Alejandro Rey (February 8, 1930 – May 21, 1987) was an Argentine-American actor and television director.
Career
Early work
Rey was born in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
and studied acting under Hedwig Schlichter and Milagros de la Vega. He became known as an actor in Argentine movies. In 1957, he participated in the film ''
El Diablo de vacaciones
''El Diablo de vacaciones'' is a 1957 Argentine
Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, l ...
'', directed by
Ferruccio Cerio
Ferruccio Cerio (25 September 1904 – 23 April 1963) was an Italian film writer and director.
Filmography as a director
*''Il cavaliere senza nome'' (1941)
*''Villa da vendere'' (1941)
*''L'ultimo addio'' (1942) ( ''The Last Good-Bye'')
*'' The ...
, with Nelly Panizza and Ana María Cassan, embarking on the ship ''Yapeyu'' to travel around the world, but filming did not conclude. In 1960, he began working with
Ana Casares forming the main couple of the television program ''María Trastorno y yo'', but within three months, production had to be interrupted, after he was hired in the United States for a small role in ''
Battle at Bloody Beach
''Battle at Bloody Beach'', (aka ''Battle on the Beach'' in the UK and Australia), is a 1961 drama directed by Herbert Coleman and starring Audie Murphy who had previously worked together in ''Posse from Hell''. The film also features Gary Cros ...
''.
1960 to 1986
Rey was most famous for his roles in movies such as ''
Fun in Acapulco
''Fun in Acapulco'' is a 1963 American musical comedy film starring Elvis Presley and Ursula Andress.
The film featured the Top 10 ''Billboard'' hit "Bossa Nova Baby" and reached No. 1 on the national weekly box office charts a week after the ass ...
'' with
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
(1963), where his time on screen corresponds to that of a starring role. On television, he had memorable supporting and leading roles in two episodes of ''
Thriller'' titled "Guillotine" (1961) and "La Strega" (1962). In 1961, he made a guest appearance on the courtroom series ''
Perry Mason
Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a cli ...
'' as murder victim and title character Vincent Danielli in "The Case of the Injured Innocent".
Rey's best known role was that of casino owner and playboy Carlos Ramirez on the television series ''
The Flying Nun
''The Flying Nun'' is an American sitcom about a community of nuns which included one who could fly when the wind caught her cornette. It was produced by Screen Gems for ABC based on the 1965 book ''The Fifteenth Pelican,'' written by Tere Rio ...
'' (1967–70), which became an international success. He played a South American patriot in the ''
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
''Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'' is a 1961 American science fiction disaster film, produced and directed by Irwin Allen, and starring Walter Pidgeon and Robert Sterling. The supporting cast includes Peter Lorre, Joan Fontaine, Barbara Eden, M ...
'' episode "The Mist of Silence". He portrayed a Spanish sergeant on a 1966 episode of ''
Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the we ...
''. He also appeared in a season one episode of ''
The Fugitive'' titled "Smoke Screen".
He appeared in an episode of ''
Route 66
U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The h ...
'', as a
jai alai
Jai alai (: ) is a sport involving bouncing a ball off a walled-in space by accelerating it to high speeds with a hand-held wicker ''cesta''. It is a variation of Basque pelota. The term ''jai alai'', coined by Serafin Baroja in 1875, is also oft ...
player in Florida and brother to one of Fidel Castro's junior officers, hoping to be reunited with his brother.
Rey's only credited lead in a film was in ''The Stepmother'' (1972). He remained busy on television, playing the role of Karl Duval on ''
Days of Our Lives
''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that streams on the streaming service Peacock. The soap, which aired on the American television net ...
'' from 1976 to 1977. He was also a frequent panelist on the game shows ''
Tattletales
''Tattletales'' is an American game show produced by Goodson-Todman Productions in association with Fremantle. The program had two runs on the CBS daytime schedule between February 1974 and June 1984. It was hosted by Bert Convy, with several a ...
'', ''
He Said, She Said'', ''
Hollywood Squares
''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show piloted on NBC in 1965 and the regular series debuted in 1966 on the ...
'' and ''
Match Game
''Match Game'' is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity panelist ...
''. He appeared as part of an ensemble cast in
William Peter Blatty
William Peter Blatty (January 7, 1928 – January 12, 2017) was an American writer, director and producer. He is best known for his 1971 novel, ''The Exorcist'', and for his 1974 screenplay for the film adaptation of the same name. Blatty won ...
's film ''
The Ninth Configuration
''The Ninth Configuration'' (also known as ''Twinkle, Twinkle, "Killer" Kane'') is a 1980 American psychological drama film written, produced, and directed by William Peter Blatty, in his directorial debut. The second installment in Blatty's "Fai ...
'' (1980). In 1986, he played Captain Luis Rueda on ''
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
''. He also directed for television, with credits on ''
Villa Allegre'', ''
The Facts of Life'' and ''
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'' is an American satirical soap opera that aired in daily weeknight syndication from January 1976 to July 1977. The series follows the titular Mary Hartman, an Ohio housewife attempting to cope with various bizarre ...
''.
Personal
Rey emigrated to the United States in 1960, and became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1967 while appearing in ''The Flying Nun''. On an episode of ''Tattletales'', he said that his first marriage lasted "for 7 days". He married Joyce Bowman on May 24, 1969, in Los Angeles. She was the adopted daughter of attorney and long-time president of the Santa Ana School District Frank Bowman and his wife Dorothy. They had one son, Brandon.
Death
Rey died from lung cancer on May 21, 1987, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center at age 57. He is buried at the
Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.
Filmography
Movies
Television
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rey, Alejandro
1930 births
1987 deaths
American male soap opera actors
Argentine emigrants to the United States
Argentine male television actors
Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City
Deaths from lung cancer in California
Male actors from Buenos Aires
20th-century American male actors
Fellows of the American Physical Society