Abraham Stavchansky Altschuler (1 January 1933 – 5 March 2019), known as Abraham Stavans, was a Mexican actor and

theater director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

. He was known for his work in film,

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar drama genres around the world include '' teleserye'' ...

s, and other

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

, including the Mexican sitcom, ''

El Chavo del Ocho ''El Chavo'' (English: ''The Kid''); — also known as ''El Chavo del Ocho'' (English: ''The Kid from number Eight'') during its earliest episodes —, is a Mexico, Mexican television sitcom created by Roberto Gómez Bolaños, produced by Tele ...

''. Stavans appeared in more than thirty telenovelas and forty-five plays and theater productions during his career.

Biography

Stavans was born Abraham Stavchansky Altschuler in 1933 in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

to Jewish immigrants from the

Pale of Settlement The Pale of Settlement (russian: Черта́ осе́длости, '; yi, דער תּחום-המושבֿ, '; he, תְּחוּם הַמּוֹשָב, ') was a western region of the Russian Empire with varying borders that existed from 1791 to 19 ...

. After early schooling, he began studying theater in 1949 at the Instituto Andrés Soler of the

National Association of Actors The National Association of Actors ( es, Asociación Nacional de Actores, ANDA) is the Mexican actors guild. It is a member of the Bloque Latinoamericano de Actores (BLADA, the Latin American Actors' Block) that includes all of the actors' unions ...

(ANDA). As a student, he studied under the noted theater directors, José de Jesús Aceves and

Seki Sano Seki Sano (Japanese: 佐野碩) (January 14, 1905, Tientsin – September 29, 1966, Mexico City) was a Japanese actor, stage director and choreographer. He contributed to the development of the theatre in Japan and later in Mexico, where he was kn ...

. Stavans made his acting debut, at the age of 20, in the Spanish-language stage productions of ''"Las cinco preciosidades francesas"'' and ''"Prueba de fuego"'' by American playwright

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), ''Death of a Salesman'' ( ...

. His professional work as a

began in 1981 with the production of "Frío almacenaje" (''Cold Storage''). He compiled more than forty-five stage credits as an actor and theater director during his career. In addition to his work in theater and television, Stavans appeared in several Mexican and international films. His notable roles included ''

Once Upon a Scoundrel ''Once Upon a Scoundrel'' is a 1974 American-Mexican comedy film directed by George Schaefer and starring Zero Mostel, Katy Jurado and A Martinez.Roberts p.511 Plot Cast * Zero Mostel as Carlos del Refugio * Katy Jurado as Aunt Delfina * A ...

'' (1973), a

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

film, ''

Licence to Kill ''Licence to Kill'' is a 1989 spy film, the sixteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the second and final film to star Timothy Dalton as the MI6 agent James Bond. It sees Bond suspended from MI6 as he pursues t ...

'' (1989); ''

Original Sin Original sin is the Christian doctrine that holds that humans, through the fact of birth, inherit a tainted nature in need of regeneration and a proclivity to sinful conduct. The biblical basis for the belief is generally found in Genesis 3 (t ...

'' (2001), in which he played opposite

Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie (; born Angelina Jolie Voight; June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, humanitarian and former Special Envoy to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award ...

and

Antonio Banderas José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor and singer. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Antonio Ba ...

; ' (2007), and ''The Story of Pancho Villa''. Stavans also taught theater with his wife, Ofelia, including a course called "Psicoteatro para crecimiento personal." Abraham Stavans died on March 5, 2019, at the age of 86. He was survived by his three children:

Ilan Stavans Ilan Stavans (born Ilan Stavchansky on April 7, 1961) is a Mexican-American author and academic. He writes and speaks on American, Hispanic, and Jewish cultures. He is the author of ''Quixote'' (2015) and a contributor to the ''Norton Anthology ...

, an essayist and professor at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in the United States, Darien, and Liora Stavchansky.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stavans, Abraham 1933 births 2019 deaths Mexican male film actors Mexican male television actors Mexican male telenovela actors Jewish actors Mexican Jews Mexican people of Russian-Jewish descent Male actors from Mexico City