Francisco Rabal

Francisco Rabal Valera, better known as Paco Rabal (Águilas, Murcia, March 8, 1926 - Bordeaux, France, August 29, 2001), was a Spanish actor, screenwriter and director. He worked with directors Luis Buñuel, Carlos Saura, Pedro Almodóvar, William Friedkin, Michelangelo Antonioni, Claude Chabrol, Luchino Visconti, Gillo Pontecorvo, José Luis Sáenz de Heredia, Francesc Rovira-Beleta, among others.

Biography

Born in the small Murcian enclave of Cuesta de Gos, near Águilas, his parents were Benito Rabal and Teresa Valera. When the Spanish Civil War began in 1936, his family moved to Madrid, where he carried out modest jobs to help support the home, while he studied at night at the Nuestra Señora del Recuerdo College . He met Dámaso Alonso, who provided him with books of poetry and encouraged his desire to start an artistic career. His brother Damián would become an actor's representative next to him.

His work as an electrician's assistant at the Chamartín Studios put him in contact with the cinema and he began to appear as an extra in some films; from La rueda de la vida (1942), The crime of Pepe Conde (1946) or La Lola is going to the ports (1947) until pronouncing her first sentences under the orders of Rafael Gil in Reina santa or La fe (1947) and already acquiring prominence in Sor intrepid, God's War, The Kiss of Judas or He died fifteen years ago, all by Gil.

Theater

He had joined the Isabel Garcés theater company, participating in the production of Intimate Diary of Aunt Angélica (1946), by José María Pemán. Gradually he obtained more roles, achieving great success in 1952 with the play The Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller.

Her theatrical career was overshadowed by her film career. In any case, it should be noted that he intervened on several occasions in the Mérida Roman Theater Festival: in 1954 with Oedipus the King, in 1955 with Julio César, in 1956 with Tiestes and in 1960, again with Oedipus, all under the direction of José Tamayo. With the same stage director, she headlined the bill, along with Mary Carrillo, of La vida es sueño (1955), by Calderón de la Barca at the Teatro Español in Madrid. In addition, he achieved important successes such as his interpretation of Henry III of England in Becket (1962), by Jean Anouilh.

In 1947 he met his later wife, the actress Asunción Balaguer, at the theater, with whom he had two children, Benito and Teresa Rabal, who have also dedicated themselves to cinema and entertainment.

He said goodbye to the stage in 1974 with the play Old Times, by Harold Pinter, together with Irene Gutiérrez Caba.

Cinema. International recognition

He received his first awards in 1953 for God's War (Bronze Lion at the Venice Festival and acting award from the Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos) and There is a path to the right , by Rovira-Beleta (Interpretation Award at the San Sebastian Festival). In 1954 she worked with the Hollywood actress Merle Oberon in the film Everything is possible in Granada , by José Luis Sáenz de Heredia.

Rabal with Marga López in The man on the island (1960).

In 1958 he filmed Nazarín, by Luis Buñuel, in Mexico. With Buñuel he lived an authentic friendship, which led him to say: « I read his memories every day as if they were a Bible, he was a great creator, because of his physique he seemed like a hard man; but he was the most tender person I have ever met, he was faithful to his friendship, to his friends, he was very punctual and with a great sense of humor, childish and very severe with his children, he seemed plated to the ancient; from the first day we met we were very good friends and we called each other uncle and nephew until his death » ^{[citation needed ]} . He also acted in his films Viridiana (1961) and Belle de jour (1966) and achieved international fame.

He had a prolific career in international cinema, especially in France and Italy. He worked with European directors such as Michelangelo Antonioni (The Eclipse), Claude Chabrol (María Chantal against Dr. Kha), Valerio Zurlini (The Tartar Desert) or Luchino Visconti (The Witches), as well as the American William Friedkin (Cursed Burden). In 1968 he played Che Guevara in the film of the same name by Paolo Heusch. In Spain he interpreted Camino del Rocío , Tormento and The Long Holidays of 36 , among many others.

In 1974, he left Madrid hastily to organize opposition to the installation of a nuclear power plant in the Marina de Cope (Murcia), together with Mario Gaviria, finally managing to have the project withdrawn.

In 1977, he received a tribute at the San Sebastián International Film Festival with an exhibition curated by Javier Espada, director of the Buñuel Center in Calanda.

His former roles as a tough and energetic heartthrob gave way to charismatic characters, who remained in the collective memory and brought him notable success and popularity. In his maturity he worked on La colmena, by Mario Camus; with Miguel Hermoso in Truhanes and played Azarías in Los santos inocentes, an adaptation by Mario Camus of the literary work by Miguel Delibes that won him the acting prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1984, shared with Alfredo Landa.

He filmed La Storia with Luigi Comencini in 1985 (together with Claudia Cardinale), with José Luis García Sánchez he filmed Divine Words in 1987, and with Pedro Almodóvar Tie Me Up! in 1989.

For television he played Mateo Alemán in Cervantes (1981), Francisco de Goya in Los desastres de la guerra (1983), San Pedro de Alcántara in the miniseries Teresa de Jesús (1985) and the retired bullfighter Juncal in the successful series directed by Jaime de Armiñán in 1988.

On November 12, 1993, he received the gold medal from the Spanish Film Academy and in 1999 he won the Goya Award for Best Actor for his role in Goya in Bordeaux, by Carlos Saura.

In 1995 he was invested Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Murcia.

In 1996 he voiced the dragon Draco in the movie Dragonheart.

He had a marked political commitment throughout his life, being a member of the Communist Party of Spain.

In 1994, the Aguilar publishing house published a book of memoirs entitled Si yo te contarara. The volume That Sweet and Bitter Spain (1999) contrasted the memories of Paco Rabal and Carmen Sevilla in an edition curated by María Antonia Iglesias. In 2004 the book Paco Rabal: Here, a friend was published, written by Juan Ignacio García Garzón, with a prologue by Jaime de Armiñán and an epilogue by his son Benito Rabal.

He died unexpectedly on August 29, 2001, when he was returning to Spain by plane from Montreal, due to respiratory failure that caused the pulmonary emphysema he suffered from.

A few weeks later he was to receive the honorary Donostia Award at the San Sebastián Film Festival. It was his grandson, the also actor Liberto Rabal, who picked it up on his behalf, paying tribute to him in an emotional tribute that brought together his friend Carlos Saura and his castmates Carmen Sevilla, Julia Martínez, Terele Pávez, on the stage of the Kursaal, Ana Belen, Emma Suarez and Maria Barranco.

Rabal in a portrait made of wood in 2001.

As a curiosity, he also made his first steps in the world of dubbing; he began at the beginning of the 50s, in Barcelona. He came to voice actors like Errol Flynn or Humphrey Bogart. He also voiced Sean Connery in the movie Dragonheart.

He was cremated and buried under an almond tree in his hometown. Later, his wife decided, along with her children, to move the funeral urn to the Águilas cemetery. His place of residence in his last years was in Calabardina, in a house on the shores of the promenade called & # 34; Milana Bonita & # 34;.

Filmography

Television

Rabal in the series Cristoforo Colombo (1968).

Awards and nominations

Film Festivals

Cannes International Film Festival

Silver frames

San Sebastian International Film Festival

Medals of the Film Writers Circle

Goya Awards

Union of Actors

Other

• National Film Prize (1984)
• Gold Medal to Merit in Fine Arts (1992)
• Gold Medal of the Academy of Arts and Film Sciences of Spain
• Gold Medal to Merit at Work (1998)
• Star on the Paseo de la Fama de Madrid (2011)