Jaime Bravo
Encyclopedia
Jaime Bravo was a Mexican matador
during the 1950s and 1960s. Bravo was known for death defying style and numerous relationships with women and Hollywood starlets.
District of México City
, to Spanish parents. His way out of the ghetto was as a (trapeze
artist) for a well known Mexican circus. In his early twenties he stowed away on a ship to Cuba, and then on another to Spain, where he learned his art. Bravo took his in Valencia, and was later confirmed in Madrid
.
, making western films and usually singing in them like a Latin version of Elvis, the scripts groomed to fit his more high-profile career. Gaston Santos, the rejoneador
, was also making movies. There were wrestlers like Blue Demon, El Santo, Chanoc, Mil Mascaras and Nathaniel Leon making horror films. Then bullfighters like Carlos Arruza
, Luis Procuna, Manuel Capetillo, and David Liceaga entered the field. Jaime Bravo was a bullfighter for many years, especially popular with the ladies and with the border town crowds. He had the looks and the charm, if not the talent, to make it on the screen and to some producers, that's all that mattered.
Bravo played a small part in a movie called Call of a Bull, which was available through a California
distributor some years ago in both English and Spanish. The film starred the late Emilio Fernández
and a cast of Americans, the main theme being about a woman wanting to be a bullfighter. Bravo was there, for more reason than not, just to see how he looked on the screen.
Another film, which was scandalous for the time, Love Has Many Faces
(1965) featured Bravo as a matador. Starring Lana Turner
, Cliff Robertson
, Hugh O'Brian
, Ruth Roman
, and Stefanie Powers
. Although Bravo spoke English very well, the film's producers used another actor's voice to dub over Bravo's thick accent.
He was also the topic of a documentary directed by Art Swerdloff. This film, titled The Story of a Matador (1962), was a David Wolper production, with Bravo demonstrating what a bullfighter went through as he rose to stardom in the rings. "It is one of my favourite half hour films", Swerdloff commented recently when asked about it. "One of the best I've done."
Away from the bullrings, Bravo already had the making of a big screen movie idol, if only by his often scandalous behaviour. Having numerous affairs with Hollywood's most beautiful and biggest names, his reputation as a romantic was and is still well-known... and more often than not, caused him trouble. To this day, he is remembered for frequently having more than several of any of his girlfriends mixed throughout the crowd at any particular bullfight, unbeknownst to one another.
Quite the character, Bravo was a true showman. Although a top matador, Bravo's fame was more so driven by his persona and his unrelenting bravery. Always pushing the envelope of drama and danger just a little bit further than his contemporaries, Bravo drew tremendous crowds who were mesmerized by his repeatedly placing himself in and then ripping himself out from the jaws of death. As one journalist put it, "The bull was probably scared of Jaime."
"Jaime was gored more than 50 times in his career." Larry Jones, an official of a Tijuana
ring, said when informed of the bullfighter's death, "He was very daring and thought he had to get injured to please the fans."
"Bravo delighted in challenging the bull to the fullest extent. He was popular in Tijuana because he was flashy and colorful. Few bullfighters took more chances than Jaime."
Fans thought that his early training as a trapezista saved his life in the bull ring many times. A native of Mexico City
, Jaime seldom fought there because he was so popular in border towns like Tijuana.
, playing to the Tijuana, non-aficionado tourists, Bravo "requested the animal be spared. This, in turn, was denied, and the torero [Bravo] who refused to kill the bull was escorted to the local jail and fined". Bravo received headlines for his defiance.
Only one month earlier, at a July 1968 corrida, Bravo had used a similar press-grabbing tactic, when he was not performing his best and another matador's superior performance was going to gain the next day's headlines. Before that corrida ended, Bravo made sure to curse at the bullring's judge, just enough to infuriate the judge so that Bravo was immediately arrested and jailed. Cameras captured countless photos of Bravo being cuffed, escorted from the bullring, taken to the jail, and locked in a cell. Bravo accomplished his goal. The next day, the newspapers' headlines boldly declared that Jaime Bravo had been jailed. Much further down the page, and in much smaller type, only a few sentences stated that the other matador had performed brilliantly.
Never a dull moment for the crowds, gossip was further promulgated by such actions as his behavior during a 1957 Tijuana bullfight, during which he tossed flowers to Ava Gardner
, from the ring. She was at the corrida with actor Gilbert Roland
.
One of the biggest scandals concerning Bravo and his misadventures related to Arabella Arbenz, daughter of Guatemala's leftwing president Jacobo Arbenz, who was ousted long ago. This woman was a top fashion model, who eventually committed suicide
in front of Bravo, shooting herself on October 5, 1965.
(countess). The marriage was a fiasco and was eventually annulled by the appropriate magistrate, as a favor to Bravo's friend Pablo Picasso
, who gave the signed annulment to Bravo as a belated wedding gift.
In 1957, Bravo next married the actress Ann Robinson
, by whom he had his first two sons, Jaime and Estefan. In 1967, two years after appearing in a 1965 Las Vegas promotional bullfight, he married a Las Vegas showgirl named Monica Lind (from Les Folies Bergère
), by whom he had his third and final son, named Aleco Jaime Bravo.
, Nogales
, Juarez
and Matamoros
, making his name easily recognizable in states such as California, Arizona, and Texas. But such was not to be.
, México. Eloy Cavazos
, a fellow matador was also in the car but survived.
Matador
A torero or toureiro is a bullfighter and the main performer in bullfighting, practised in Spain, Colombia, Portugal, Mexico, France and various other countries influenced by Spanish culture. In Spanish, the word torero describes any of the performers who actively participate in the bullfight...
during the 1950s and 1960s. Bravo was known for death defying style and numerous relationships with women and Hollywood starlets.
Early life
Bravo was born in the infamous TepitoTepito
Tepito is a barrio located in Colonia Morelos in the Cuauhtémoc borough of Mexico City bordered by Avenida del Trabajo, Paseo de la Reforma, Eje 1 and Eje 2. Most of the neighborhood is taken up by the colorful tianguis or open-air market. Tepito’s economy has been linked to tianguis or traditional...
District of México City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, to Spanish parents. His way out of the ghetto was as a (trapeze
Trapeze
A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by ropes or metal straps from a support. It is an aerial apparatus commonly found in circus performances...
artist) for a well known Mexican circus. In his early twenties he stowed away on a ship to Cuba, and then on another to Spain, where he learned his art. Bravo took his in Valencia, and was later confirmed 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...
.
Hollywood films
During the 1950s and 1960s, Mexico was full of crossover movie stars including Antonio AguilarAntonio Aguilar
José Pascual Antonio Aguilar Barraza most commonly known as Antonio Aguilar, nicknamed "El Charro de México", was a Mexican film actor, singer, producer and screenwriter. During his career, he made over 150 albums, which sold 25 million copies, and made 167 movies...
, making western films and usually singing in them like a Latin version of Elvis, the scripts groomed to fit his more high-profile career. Gaston Santos, the rejoneador
Rejoneador
Rejoneador is the name given to a bullfighter who fights the bull on horseback. The rejoneador shouldn't be confused with the picador, who is just an assistant of the matador...
, was also making movies. There were wrestlers like Blue Demon, El Santo, Chanoc, Mil Mascaras and Nathaniel Leon making horror films. Then bullfighters like Carlos Arruza
Carlos Arruza
Carlos Arruza , born Carlos Ruiz Camino, was one of the most prominent bullfighters of the 20th century. He was known as "El Ciclón" ....
, Luis Procuna, Manuel Capetillo, and David Liceaga entered the field. Jaime Bravo was a bullfighter for many years, especially popular with the ladies and with the border town crowds. He had the looks and the charm, if not the talent, to make it on the screen and to some producers, that's all that mattered.
Bravo played a small part in a movie called Call of a Bull, which was available through a California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
distributor some years ago in both English and Spanish. The film starred the late Emilio Fernández
Emilio Fernández
Emilio "El Indio" Fernández was an actor, screenwriter and director of the cinema of Mexico. He is best known for his work as director of the film Maria Candelaria which won the Grand Prix at the 1946 Cannes Film Festival.-Early life:Fernández was born in Mineral del Hondo, Coahuila...
and a cast of Americans, the main theme being about a woman wanting to be a bullfighter. Bravo was there, for more reason than not, just to see how he looked on the screen.
Another film, which was scandalous for the time, Love Has Many Faces
Love Has Many Faces
Love Has Many Faces is a 1965 drama film made by Columbia Pictures. The movie was directed by Alexander Singer, and written by Marguerite Roberts. Nancy Wilson sings the title song whilst Edith Head designed Lana Turner's clothes.-Plot:...
(1965) featured Bravo as a matador. Starring Lana Turner
Lana Turner
Lana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...
, Cliff Robertson
Cliff Robertson
Clifford Parker "Cliff" Robertson III was an American actor with a film and television career that spanned half of a century. Robertson portrayed a young John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film PT 109, and won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the movie Charly...
, Hugh O'Brian
Hugh O'Brian
Hugh O'Brian is an American actor, known for his starring role in the ABC television series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp .-Early years and career:...
, Ruth Roman
Ruth Roman
Ruth Roman was an American actress. One of her most memorable roles was in the Alfred Hitchcock 1951 thriller Strangers on a Train....
, and Stefanie Powers
Stefanie Powers
Stefanie Powers is an American actress best known for her role as Jennifer Hart in the 1980s television series Hart to Hart.-Early life:...
. Although Bravo spoke English very well, the film's producers used another actor's voice to dub over Bravo's thick accent.
He was also the topic of a documentary directed by Art Swerdloff. This film, titled The Story of a Matador (1962), was a David Wolper production, with Bravo demonstrating what a bullfighter went through as he rose to stardom in the rings. "It is one of my favourite half hour films", Swerdloff commented recently when asked about it. "One of the best I've done."
Away from the bullrings, Bravo already had the making of a big screen movie idol, if only by his often scandalous behaviour. Having numerous affairs with Hollywood's most beautiful and biggest names, his reputation as a romantic was and is still well-known... and more often than not, caused him trouble. To this day, he is remembered for frequently having more than several of any of his girlfriends mixed throughout the crowd at any particular bullfight, unbeknownst to one another.
Quite the character, Bravo was a true showman. Although a top matador, Bravo's fame was more so driven by his persona and his unrelenting bravery. Always pushing the envelope of drama and danger just a little bit further than his contemporaries, Bravo drew tremendous crowds who were mesmerized by his repeatedly placing himself in and then ripping himself out from the jaws of death. As one journalist put it, "The bull was probably scared of Jaime."
"Jaime was gored more than 50 times in his career." Larry Jones, an official of a Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
ring, said when informed of the bullfighter's death, "He was very daring and thought he had to get injured to please the fans."
"Bravo delighted in challenging the bull to the fullest extent. He was popular in Tijuana because he was flashy and colorful. Few bullfighters took more chances than Jaime."
Fans thought that his early training as a trapezista saved his life in the bull ring many times. A native of Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, Jaime seldom fought there because he was so popular in border towns like Tijuana.
Utilizing scandal
Bravo also had the uncanny knack of utilizing scandal to make sure that he received the best headlines. During an August 1968 corridaCorrida
Corrida was a French Thoroughbred racehorse who won races in France, Belgium, Germany and England and is regarded as one of the top fillies of the 20th Century worldwide...
, playing to the Tijuana, non-aficionado tourists, Bravo "requested the animal be spared. This, in turn, was denied, and the torero [Bravo] who refused to kill the bull was escorted to the local jail and fined". Bravo received headlines for his defiance.
Only one month earlier, at a July 1968 corrida, Bravo had used a similar press-grabbing tactic, when he was not performing his best and another matador's superior performance was going to gain the next day's headlines. Before that corrida ended, Bravo made sure to curse at the bullring's judge, just enough to infuriate the judge so that Bravo was immediately arrested and jailed. Cameras captured countless photos of Bravo being cuffed, escorted from the bullring, taken to the jail, and locked in a cell. Bravo accomplished his goal. The next day, the newspapers' headlines boldly declared that Jaime Bravo had been jailed. Much further down the page, and in much smaller type, only a few sentences stated that the other matador had performed brilliantly.
Never a dull moment for the crowds, gossip was further promulgated by such actions as his behavior during a 1957 Tijuana bullfight, during which he tossed flowers to Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
, from the ring. She was at the corrida with actor Gilbert Roland
Gilbert Roland
Gilbert Roland was a Mexican-born American film actor.He was born Luis Antonio Dámaso de Alonso in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico and originally intended to become a bullfighter like his father. When the family moved to the United States, however, he became interested in acting when he was...
.
One of the biggest scandals concerning Bravo and his misadventures related to Arabella Arbenz, daughter of Guatemala's leftwing president Jacobo Arbenz, who was ousted long ago. This woman was a top fashion model, who eventually committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
in front of Bravo, shooting herself on October 5, 1965.
Marriages
Bravo was married three times. His first wife was a French comtesseCount
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
(countess). The marriage was a fiasco and was eventually annulled by the appropriate magistrate, as a favor to Bravo's friend Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
, who gave the signed annulment to Bravo as a belated wedding gift.
In 1957, Bravo next married the actress Ann Robinson
Ann Robinson
Ann Robinson is an American actress and stunt horse rider, perhaps best known for her work in the film, The War of the Worlds and in the 1947 to 1970 radio and television series, Dragnet, in which she starred opposite Jack Webb....
, by whom he had his first two sons, Jaime and Estefan. In 1967, two years after appearing in a 1965 Las Vegas promotional bullfight, he married a Las Vegas showgirl named Monica Lind (from Les Folies Bergère
Tropicana Resort & Casino
Tropicana Las Vegas is located on the Las Vegas Strip, in the township of Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by Tropicana Las Vegas Hotel and Resort Inc. and operated by Alex Yemenidjian's Armenco Holdings. It offers 1,658 rooms and is attached to a casino...
), by whom he had his third and final son, named Aleco Jaime Bravo.
Final years
By the late 1960s, Bravo was a seasoned bullfighter, who still had his looks and, as such, was looking to the film world for a career that might suit him once he retired from the bulls. There were a variety of production companies keen on giving him a go. He had a high enough profile that his name could draw the people, both within the Mexican interior and in the USA. Keep in mind that he had a large following in the border towns, such as TijuanaTijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
, Nogales
Nogales
Nogales is a Spanish word meaning "walnut trees".As a geographical name, it is shared by several places:*Chile**Nogales, Chile*Mexico**Nogales, Chihuahua**Nogales, Durango**Nogales, Sonora**Nogales, Tamaulipas**Nogales, Veracruz*Spain...
, Juarez
Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez , officially known today as Heroica Ciudad Juárez, but abbreviated Juárez and formerly known as El Paso del Norte, is a city and seat of the municipality of Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Juárez's estimated population is 1.5 million people. The city lies on the Rio Grande...
and Matamoros
Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern part of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Brownsville, Texas, in the United States. Matamoros is the second largest and second...
, making his name easily recognizable in states such as California, Arizona, and Texas. But such was not to be.
Death
On February 2, 1970, Bravo and his driver were killed in a car accident near ZacatecasZacatecas
Zacatecas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Zacatecas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and its capital city is Zacatecas....
, México. Eloy Cavazos
Eloy Cavazos
also known as "The Little Giant"Born: August 25, 1949, Ciudad Guadalupe, Nuevo León, México.Resides in Guadalupe, Nuevo León, a suburb of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon México...
, a fellow matador was also in the car but survived.
Sources
- Matador Jaime Bravo
- Pulp Movies
- IMDB
- "Toros" Magazines
- Programs - International Bullfight
- "Matadors of Mexico" (1961), Ann D. Miller
- ToroPedia.com, the English language online encyclopedia of bullfighting.
- Various newspapers from the 1960s
External links
- Jaime Bravo at ToroPedia.com, the English language online encyclopedia of bullfighting.
- Official site
- "Glory vs. Death: At the Corrida in Tijuana" - ESPN, May 25, 2006