Roberto Escalada
Encyclopedia
Roberto Escalada born Aldo Roberto Leggero (4 July 1914 – 5 December 1986 in Buenos Aires
) was a major Argentine
film actor and cinema icon
of the classic era.
Roberto Escalada began his career working on the radio
and it was his voice that caught the attention of producers. On meeting him, film producers pleased by his physical appearance immediately put him in as a member of different movie casts.
It was director Carlos Hugo Christensen
who used Escalada to create a new masculine Latinamerican archetype in "Sapho, story of a passion", a melodramatic, film in which he starred as the lover of the older Mecha Ortiz
and other films partnering Olga Zubarry
.
One of his most acclaimed films of the 1940s was Los Pulpos or The octopuses in English a film also directed by Christensen.
In 1950 Escalada was chosen to play the central role of a Bioy Casares' short novel that in cinema was named "Mr Oribe's crime". Then in 1955 he played a conniving businessman in Ayer fue primavera ("Yesterday it was spring") in which he worked under the directorship of Fernando Ayala
.
However his life changed at the beginning of the '60s when he got married and start working on TV. As a heavy smoker he had some health conerns during the mid to late '60s and he spent the later years of this life in television picking up a number of different roles some of them very small.
He made over 55 film and TV appearances in Argentina
between 1939 and 1980.
His health declined further in the early 1980s and he died on 5 December 1986 of a smoking related heart attack aged 72 in Buenos Aires
.
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
) was a major Argentine
Argentina
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...
film actor and cinema icon
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
of the classic era.
Roberto Escalada began his career working on the radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
and it was his voice that caught the attention of producers. On meeting him, film producers pleased by his physical appearance immediately put him in as a member of different movie casts.
It was director Carlos Hugo Christensen
Carlos Hugo Christensen
Carlos Hugo Christensen was a major Argentine film director, screenwriter and film producer....
who used Escalada to create a new masculine Latinamerican archetype in "Sapho, story of a passion", a melodramatic, film in which he starred as the lover of the older Mecha Ortiz
Mecha Ortiz
Maria Mercedes Varela Nimo Dominguez Castro de Ortiz was a classic Argentine actress who appeared in film between 1937 and 1981. Beginning in 1954 film El Abuelo . Her last appearance on film was in 1981. She died in 1987 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, aged 87.-Family:Her husband, Julián Ortiz, was a...
and other films partnering Olga Zubarry
Olga Zubarry
Olga Adela Zubarriain is a retired Argentine film actress. Born in Parque de los Patricios, she is a fan of Huracan, a famous soccer team in Buenos Aires. She made almost 80 appearances in film between 1943 and 1997 spanning 6 decades of Argentine cinema.She began her career at Lumiton studios in...
.
One of his most acclaimed films of the 1940s was Los Pulpos or The octopuses in English a film also directed by Christensen.
In 1950 Escalada was chosen to play the central role of a Bioy Casares' short novel that in cinema was named "Mr Oribe's crime". Then in 1955 he played a conniving businessman in Ayer fue primavera ("Yesterday it was spring") in which he worked under the directorship of Fernando Ayala
Fernando Ayala
Fernando Ayala was an Argentine film producer, film director, screenwriter and film producer of the classic era...
.
However his life changed at the beginning of the '60s when he got married and start working on TV. As a heavy smoker he had some health conerns during the mid to late '60s and he spent the later years of this life in television picking up a number of different roles some of them very small.
He made over 55 film and TV appearances in Argentina
Argentina
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...
between 1939 and 1980.
His health declined further in the early 1980s and he died on 5 December 1986 of a smoking related heart attack aged 72 in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
.
Filmography
- El diablo metió la pata (1980) dir. Carlos RinaldiCarlos RinaldiCarlos Rinaldi was an Argentine film director, film editor and screenwriter.Rinaldi began as a film editor in 1937 but in 1949 he became a film director and directed some 30 pictures working on films such as Besos perdidos...
. - Hormiga negra (1979) dir. Ricardo Alberto Defilippi.
- Un idilio de estación (1978) dir. Aníbal Uset.
- Los irrompibles (1975) dir. Emilio VieyraEmilio VieyraEmilio Vieyra , sometimes credited as Raúl Zorrilla, was an Argentine film director, actor, screenwriter and film producer, between 1950 and the 1990s. He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina....
. - Clínica con música (1974) dir. Francisco Guerrero.
- El profesor tirabombas (1972) dir. Fernando AyalaFernando AyalaFernando Ayala was an Argentine film producer, film director, screenwriter and film producer of the classic era...
. - Nino (1972) dir. Federico Curiel.
- Con alma y vida (1970) dir. David José KohonDavid José KohonDavid José Kohon was an Argentine film director and screenwriter.He directed and wrote for Argentine films between 1958 and 1982 directing films such as Así o de otra manera , Breve cielo , Con alma y vida and El Agujero en la pared .-Filmography:**Director:*El agujero en la pared...
. - El mundo es de los jóvenes (1970) dir. Julio PorterJulio PorterJulio Porter was an Argentine screenwriter and film director known as one of the most prolific screenwriters and film directors in the history of the Cinema of Argentina....
. - Los debutantes en el amor (1969) dir. Leo FleiderLeo FleiderLeo Fleider was a Polish born Argentine film director and screenwriter, and one of the influential directors in the Cinema of Argentina of the classic era....
. - El profesor hippie (1969) dir. Fernando Ayala.
- Viaje de una noche de verano (1965).
- Esta noche mejor no (1965) dir. Julio SaraceniJulio SaraceniJulio Saraceni was a prolific Argentine film director whose career in the Cinema of Argentina as a movie director spanned six decades....
. - Dos quijotes sobre ruedas (1964) dir. Emilio Vieyra.
- La familia Falcón (1963) dir. Román Viñoly BarretoRomán Viñoly BarretoRomán Viñoly Barreto was a Uruguayan-Argentine film director.-Biography:...
. - Culpable (1960) dir. Hugo del CarrilHugo del CarrilPierre Bruno Hugo Fontana otherwise known as Hugo del Carril was an Argentine film actor, film director and tango singer of the classic era.-Early life:...
. - La sombra de Safo (1957) dir. Julio Porter.
- Pecadora (1956) dir. Enrique CarrerasEnrique CarrerasEnrique Carreras was a Peruvian-born Argentine film director, screenwriter and film producer, and was one of the most prolific film directors in the history of the Cinema of Argentina....
. - De noche también se duerme (1956) dir. Enrique Carreras.
- Ayer fue primavera (1955) dir. Fernando Ayala.
- Vida nocturna (1955) dir. Leo Fleider
- La bestia humana (1954) dir. Daniel TinayreDaniel TinayreDaniel Tinayre was a French born Argentine film director, screenwriter and film producer....
. - Sucedió en Buenos Aires (1954) dir. Enrique Cahen SalaberryEnrique Cahen SalaberryEnrique Cahen Salaberry was a prolific Argentine film director whose career in the Cinema of Argentina as a movie director spanned five decades....
. - El vampiro negro (1953) dir. Román Viñoly Barreto.
- Armiño negro (1953) dir. Carlos Hugo ChristensenCarlos Hugo ChristensenCarlos Hugo Christensen was a major Argentine film director, screenwriter and film producer....
. - No abras nunca esa puerta (1952) dir. Carlos Hugo Christensen.
- Sala de guardiaEmergency Ward (film)Emergency Ward is a 1952 Argentine film directed by Tulio Demicheli. It was entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Aída Alberti* Tito Alonso* Arturo Arcari* Margarita Corona* Renée Dumas* Roberto Escalada* Mario Fortuna* Analía Gadé...
(1952) dir. Tulio Demicheli. - De turno con la muerte (1951) dir. Julio Porter.
- Cartas de amor (1951) dir. Mario C. Lugones.
- Una viuda casi alegre (1950) dir. Román Viñoly Barreto.
- El crimen de Oribe (1950) dir. Leopoldo Torres RíosLeopoldo Torres RíosLeopoldo Torres Ríos was an Argentine film director and screenwriter. His brother Carlos Torres Ríos was a notable cinematographer...
. - Morir en su ley (1949) dir. Manuel RomeroManuel RomeroManuel Romero was an Argentine film director, screenwriter , dramatist and score composer, and one of the influential directors in the Cinema of Argentina of the classic era...
. - Se llamaba Carlos Gardel (1949) dir. León Klimovsky.
- ¿Por qué mintió la cigüeña? (1949) dir. Carlos Hugo Christensen.
- La gran tentación (1948) dir. Ernesto Arancibia.
- La muerte camina en la lluvia (1948) Carlos Hugo Christensen.
- Una atrevida aventurita (1948) dir. Carlos Hugo Christensen.
- Los pulpos (1948) dir. Carlos Hugo Christensen.
- El jugador (1947) dir. León Klimovsky.
- Madame Bovary (1947) dir. Carlos SchlieperCarlos SchlieperCarlos Schlieper was an Argentine film director and screenwriter of the classic era.He directed some 30 films between 1939 and 1957, writing for over 20 of them, films such as Alejandra in 1956....
. - Treinta segundos de amor (1947) dir. Luis Mottura.
- Un beso en la nuca (1946) dir. Luis Mottura.
- Cinco besos (1945) dir. Luis SaslavskyLuis SaslavskyLuis Saslavsky was an Argentine film director, screenwriter and film producer, and one of the influential directors in the Cinema of Argentina of the classic era...
. - El canto del cisne (1945) dir. Carlos Hugo Christensen.
- Veinticuatro horas en la vida de una mujer (1944) dir. Carlos Borcosque.
- Safo, historia de una pasión (1943) dir. Carlos Hugo Christensen.
- Pájaros sin nido (1940) dir. José Agustín Ferreyra.
- El matrero (1939) dir. Orestes Caviglia.
- Doce mujeres (1939) dir. Luis J. Moglia Barth.