Francisco Rabal Photo

Francisco Rabal

Acting

0.7 Popularity Mar 08, 1926 (75 years old) Águilas, Murcia, Región de Murcia, Spain

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Francisco Rabal (March 8, 1926 – August 29, 2001), perhaps better known as Paco Rabal, was a Spanish actor born in Águilas, a small town in the province of Murcia, Spain.

In 1936, after the Spanish Civil War broke out. Rabal and his family left Murcia and m...

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Francisco Rabal (March 8, 1926 – August 29, 2001), perhaps better known as Paco Rabal, was a Spanish actor born in Águilas, a small town in the province of Murcia, Spain.

In 1936, after the Spanish Civil War broke out. Rabal and his family left Murcia and moved to Madrid. Young Francisco had to work as a street salesboy and in a chocolate factory. When he was 13 years old, he left school to work as an electrician at Estudios Chamartín.

Rabal got some sporadic jobs as an extra. Dámaso Alonso and other people advised him to try his luck with a career in theater.

During the following years, he got some roles in theater companies such as Lope de Vega or María Guerrero. It was there that he met actress Asunción Balaguer; they married and remained together for the rest of Rabal's life. Their daughter, Teresa Rabal, is also an actor.

In 1947, Rabal got some regular jobs in theater. He used his full name, Francisco Rabal, as stage name. However, the people who knew him always called him Paco Rabal. (Paco is the familiar form for Francisco.) "Paco Rabal" became his unofficial stage name.

During the 1940s, Rabal began acting in movies as an extra, but it was not until 1950 that he was first cast in speaking roles, and played romantic leads and rogues. He starred in three films directed by Luis Buñuel - Nazarín (1959), Viridiana (1961) and Belle de jour (1967).

William Friedkin thought of Rabal for the French villain of his 1971 movie The French Connection. However, he could not remember the name of "that Spanish actor". Mistakenly, his staff hired another Spanish actor, Fernando Rey. Friedkin discovered that Rabal did not speak English or French, so he decided to keep Rey. Rabal has previously worked with Rey in Viridiana. Rabal did, however, work with Friedkin in the much less successful but Academy Award-nominated cult classic Sorcerer (1977), a remake of The Wages of Fear (1953).

Throughout his career, Rabal worked in France, Italy and Mexico with directors such as Gillo Pontecorvo, Michelangelo Antonioni, Luchino Visconti, Valerio Zurlini, Jacques Rivette and Alberto Lattuada.

It is widely considered that Rabal's best performances came after Francisco Franco's death on 1975. In the 1980s, Rabal starred in Los santos inocentes, winning the Award as Best Actor in Cannes Film Festival, in El Disputado Voto del Señor Cayo and also in the TV series Juncal. In 1989, he was a member of the jury at the 39th Berlin International Film Festival. In the 1999 he played the character of Francisco Goya in Carlos Saura Goya en Burdeos, winning a Goya Award as Best Actor.

Francisco Rabal is the only Spanish actor to have received a honoris causa doctoral degree from the University of Murcia.

Rabal's final movie was Dagon, a film which was dedicated to him right before the credits. The dedication read "Dedicated to Francisco Rabal, a wonderful actor and even better human being."

Rabal died in 2001 from compensatory dilating emphysema, while on an airplane travelling to Bordeaux, when he was coming back from receiving an Award at Montreal Film Festival.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Francisco Rabal, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Filmography 201

2002
The Revolution on Two Horses Movie

as Zio Henrique

2002
Zero/infinito Movie

as (voice)

2001
Dagon Movie

as Ezequiel

2001
Just Run! Movie

as Don Vicente

2001
Lázaro de Tormes Movie

as El Ciego

2000
2000
Peixe-Lua Movie

as Tio Nini

2000
Speaking of Buñuel Movie

as Self

1999
Goya in Bordeaux Movie

as Goya

1998
Talk of Angels Movie

as Don Jorge

1998
Divine Movie

as Papá Basilio

1997
La novia de medianoche Movie

as Wenceslao Corredoira

1997
Little Miracles Movie

as Don Francisco

1997
Little Bird Movie

as El Abuelo

1997
Airbag Movie

as Villambrosa

1997
Day and Night Movie

as Cristobal

1996
Oedipus Mayor Movie

as Tiresias

1995

Photos 1

Francisco Rabal Photo

Personal Details

Known For Acting
Gender Male
Birthday March 08, 1926 (75 years old)
Died August 29, 2001
Place of Birth Águilas, Murcia, Región de Murcia, Spain
Also Known As Paco Rabal, Франсиско Рабаль
Years Active 1942 - 2002
Popularity 0.7
Career Stats
201 Total Credits
193 Movie Roles
8 TV Roles
1 Photos