José Luis Cantero Rada (August 20, 1937 – June 19, 2007), known professionally as El Fary, was a Spanish singer and actor.
The youngest of six children, José Luis Cantero was born in Madrid, close to a famous
bullring
A bullring is an arena where bullfighting is performed. Bullrings are often associated with the Iberian Peninsula, but they can also be found through Iberian America and in a few Spanish and Portuguese ex-colonies in Africa. Bullrings are o ...
. As a boy he would play truant from school, preferring to spend time partying with Gypsies imitating his idol, the traditional "copla" singer
Rafael Farina
Rafael Antonio Salazar Motos (born ), commonly known as Rafael Farina (Rafael Salazar for his composing work), was a singer of Copla and Flamenco. His granddaughter is the pop-singer Tamara.
Biography
Farina was born in Martinamor, into a R ...
. It was from Farina that Cantero adopted his
stage name
A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...
of "El Fary". Resolute that his shortness would not stand in the way of success he was determined that his dream of following in his idol's footsteps would one day come true. It was during the
military service
Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription).
Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require a ...
(late 1950s) that he would finally learn to read and write.
Before hitting the big time, El Fary worked hard as a gardener and a
taxi
A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...
driver in order to make the money to record his first songs. As a taxi driver, he claimed to have driven the American actress
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress. She first signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew critics' attention in 1946 with her perform ...
around Madrid.
Once he had recorded and pressed these
song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...
s -
rumour
A rumor (American English), or rumour (British English; see spelling differences; derived from Latin:rumorem - noise), is "a tall tale of explanations of events circulating from person to person and pertaining to an object, event, or issue in p ...
has it - he sold them to the public himself from a stall in the ''
Rastro
El Rastro de Madrid or simply el Rastro is the most popular open air flea market in Madrid (Spain). It is held every Sunday and public holiday during the year and is located along ''Plaza de Cascorro'' and ''Ribera de Curtidores'', between ''Calle ...
'' (Madrid's weekly street market). At this time he also took part in singing contests on the radio and performed at local
fiestas. Only when he was in his early thirties did El Fary start to make money as a singer when he was called to stand in for
Pepe Blanco
Pepe is a pet form of the Spanish name José (Josep). It is also a surname.
*
People
Mononyms
*Pepe (footballer, born 1935), real name José Macia, Brazilian footballer
*Pepe (footballer, born 1983), real name Képler Laveran Lima Ferreira, ...
at a show in
Pozoblanco, Córdoba
Pozoblanco () is a town in the province of Córdoba, southern Spain, in the north-central part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located near the headwaters of the Guadamatillas and of other small sub-tributaries of the Guadiana, in ...
,
Andalusia
Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...
. Later, the legendary
Antonio Molina hired him for a two-month
tour
Tour or Tours may refer to:
Travel
* Tourism, travel for pleasure
* Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service
* Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus
* Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed b ...
.
By the 1970s the copla had fallen from favour with the Spanish record-buying public, but this did not dampen El Fary's
enthusiasm
In modern usage, enthusiasm refers to intense enjoyment, interest, or approval expressed by a person. The term is related to playfulness, inventiveness, optimism and high energy. The word was originally used to refer to a person possessed by Go ...
and by the end of the decade he was recording poppier songs such as
Gypsy rumbas that found a home in the Spanish
hit parade
A hit parade is a ranked list of the most popular recordings at a given point in time, usually determined either by sales or airplay. The term originated in the 1930s; ''Billboard'' magazine published its first music hit parade on January 4, 1936 ...
.
1980s
In 1980, he first appeared on television, in
José María Íñigo
José María Íñigo Gómez (4 June 1942 – 5 May 2018) was a Spanish journalist, radio and television presenter, and stage and screen actor.
Biography
Career
Born in Bilbao, Íñigo began his professional career in his hometown as he was hi ...
's show ''Fiesta''.
Manolo Escobar
Don Manuel García Escobar MML (19 October 1931 – 24 October 2013), better known as Manolo Escobar, was a Spanish singer of Andalusian '' copla'' and other Spanish music. He was also an actor and performed in multiple musicals. His popular ...
was called to say some kind words about the "new" artist. From then on, he was known across Spain. While not appreciated by the music establishment, his cassette tapes would be a hit in roadside gas-station shops. It was in the 1980s that El Fary released what would generally be considered his famous song: ''
El Toro Guapo
EL, El or el may refer to:
Religion
* El (deity), a Semitic word for "God"
People
* EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer
* El DeBarge, music artist
* El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...
''.
In the 1990s El Fary got his break in the world of acting where he starred in the show ''"Menudo es mi padre"'' as a taxi driver - a role tailor-made for him. The show's title was itself a play on words poking fun at the protagonist's minuscule stature.
During this period El Fary was often the subject of speculation due to rumours of his son's
drug addiction
Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use of ...
.
He helped to launch the career of the child singer
Melody
A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...
, a pop hit across the Spanish-speaking world, but after disagreement with her parents, he promoted his own teenage son
Javi Cantero.
Towards the end of the decade his career was given another boost when film director
Santiago Segura
Santiago Segura Silva (born 17 July 1965) is a Spanish filmmaker and actor. He also worked to a lesser extent as a television presenter, voice actor and comic book writer, as well as being a collector of original comic books.
At 12, he began ...
premiered his
comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
film ''
Torrente - The Dumb Arm of the Law'' (1998). The protagonist, José Luis Torrente (played by Segura himself) was a rude,
racist
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
,
misogynist
Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...
,
corrupt
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
policeman who was a fan of El Fary. The film featured a new song recorded especially by El Fary himself called ''Apatrullando la ciudad'' ("Patrolling The City"). Both the song and the film were hits, and spawned three sequels, the first of which - ''
Torrente 2 - Mission in Marbella'' (2001) - became the most successful Spanish film (in Spain) of all time (on its release).
With the release of the third Torrente film in 2005 - ''Torrente 3 - The Protector'' - a unique piece of El Fary-related
spin-off merchandising
Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative way that entices customers to purchase more i ...
was produced: the ''Carrofary'' - a small rubber replica of the singer designed to be hung from a car's rear view mirror. In the fourth film, ''Torrente 4 - Lethal Crisis'' (2011), Torrente is visiting the grave of El Fary, who has died since the last film.
Death
On April 13, 2007, El Fary was diagnosed with
lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...
and had to discontinue his career in singing and acting. On June 19, 2007
notice of death
/ref> the same day his last record was published, El Fary died, aged 69. He was incinerated and resting in the Cementerio de la Almudena
The ''Cementerio de Nuestra Señora de La Almudena'' ( en, Our Lady of Almudena Cemetery), former ''Necrópolis del Este'' (East cemetery) is a cemetery in Madrid, Spain. It is the largest in Madrid and one of the largest in Western Europe. The nu ...
.
Discography
References
External links
Obituary of El Fary in ''The Independent''
Photo of a ''Carrofary''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fary, El
1937 births
2007 deaths
Male actors from Madrid
Spanish male film actors
Deaths from lung cancer in Spain
20th-century Spanish singers
20th-century Spanish male singers
Spanish taxi drivers