiñán's Al otro lado del túnel (1992), and above all his incarnation of Don Quixote, alongside Alfredo Landa
Alfredo Landa
Alfredo Landa Areitio is a Spanish actor.- Biography :He was born in Pamplona, Navarra, Spain. He finished his pre-university studies in San Sebastián. He then began university studies on Law, where he began to work with university school groups...
as Sancho Panza
Sancho Panza
Sancho Panza is a fictional character in the novel Don Quixote written by Spanish author Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra in 1605. Sancho acts as squire to Don Quixote, and provides comments throughout the novel, known as sanchismos, that are a combination of broad humour, ironic Spanish proverbs,...
, in the memorable Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón
Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón
Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón is an award-winning 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 Camada negra at the 27th Berlin International Film Festival...
`s El Quijote de Miguel de Cervantes (1991) for the Spanish National TV.
His last appearance in the screens was in a supporting role in the Spanish black comedy
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
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 FestivalSan Sebastián International Film Festival
The San Sebastián International Film Festival is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of San Sebastián .-History:The festival was founded in 1953...
, for his performance in Rafael Gil
Rafael Gil
Rafael Gil was a Spanish film director and screenwriter.- Filmography :*El hombre que se quiso matar .*Huella de luz. . –script too-*Viaje sin destino...
's La duda, based, like Viridiana and Tristana, in a novel by Benito Pérez Galdós
Benito Pérez Galdós
Benito Pérez Galdós was a Spanish realist novelist. Considered second only to Cervantes in stature, he was the leading Spanish realist novelist....
.
Another of the successes of Rey-Buñuel's tandem was That Obscure Object of Desire
That Obscure Object of Desire
That Obscure Object of Desire is a 1977 film directed by Luis Buñuel. Set in Spain and France against the backdrop of a terrorist insurgency, the film tells the story of an aging Frenchman who falls in love with a young woman who repeatedly frustrates his romantic and sexual desires.-Synopsis:A...
(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.
In Lina Wertmüller
Lina Wertmüller
Lina Wertmüller is an Italian film writer and director of aristocratic Swiss descent. In 1976, she became the first woman ever to be nominated for an Academy Award for Directing with the film Seven Beauties.-Biography:...
's Academy Award-nominated film, Seven Beauties
Seven Beauties
Pasqualino Settebellezze is a 1975 Italian language film written and directed by Lina Wertmüller and starring Giancarlo Giannini in the main role. Fernando Rey and Shirley Stoler are also featured...
(1975), Rey played the role of Pedro the anarchist who, as a friend of the protagonist and fellow prisoner, Pasqualino Settebellezze, chooses a gruesome suicide rather than spend another day in a Nazi concentration camp.
Rey won Best Actor
Best Actor Award (Cannes Film Festival)
The Best Actor Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of movies at the festival. It was first awarded in 1946.- Award Winners :-External links:* * ....
award at 1977 Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
by his performance in Elisa, vida mía.
In 1988 he won again 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
Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi
Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi is a Spanish film director and producer.He was born in Madrid on March 22, 1927 and began working in the production firm Emisora Films as an assistant manager, film editor, scriptwriter, lead producer, and finally director. In 1955 he founded his own production company,...
's El Aire de un Crimen (The Hint of a Crime).
Fernando Rey was awarded too with the gold medal of the Spanish Movie Arts and Sciences Academy.
Personal life and death
In 1960, Rey married the ArgentineArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
actress Mabel Karr. In 1992 he became chairman of the Spanish Movie Arts and Sciences Academy
Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España
The Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España is a Spanish professional organisation dedicated to the promotion and development of Spanish cinema...
. He died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
in 1994.
Selected filmography
- CompanerosCompañerosCompañeros is an Italian Zapata-themed spaghetti western film directed by Sergio Corbucci in 1970. The film stars Franco Nero, Tomas Milian, Jack Palance and Fernando Rey...
(1970) - The French ConnectionThe French ConnectionThe French Connection or French Connection may refer to:* French Connection, an infamous 1960s-70s drug trafficking scheme* The French Connection , a 1969 non-fiction book about the drug trafficking scheme...
(1971) - The Light at the Edge of the WorldThe Light at the Edge of the WorldThe Light at the Edge of the World is a 1971 adventure film, adapted from Jules Verne's classic 1905 adventure novel Le Phare du bout du monde...
(1971) - The Discreet Charm of the BourgeoisieThe Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie-External links:* at Rotten Tomatoes* * Roger Ebert's review of *...
(1972) - High CrimeHigh CrimeHigh Crime , also known by its UK video title The Marseilles Connection, is a 1973 poliziottesco film directed by Enzo G. Castellari. The film stars Franco Nero, James Whitmore, Delia Boccardo and Fernando Rey....
(1973) - That Obscure Object of DesireThat Obscure Object of DesireThat Obscure Object of Desire is a 1977 film directed by Luis Buñuel. Set in Spain and France against the backdrop of a terrorist insurgency, the film tells the story of an aging Frenchman who falls in love with a young woman who repeatedly frustrates his romantic and sexual desires.-Synopsis:A...
(1977) - The AssignmentThe Assignment (1977 film)The Assignment is a 1977 Swedish drama film directed by Mats Arehn and starring Christopher Plummer, Thomas Hellberg and Carolyn Seymour. A Swedish foreign office official travels to South America on a peace-making mission. It was based on the novel Uppdraget by Per Wahlöö.-Cast:* Christopher...
(1977) - The Lady of the CamelliasThe Lady of the Camellias (film)The Lady of the Camellias is a 1981 French-Italian drama film directed by Mauro Bolognini and starring Isabelle Huppert.-Cast:* Isabelle Huppert - Alphonsine Plessis* Gian Maria Volonté - Plessis* Bruno Ganz - Count Perregaux...
(1981) - The HitThe HitThe Hit is a 1984 feature film directed by Stephen Frears and starring John Hurt, Terence Stamp and Tim Roth. The Hit was Stamp's first starring role in over a decade and Roth won an Evening Standard award as the apprentice hit man....
(1984) - Black ArrowBlack Arrow (telefilm)Black Arrow is a Disney television movie filmed in 1984 and released in 1985, based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses. It was a Panatlantic Pictures release directed by John Hough, who had directed a filmatization of another Stevenson novel in 1972,...
(1985) - On the Far Side of the TunnelOn the Far Side of the TunnelOn the Far Side of the Tunnel is a 1994 Spanish drama film directed by Jaime de Armiñán. It was entered into the 44th Berlin International Film Festival.-Cast:* Rafael Alonso as Hermano Benito* Luis Barbero as Prior* Amparo Baró as Rosa...
(1994)