José Luis López Vázquez | |
|---|---|
 López Vázquez in 2004 | |
| Born | José Luis López Vázquez de la Torre (1922-03-11)11 March 1922 Madrid, Spain |
| Died | 2 November 2009(2009-11-02) (aged 87) Madrid, Spain |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1939–2007 |
| Spouses | Ana María Ventura (divorced)Flor Aguilar (divorced) |
| Children | José Luis Virginia Cayetana Camino |
José Luis López Vázquez de la TorreMMT (11 March 1922 – 2 November 2009) was a Spanish actor, comedian, costume designer, scenic designer, and assistant director whose career spanned nearly seven decades. He was one of the most prolific and successful actors in Spain in the 20th century, starring in 262 films between 1946 and 2007.[1] Internationally he was best known for his lead role in the surrealist horror telefilmLa cabina (1972).[2]
Born in Madrid of working-class parents, López Vázquez began his career on theatre in 1939 as a costume designer and set decorator before making his breakthrough as an actor. In the mid-1940s he switched over to film, where he continued his work in costume designs while serving as an assistant director. Throughout the 1950s he mostly played bit parts in theSpanish film industry, however, his comedic talent soon allowed him to get bigger roles, cultivating an image as Spain's on-screeneveryman in numerous comedies during theFranco era and beyond. Around the 1960s he also revealed his ability to play dramatic roles.
At one point in his career he became part of a distinctive Spanish art cinema led primarily by directorsLuis García Berlanga,Juan Antonio Bardem,Carlos Saura and screenwriterRafael Azcona. He played important roles in several films by Berlanga (Plácido, 1961,El Verdugo, 1963,La escopeta nacional, 1978,Patrimonio nacional, 1981,Nacional III, 1982) and Saura (Peppermint Frappé, 1967,The Garden of Delights, 1970,Cousin Angelica, 1974), which gained international attention. He won two consecutives Best Actor awards at theChicago International Film Festival forThe Ancines Woods in 1971[3] andMy Dearest Senorita in 1972.[4] He had the opportunity to occasionally collaborate with renowned foreign filmmakers such asMarco Ferreri (El Pisito, 1959,El Cochecito, 1960) andGeorge Cukor (Travels with My Aunt, 1972).[5]
He was the recipient of numerous accolades, including fourCEC Awards, twoFotogramas de Plata, twoSant Jordi Awards, twoNew York Latin ACE Awards, anAntena de Oro, and aTP de Oro. He earned theSpike of Honour [es] at theValladolid International Film Festival in 1989, theActors and Actresses Union Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000, theNational Theatre Award in 2002, theHonorary Goya Award in 2004, and theCEC Honorary Award [es] in 2005. TheGovernment of Spain honoured him with theGold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts in 1985 and the GoldMedal of Merit in Labour in 1997.
José Luis López Vázquez was born inMadrid, Spain, on 11 March 1922.[6] The only son of Margarita Vázquez de la Torre, adressmaker, and Luis López, who worked as an official of theMinistry of Justice. In some biographies he appears as born on 12 March. "With the nerves of the event, my father forgot to register me and he did it the next day" he said. His father also forgot to give the official the name he chose for the baby. And he had to return to his brother José. The offices were already closed and they had to return a day later. He was registered with the nicknames of both.[7] His parents separated when he was very young, causing them to go through difficulties and financial problems. As a teenager he was force to leave his studies and work as anadministrative assistant and typist, a period that he began to overcome due to his ability in drawing and painting.[8]
In 1939, at the age of 17, he became interested in theatre through theYouth Front and entered in theUniversitary Spanish Theatre [es] (TEU) directed byModesto Higueras [es]. There he outlined his vocation as a draughtsman thanks to the painterJosé Caballero, who had been part of the groupLa Barraca led byFederico García Lorca. He originally worked as a scenic designer for the sets of theTheatre of María Guerrero in times ofLuis Escobar Kirkpatrick, as well as an assistant director toPío Ballesteros andEnrique Herreros.[9] The playwright and filmmakerJosé López Rubio had a decisive influence on his artistic side when he hired him as a costume designer for three films:It Happened in Damascus (1943),Eugenia de Montijo (1944) andAlhucemas (1948).[10] Some of the theatrical productions for which he created costume designs in the 1940s and 1950s areDon Juan Tenorio, where he metSalvador Dalí in 1949,The Phantom Lady,The Village of Stepanchikovo,El caballero de Olmedo,La guardia cuidadosa, a drawing ofDon Gil of the Green Breeches, and five sketches for the sets ofLife Is a Dream,Y no subió a la cruz, andThe Dog in the Manger.[11]
In 1946, he made his film debut in Enrique Herreros' crime dramaMaría Fernanda, la Jerezana.[12] A few years later he began a long-time collaboration with directorLuis García Berlanga, giving him a small role in the 1951 comedyThat Happy Couple, co-directed byJuan Antonio Bardem. Shortly after, he made a part in Bardem'sFelices Pascuas [es] (1954),[13] and Berlanga counted on him for two supporting roles inBoyfriend in Sight (1954), playing a nineteenth-century beach flirt, andMiracles of Thursday (1957), as a skeptical priest.[14] He acted in many comedy films in these years, includingLos tramposos (1959), directed byPedro Lazaga, which showed the city of Madrid at the time and some of its most popularscams.[15][16]
López Vázquez was given the chance to be appreciated abroad for the first time by the Italian directorMarco Ferreri, with whom he shot his first starring role inEl Pisito (1959), an anti-bourgeois black comedy based on a 1957 novel by screenwriterRafael Azcona, which is centred on Rodolfo (López Vázquez), a timid, middle-class man who marries a crotchety, dying octogenarian to inherit her apartment and eventually marry his fiancee Petrita (Mary Carrillo).[17] In addition he starred in the short filmSe vende un tranvía [es], asocial critique with ananti-clerical point that was co-written by Berlanga and Azcona.[18] The following year he appeared in Ferreri'sEl Cochecito (1960),[19] withPepe Isbert in the lead role in a sardonic study of geriatric revolt. The film won theFIPRESCI Prize at theVenice Film Festival.[20] All these films were oblique critiques of Franco's totalitarian regime.[21]
.jpg)
In the early 1960s he worked on two Berlanga's savage satires:Plácido (1961), nominated to theAcademy Award asBest Foreign Language Film in 1962,[22] where López Vázquez shined in the role as Gabino Quintanilla, anevent organizer without moral principles.[23] His performance was acclaimed in theSant Jordi Awards as Best Actor.[24] And the classic Spanish filmEl Verdugo (The Executioner, 1963), playing an eccentric tailor who is brother of the main character (Nino Manfredi).[25] He portrayed relevant comic roles such as thegodfather inLa gran familia (1962),[26] and as Fernando Galindo, abank clerk who plans a robbery of his own bank with the help of other employees inJosé María Forqué's comedyAtraco a las tres (Robbery at 3 o'clock, 1962). The character's quote "Fernando Galindo, un admirador, un amigo, un esclavo, un siervo" ("Fernando Galindo, an admirer, a friend, a slave, a servant") would become essential withinSpanish culture.[27] The movie co-starred the Spanish actressGracita Morales, which he formed a popular partnership in such comedies as Pedro Lazaga'sSor Citroën (1967), andMariano Ozores'Operation Mata Hari (1968).[28] Together withPaco Martínez Soria he also stars in Lazaga's 1968 filmEl turismo es un gran invento [es], one of the most representative comedies of the construction boom in the 60s in Spain.[29]
In 1967 he played his first dramatic role inCarlos Saura's psychological thrillerPeppermint Frappé,[30] as a physician becoming obsessively infatuated with his childhood friend's attractive wife (Geraldine Chaplin);[31] he won theCEC Award for Best Actor awarded by theCírculo de Escritores Cinematográficos (Cinema Writers Circle) in 1968.[32] Both comedy and drama, his performances were usually marked by solitary and repressed characters.[33] Then he chained a series of major projects, starting when directorPedro Olea chose him for the lead role in the 1970 horror filmEl Bosque del Lobo (The Ancines Woods),[34] in which he was theepilecticpeddler Benito Freire (based on Spanish serial killerManuel Blanco Romasanta), who, due a childhood trauma, periodically suffered from an irresistible urge to strangle women.[35] That performance earned him the Best Actor honour at theChicago International Film Festival in 1971.[36] This was followed by Berlanga's 1970 black comedyLong Live the Bride and Groom, as a man about to get married when his mother appear dead in the pool shortly before the ceremony,[37] and his second collaboration with Saura inThe Garden of Delights (1970), as a ruthless tycoon, catatonic and paralysed in a wheelchair after a car accident, who holds the key to his family's fortune. His role was described by criticRoger Greenspun ofThe New York Times as "hilarious" and "pathetic" and even "terrifying".[38]
By the 1970s he was a firmly established figure inSpanish cinema, appearing in eleven films in 1972, includingJaime de Armiñán'sAcademy Award for Best Foreign Language Film-nomineeMy Dearest Senorita,[39] which he would win the Best Actor Silver Hugo for a second year in a row at the Chicago Film Festival for his complex role as Adela Castro Molina/Juan, a woman who discovers that "she" is a man,[40][41] andAntonio Mercero'sInternational Emmy Awards-winning television filmLa cabina,[42] apsychological horror story about a man (López Vázquez) trapped in atelephone booth filmed byTelevisión Española (TVE); López Vázquez won theAntena de Oro, theFotogramas de Plata, and the Latin ACE Award for his performance.[43] In this decade he participated in the international film productionsThe Legend of Frenchie King (1971), a western comedy directed byChristian-Jaque and starringClaudia Cardinale andBrigitte Bardot,[44] andGeorge Cukor's American comedyTravels with My Aunt (1972), which he co-starred oppositeDame Maggie Smith as M. Dambreuse,[45] her wealthy former French lover. After the film was completed, Cukor invited him toHollywood, proposing that he learn English to become a star, but López Vázquez declined the offer.[46]
He collaborated again with Olea in the 1973 thrillerNo es bueno que el hombre esté solo, as a widowed man living with a life-size doll whose secret is discovered by a new neighbour (Carmen Sevilla).[47] The same year he starred inManuel Gutiérrez Aragón's dramaHabla, mudita, as Ramiro, alinguist who is fascinated by a young mute shepherdess (Kiti Mánver).[48] Later he performed in Saura'sCousin Angelica (1974), winner of theJury Prize at theCannes Film Festival,[49] in which he is a middle-aged bachelor who finds, on his return toBarcelona after many years away, that the cousin he loved as a child is now married to a fascist. CriticVincent Canby said he was "super" in the part.[50] He also played an oldAntoni Gaudí in a 45-minute uneven film directed by John Alaimo that was unreleased until 2009 calledAntoni Gaudí, An Unfinished Vision [es] (1974).[51][52]
In the next years he continued working with regularity in films and television, notably in Mercero's television seriesEste señor de negro [es] (1975–1976), as Sixto Zabaleta, abench jeweler who represents the most archaic and outdated values of the Spanish society,[53]Pedro Masó'scomedy dramaLa miel [es] (1979), which he starred alongsideJane Birkin as aschoolteacher who is attracted to the young mother of a student (Jorge Sanz),[54] the film based onEduardo Mendoza Garriga's1975 novelThe Truth on the Savolta Affair [fr] (1980), as Domingo 'Pajarito' de Soto, a journalist who investigates the violent death of a worker at the Savolta weapons factory,[55] and Berlanga's trilogyLa escopeta nacional (1978),Patrimonio nacional (1981) andNacional III (1982), performing a marquis of the aristocratic Leguineche family in a satire on the powers of Franco's regime.[56]
Other film appearances in the 1980s includeMario Camus'Golden Bear-winning filmThe Beehive (1982),[57] based on the1950 novel byCamilo José Cela in which he plays an ex-Communist scratching out an existence inFrancoist Spain,[58] Olea's period dramaAkelarre (1984), portraying aninquisitor,[59]The Court of the Pharaoh (José Luis García Sánchez, 1985), as a bumbling police inspector,[58]Mi general [es] (de Armiñán, 1987), for which he won a second Latin ACE Award in 1989,[60] the comedyMoors and Christians (Berlanga, 1987), as a shameless man who drags an entire family into a delirious odyssey in which they come across grotesque characters,[61] theantimilitarist tragicomedyThe Little Spanish Soldier (Antonio Giménez-Rico, 1988),[62] and the historical filmEsquilache (Josefina Molina, 1989), as Antonio Campos, the secretary ofLeopoldo de Gregorio, 1st Marquess of Esquilache (Fernando Fernán Gómez).[63]
.jpg)
In 1989, theValladolid International Film Festival (Seminci) commemorated his career by awarding him theSpike of Honour [es] in its 34th edition.[64]
From the 1990s, López Vázquez slowed down and did mostly supporting work inThe Long Winter (Jaime Camino, 1992),[65]The Fencing Master (Olea, 1992), as the inspector Jenaro Campillo in a film based on the1988 novel of the same name byArturo Pérez-Reverte,[66] the comedyEveryone Off to Jail (Berlanga, 1993), as a priest who pretends to be asocialist,[67] the fantasy thrillerMemorias del ángel caído (David Alonso, Fernando Cámara, 1997),[68] the action comedyTorrente 2: Mission in Marbella (Santiago Segura, 2001), in a cameo appearance as a client ofJosé Luis Torrente,[69]Moscow Gold (Jesús Bonilla, 2003),[70] the Argentine comedy-dramaMoon of Avellaneda (Juan José Campanella, 2004), as the elderly Don Aquiles,[71] andAnd Who Are You? (Mercero, 2007), a drama film aboutAlzheimer's disease.[72] In between, he was part of the cast of such television series asLa forja de un rebelde (Camus, 1990),[73]El Quijote de Miguel de Cervantes (Gutiérrez de Aragón, 1992), starringFernando Rey asDon Quixote,[74] the comedy showLos ladrones van a la oficina (1993–1996),[75] and making a special appearance in the prime time historical seriesCuéntame cómo pasó (2002).[76]
On 30 January 2005, he received theHonorary Goya Award at the19th Goya Awards ceremony for his lifetime achievement, which had the longeststanding ovation of the evening, dedicating his distinction primarily to the public.[77][78]
López Vázquez developed his stage career in the theatres of Madrid. In 1943 he was in the cast ofEl casamiento engañoso, at the Theatre of María Guerrero. Although cinema kept him away from theatre for almost three decades, he returned to it regularly at the end of the 20th century.[79] Among the stage productions in which he starred:Charles Dickens'The Old Curiosity Shop, 1947;Lope de Vega'sLa dama boba, 1951;André Roussin'sBobosse, 1953;Pietro Garinei'sBuonanotte Bettina, 1958;Alexandre Dumas'Kean, 1958;Cartas credenciales, 1960;Alfonso Paso'sLos Palomos, 1964;Murray Schisgal'sLuv, 1967;Peter Shaffer'sEquus, 1976; in the lead role as thepsychiatrist Martin Dysart,[80] Fermín Cabal'sVade Retro!, 1982;Arthur Miller'sDeath of a Salesman, 1985; which won critical praise for his performance asWilly Loman,[81] Santiago Moncada'sCena para dos, 1991, andNeil Simon'sThe Sunshine Boys, 1997.[82] His portrayal asJulius Caesar inGeorge Bernard Shaw's playCaesar and Cleopatra at theInternational Festival of Classical Theatre of Mérida [es] in 2001 received public acclaim.[83] In 2002, theSpanish Ministry of Culture awarded him theNational Theatre Prize "for his extraordinary quality as a tragicomic actor throughout a long artistic career, which is still present today on our stages".[84] His last theatrical performance was in the 2004 playTres hombres y un destino.[85]
In 1951 he was married with the actressAna María Ventura [es], but the couple were unable to have offspring. He later get into an eighteen-year relationship with Katty Magerus although they could not marry due to the lack of divorce. They had two children, José Luis (b. 1962), and Virginia (b. 1965), who died in the United States in 1994. He also had two other daughters with the journalist Flor Aguilar, named Cayetana and Camino.[86] In his latter years he had a relationship with the actressCarmen de la Maza.[87] He amassed a great fortune due to his work in cinema and lived in aduplex of 400 square meters onPaseo de la Castellana of the Spanish capital.[88]
López Vázquez died ofnatural causes in Madrid on 2 November 2009, at the age of 87. After his death, several tributes were paid to him, among themÁlex de la Iglesia, president of theSpanish Film Academy, who said, "One of the greatest actors is gone, one of the legs of the table of great Spanish cinema along withFernando Fernán Gómez andPepe Isbert". The actor and filmmakerSantiago Segura stated that his death represents "the end of an era".[89] His coffin was installed at the Theatre of María Guerrero, headquarters of the national theatre companyCentro Dramático Nacional (CDN), which was attended by figures such as actressesCarmen Sevilla andVerónica Forqué, film directorPedro Almodóvar, themayor of MadridAlberto Ruiz-Gallardón, and thePrince andPrincess of Asturias.[90] He was later cremated in theAlmudena Cemetery in Madrid.[91]
In 2010, his biography was posthumously published under the title¿Para qué te cuento?: biografía autorizada de José Luis López Vázquez, written by Luis Lorente, who claimed that López Vázquez "belongs to a generation of extraordinary actors who have no replacement".[92] In the same year, theCultural Centre José Luis López Vázquez was opened in theSan Blas-Canillejas district in Madrid,[93] and on 6 July,Correos, the Spanish postal service, issued a sheet of stamps in tribute to him as part of its Spanish cinema series.[94]
In 2022 it was released the documentaryJosé Luis López Vázquez: ¡Qué disparate!, directed by Roberto J. Oltra and sponsored by the actor's son, José Luis López Magerus, to commemorate his 100th birth anniversary, which explores the reasons for his success throughout his career.[95][96] On 10 March, asilhouette was placed on the monument ofLa cabina installed in Madrid to remember his performance in the television film.[97]
In 2024, the Cultural Space Serrería Belga (Medialab Matadero) is presenting the exhibitionJosé Luis before López Vázquez, showing the lesser-known facets of the actor. Through approximately one hundred pieces, it shows his work as a draughtsman, costume designer, and set designer, without neglecting his acting career and his more personal side, including little-known pieces from his private life. The exhibition also focuses on his facet as anart collector, which shows for the first time some of the works he collected over the years. These include works byMaruja Mallo (La sorpresa del trigo),Salvador Dalí (Cabeza de Gala),Antoni Tàpies (Jazz),Alberto Sánchez Pérez (Pájaro bebiendo agua),Antonio Saura (Ancestro 5),Fernando Zóbel de Ayala y Montojo (Pequeño esquema para...), Juan Manuel Díaz-Caneja (Naturaleza muerta),Benjamín Palencia (Boceto para La Barraca),Edgar Neville (Quai de la Seine), a drawing byJosé Caballero from 1936 and two drawings byFederico García Lorca from 1935.[98]
| Year | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Won | [99] |
| Year | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Won | [100] |
| Year | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Honorary Goya Award | Won | [101] |
| Year | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Best Actor | The Ancines Woods | Won | [102] |
| 1972 | Best Actor | My Dearest Senorita | Won |
| Year | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Spike of Honour [es] | Won | [103] |
| Year | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Best Supporting Actor | Police Calling 091 | Won | [104] |
| 1962 | Best Supporting Actor | For his works over the year | Won | [105] |
| 1968 | Best Actor | Peppermint Frappé | Won | [106] |
| 1972 | Best Actor | My Dearest Senorita | Won | [107] |
| 2006 | CEC Honorary Award | – | Won | [108] |
| Year | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Best Spanish Film Performer | The Ancines Woods | Won | [109] |
| 1972 | Best Television Performer | La cabina | Won | [110] |
| 2006 | Lifetime Achievement | – | Won | [111] |
| Year | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | Best Male Star | Atraco a las tres | Won | [112] |
| 1971 | Best Male Star | My Dearest Senorita | Won | [113] |
| 1975 | Best Male Star | Zorrita Martinez | Won |
| Year | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Lifetime Achievement | – | Won | [114] |
| Year | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Best Spanish Actor | Plácido | Won | [115] |
| 1972 | Best Performance in a Spanish film | The Garden of Delights The Ancines Woods | Won | [116] |
| Year | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Best National Actor | Este señor de negro | Won | [117] |
| Year | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Best Performance | La cabina | Won | [118] |
| Year | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | TV – Best Actor | La cabina | Won | [118] |
| 1989 | Cinema – Best Supporting Actor | Mi general | Won | [119] |
| Year | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Faro de Plata – Lifetime Achievement | Won | [120] |
| Year | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Prize of the City of Huelva | Won | [121] |
| Year | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Honorary Golden Biznaga | Won | [122] |
Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts (Kingdom of Spain, 19 June 1985)[123]
GoldMedal of Merit in Labour (Kingdom of Spain, 19 December 1997)[124]
