José Suárez (19 September 1919 – 6 August 1981) was a Spanish film

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

Career

José Suárez made his debut in a short role in ''Altar Mayor'' (1944), a very conventional film, whose director, Gonzalo Delgrás, had paid attention to him in his work as a

train conductor A conductor (North American English) or guard (Commonwealth English) is a train crew member responsible for operational and safety duties that do not involve actual operation of the train/locomotive. The role is common worldwide under various j ...

in Asturias. He played increasingly important roles in following Delgrás's movies and by 1948 he was already a lead actor. He then became very popular in Spain along the late 40s and early 50s, as one of the main heartthrobs of the

Spanish cinema The art of motion-picture making within Spain or by Spanish filmmakers abroad is collectively known as Spanish Cinema. Only a small portion of box office sales in Spain are generated by domestic films. The different Spanish governments have t ...

, along with his contemporaries

Francisco Rabal Francisco Rabal Valera (8 March 1926 – 29 August 2001), popularly known as Paco Rabal, was a Spanish actor. His career spanned more than 200 film and television roles, between 1942 and 2001. He received numerous accolades both in Spain and abro ...

Jorge Mistral Modesto Llosas Rosell (24 November 1920 – 20 April 1972), known professionally as Jorge Mistral, was a Spanish film actor. During the 1940s, he became a star in films produced by CIFESA. In the 1950s, he lived and worked in Mexico and appeare ...

and

Alfredo Mayo Alfredo Fernández Martínez (17 May 1911 in Barcelona – 19 May 1985 in Palma de Mallorca) better known as Alfredo Mayo was a Spanish actor. Biography After studying medicine, in 1929 Mayo made his debut in the theatre with the company of ...

. Nevertheless, he performed remarkably in three outstanding dramas, namely ''Brigada criminal'' (1950), '' Condenados'' (1953) and ''Así es Madrid'' (1953), in the screen version of Buero Vallejo`s most famous play, ''Historia de una escalera'' (1950), and in the

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

superproduction (for Spanish standards) ''Alba de América'' (''Dawn of America'', 1951), playing King Fernando el Católico. He portrayed

Zorro Zorro ( or , Spanish for "fox") is a fictional character created in 1919 by American Pulp magazine, pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo de Los Ángeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashin ...

in the film ''La montaña sin ley'' (''Lawless mountain'') (1953), making him the first Spanish actor in the role.Movies list
at Zorro.com He also co-starred with the popular Andalusian

gipsy {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

singer and dancer

Lola Flores María Dolores "Lola" Flores Ruiz (; 21 January 1923 – 16 May 1995) was a Spanish actress, (flamenco dancer) and singer. Born in Jerez de la Frontera, Flores became interested in the performing arts at a very young age. Known for her overwhe ...

in ''La danza de los deseos'' (1954), directed by the most prestigious veteran Spanish film-maker,

Florián Rey Antonio Martínez del Castillo known professionally as Florián Rey was a Spanish director, actor, and screenwriter. He directed '' The Cursed Village'', widely recognized as a seminal work in silent Spanish cinema, and helped launch the career ...

. In 1955 he co-starred '' Señora Ama'' with the Mexican and Hollywood star

Dolores del Río María de los Dolores Asúnsolo y López Negrete (3 August 1904 – 11 April 1983), known professionally as Dolores del Río (), was a Mexican actress. With a career spanning more than 50 years, she is regarded as the first major female Latin Am ...

. In 1956, his lead role in the internationally acclaimed

Calle Mayor Calle Mayor may refer to: * Calle Mayor (Madrid), a street in Madrid, Spain * ''Calle Mayor'' (film), a 1956 Spanish film * Calle Mayor Middle School, a middle school in Torrance, California See also * Main Street (disambiguation) Main Street ...

(undoubtedly his best role, his best performance and his best film, although he always preferred ''Condenados'') provided him with the opportunity to work in Italy with well-known film directors as

Luigi Zampa Luigi Zampa (2 January 1905 – 16 August 1991) was an Italian film director. Biography Son of a worker, Zampa studied filmmaking from 1932 to 1937 at the Italian film school in Rome. He directed several Italian neorealism films in the 1940 ...

in The Magistrate, starring with

Claudia Cardinale Claude Joséphine Rose Cardinale (; born 15 April 1938), known as Claudia Cardinale (), is an Italian actress. Born and raised in La Goulette, a neighbourhood of Tunis, Cardinale won the "Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunisia" competition ...

, and

Francesco Rosi Francesco Rosi (; 15 November 1922 – 10 January 2015) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. His film '' The Mattei Affair'' won the Palme d'Or at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival. Rosi's films, especially those of the 1960s and 1970s, of ...

La sfida ''La sfida'' ("the challenge") is a 1958 Italian film by Francesco Rosi. It stars José Suárez as a gang leader who challenges a local Camorra boss for supremacy. It won the Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. The film is based on the real- ...

, starring with Rosanna Schiaffino, while he gradually lost his popularity in his home country, despite still appearing in the 60s in some interesting Spanish movies, such as ''A tiro limpio'' (1963) or ''La boda'' (1964). Despite appearing too in two successful mainstream Italian films: ''Scano Boa'' (1961) and ''Sette uomini d'oro'' (1965), eventually he was almost confined to the Spanish-Italian

sword and sandal Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum (: pepla), is a subgenre of largely Italian-made historical, mythological, or biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budget Holly ...

and spaghetti westerns movies, the most interesting of all them being The Price of Power (1969), also known as ''Il Prezzo del potere'' or ''La Muerte de un Presidente''. And he even played the lead in ''El Llanero'' (1964), one of the first films directed by the (in)famous master of the sexually charged

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

Jesús Franco Jesús Franco Manera (12 May 1930 – 2 April 2013), also commonly known as Jess Franco, was a Spanish filmmaker, composer, and actor, known as a highly prolific director of low-budget exploitation and B-movies. He worked in many different gen ...

. In the 70's he played too for the National Spanish television in a few

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used i ...

, including a Spanish-Italian coproduction on the life of Cristóbal Colón. His last film was ''La trastienda'' (1975), an artistically dispensable but sociologically significant Spanish picture, coincident with the end of Franco era in Spain. Suárez was for many years president of the Spanish Actors Union. He died of

natural causes In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinc ...

on August 6, 1981, in Moreda,

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

Selected filmography

*1944: ''Altar mayor'' - José *1947: ''

Gold and Ivory ''Gold and Ivory'' (Spanish:''Oro y marfil'') is a 1947 Spanish film directed by Gonzalo Delgrás Gonzalo Delgrás (1897–1984) was a Spanish screenwriter and film director.Mira p.123 Selected filmography * ''The Complete Idiot (1939 film), The ...

'' - Manolo *1947: ''Trece onzas de oro'' *1948: ''Un viaje de novios'' *1948: ''La muralla feliz'' - David Aguirre *1950: ''La niña de Luzmela'' *1950: '' Child of the Night'' - Darío *1950: ''Historia de una escalera'' - Fernando *1950: '' Nobody's Wife'' - Juan Bautista Nebot *1950: '' Criminal Brigade'' - Fernando Olmos Sánchez *1951: ''

Dawn of America ''Dawn of America'' (Spanish: ''Alba de América'') is a 1951 Spanish historical adventure film directed by Juan de Orduña and starring António Vilar, María Martín and José Suárez. The film depicts the discovery of the Americas by Christo ...

'' - Rey Fernando el Católico *1952: ''

Spanish Serenade ''Spanish Serenade'' (Spanish: ''Ronda española'') is a 1952 Spanish musical film directed by Ladislao Vajda, and starring José Isbert and Manolo Morán. The film was a success on its release.Bentley p. 87 Plot Many women from the Women's S ...

'' - Pablo *1953: '' Aquel hombre de Tánger'' *1953: ''Bronce y luna'' *1953: '' La montaña sin ley'' - Zorro *1953: '' Such is Madrid'' - Antonio *1953: ''Condenados'' - Juan *1954: '' An Impossible Crime'' - Inspector Alberto Bassano *1954: ''

Eleven Pairs of Boots ''Eleven Pairs of Boots'' (Spanish: ''Once pares de botas'') is a 1954 Spanish comedy sports film directed by Francisco Rovira Beleta and starring José Suárez, Mari Carmen Pardo and Elisa Montés.Bentley p.128 Plot Laura, the daughter of ...

'' - Ignacio Ariza *1954: ''La Danza de los deseos'' - Juan Antonio *1955: '' Señora Ama'' - Feliciano *1955: ''El hombre que veía la muerte'' *1955: ''Tres melodías de amor *1956: ''

Calle mayor Calle Mayor may refer to: * Calle Mayor (Madrid), a street in Madrid, Spain * ''Calle Mayor'' (film), a 1956 Spanish film * Calle Mayor Middle School, a middle school in Torrance, California See also * Main Street (disambiguation) Main Street ...

'' - Juan *1957: '' The Battalion in the Shadows'' - Pepe *1957: ''Le belle dell'aria'' - Mario Toselli *1958: ''

The Italians They Are Crazy ''The Italians They Are Crazy'' (Italian: ''Gli italiani sono matti'') is a 1958 Italian-German comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this g ...

'' - Pieroni *1958: ''

'' - Vito Polara *1959: '' Diego Corrientes'' - Diego Corrientes *1959: '' Il magistrato'' - Prosecutor Andrea Morandi *1960: '' Cartagine in fiamme'' - Hiram *1960: ''Un bruto para Patricia'' - Andrés Fernández *1961: ''Scano Boa'' - Baroncello *1963: '' Slave Girls of Sheba'' - Omar *1963: ''El globo azul'' *1963: ''El llanero'' - José Mendoza *1964: ''A tiro limpio'' - Román Avelino Campos *1964: ''La Boda'' *1964: ''Rueda de sospechosos'' - Comisario Luis Lozano *1965: ''Sette uomini d'oro'' - Bank Manager *1966: '' Agent X-77 Orders to Kill'' - Franck *1966: ''

Texas, Adios ''Texas, Adios'' (Italian: ''Texas, addio'') is a 1966 Italian-Spanish Spaghetti Western film cowritten and directed by Ferdinando Baldi and starring Franco Nero. It is often referenced in connection with '' Django'', also starring Nero, and alth ...

'' - Cisco Delgado *1967: ''El Primer cuartel'' - Capitan Fernando Martín del castillo *1967: ''Mister Dynamit - morgen küßt Euch der Tod'' - General Burch *1968: ''Maria Isabel'' - Ricardo Robles *1969: ''

Bootleggers A bootleg is the upper part (or shaft) of a boot. Bootleg, bootlegging or bootlegger(s) may also refer to: Common meanings * Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages * Moonshine, illicitly made an ...

'' - Engineer *1969: ''

El taxi de los conflictos ''El taxi de los conflictos'' () is a 1969 Spanish musical comedy film starring Juanjo Menéndez and featuring a large roster of popular actors and singers, among whom are Marisol who sings her recent song "Corazón contento" and Carmen Sevilla w ...

'' - Guardia en puerta de comisaría *1969: ''Il Pistolero dell'Ave Maria'' - General Juan Carrasco *1969: '' La muerte de un presidente'' - Vice President Chester A. Arthur *1970: ''Cateto a babor'' - Comandante *1970: ''El amor de María Isabel'' - Ricardo Robles *1970: ''El mejor del mundo'' - Paco Vélez *1971: ''El Cristo del Océano'' - Don Eustaquio *1971: ''Los jóvenes amantes'' *1971: ''La Montaña rebelde'' - Damasio *1972: ''María'' *1972 ''Marianela'' - Dr. Golfín *1972 '' A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die'' - maggiore Charles Ballard *1974 ''Los Caballeros del Botón de Ancla'' - Director de la escuela naval *1975: '' La Trastienda'' - Don Pablo

References

Bibliography

External links

*
José Suárez in CinéArtistes.com (in French)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suarez, Jose 1919 births 1981 deaths People from Oviedo Actors from Asturias Blue Division personnel Spanish male film actors Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (National faction) Male Spaghetti Western actors Spanish male television actors 20th-century Spanish male actors