Vicente Parra Collado (5 February 1931 – 2 March 1997) was a Spanish actor.
Early career
Born in
Oliva
Oliva () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of La Safor in the Valencian Community, Spain. To its east lie of coastline and beaches fronting the Mediterranean Sea, and eight kilometres to the north is Gandia.
The ''Passeig'' (promenade) run ...
(
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...
), in a lower-class family, he began his career at a young age in the theater.
He formed part of a number of theatrical companies.
[Torres, '' ''Diccionario del cine Español'', p. 365] He made his film debut at age eighteen with the film ''Rumbo'' ''(Heading)'' (1949) in a small role. He became famous with the thriller film ''El expreso de Andalucía'' (''The Andalusian express'') (1956) under the direction of
Francisco Rovira Beleta
Francisco Rovira Beleta (Barcelona, 1913 – 23 June 1999) was a twice Academy Award nominee Spanish screenwriter and film director. His film '' Los atracadores'' was entered into the 12th Berlin International Film Festival. His 1963 film '' ...
.
[Mira, ''Spanish Cinema'', p. 236] He then put his work in the theater in the background to concentrate in pursuing a career in films.
He made two films directed by Mauel Mur Otis: ''Fedra'' (1956), an adaptation of the classical play, and the
melodrama ''El batallón de las sombras'' (1957). The same year he starred in ''Rapsodia de sangre'' (1957) a film directed by
Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi
Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi Lasa (22 March 1927 – 28 September 2017) was a Spanish film director and producer.
Isasi-Isasmendi began working in the production firm Emisora Films as an assistant manager, film editor, scriptwriter, lead producer, a ...
about the
Hungarian Revolution of 1956
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...
.
Success
Vicente Parra achieved his biggest success with the film ''¿Dónde vas Alfonso XII?'' (''
Where Are You Going, Alfonso XII?
''Where Are You Going, Alfonso XII?'' ( es, ¿Dónde vas, Alfonso XII?) is a 1959 Spanish historical drama film directed by Luis César Amadori and starring Paquita Rico and Vicente Parra. It portrays the life of Alfonso XII of Spain and Maria de ...
'') (1958), under the direction of
Luis César Amadori
Luis César Amadori (28 May 1902 in Pescara, Abruzzi, Kingdom of Italy, Italy – 5 June 1977 in Buenos Aires) was an Italian - Argentina, Argentine film director and screenwriter and one of the most influential directors in the Cinema of Argen ...
, a film in which he played the
eponymous king while the singer
Paquita Rico played
Queen Mercedes.
[Torres, '' ''Diccionario del cine Español'', p. 366] Two years later, he reprised the role in the film's sequel ''¿Dónde vas, triste de ti?'' ''(Where are you going sad man) ?'' (1960) in which the Mexican actress
Marga López
Catalina Margarita López Ramos (; June 21, 1924 – July 4, 2005), known professionally as Marga López, was an Argentine-born Mexican actress.
Biography
Born Catalina Margarita López Ramos in June 21st, 1924 in San Miguel de Tucumán, Argen ...
, took the role of
Queen María Cristina, Archduchess of Austria. Both films, inspired by the "Empress Sissi" trilogy of films (fictional treatments of the life of
Empress Elisabeth of Austria
Duchess Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie in Bavaria (24 December 1837 – 10 September 1898) was Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary from her marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph I on 24 April 1854 until her assassination in 1898.
Elisabeth was ...
), were highly sentimental and typecast him. His popularity declined afterwards.
In the following years Parra starred in the musical ''Nobleza baturra'' (Aragonese nobility) (1965) and he mixed his work in the theater, where he formed his own company, with edgier parts in films like: ''Varietés'' ''(Variety)'' (1971) under the direction of
Juan Antonio Bardem. He left behind his image as a handsome leading man with two horror films for controversial director
Eloy de la iglesia
Eloy de la Iglesia (1 January 1944 – 23 March 2006) was a Spanish screenwriter and film director.
De la Iglesia was an outspoken gay socialist filmmaker who is relatively unknown outside Spain despite a prolific and successful career in his ...
: ''
La Semana del Asesino'' ''(The Cannibal Man)'' (1972) and ''
Nadie oyó gritar
''No One Heard the Scream'' (Spanish: ''Nadie oyó gritar'') is a 1973 Spanish horror film directed by Eloy de la Iglesia. The film stars two of the director’s favorite performers: Carmen Sevilla (from de la Iglesia's ''The Glass Ceiling'') and ...
'' ''(Nobody hear the Scream)''(1973). In ''La Semana del asesino,'' he played a working class serial killer who put his victims through the grinder at a meat factory.
[Mira, ''Spanish Cinema'', p. 237]
Later career
After these films, Parra's career never took off again. For a couple of years, he lived and worked in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
. Back in Spain, his works were spaced out appearing in brief iconic parts in films like: ''Las Largas vacaciones del 36'' ''( The long vacations of 1936)'' (1976) directed by
Jaime Camino; ''La siesta'' ''(The nap)'' (1976), directed by
Jorge Grau
Jorge Grau (born Jorge Grau Solá, 27 October 1930 – 26 December 2018) was a Spanish director, scriptwriter, playwright and painter. His 1965 film '' Acteón'' was entered into the 4th Moscow International Film Festival. In 1973, he directed ...
; the comedy ''Nosotros que fuimos tan felices'' ''(We who were so happy)'' (1976), directed by Antonio Drove and ''La Guerra de Papá'' (''Dad's war)'' (1977) (an adaptation of Miguel Delibe's novel ''El príncipe destronado'') under the direction of
Antonio Mercero
Antonio Mercero Juldain (7 March 1936 – 12 May 2018) was a Spanish director of the television series ''Verano azul'' and ''Farmacia de guardia''. He is best known as the director of a 1972 surrealist short horror film titled ''La cabina'', wh ...
.
During the first part of the 1980s, Vicente Parra retired for a decade from acting both in films and theater.
He came back to the big screen with secondary roles in two films directed by
José Luis García Sánchez
José Luis García Sánchez (born 22 September 1941) is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer. He has directed 30 films since 1968. He wrote for the 1973 film ''Habla, mudita'', which was entered into the 23rd Berlin Internationa ...
: ''Suspiros de españa y Portugal'' ''(Sights of Spain and Portugal)'' (1995), a black comedy, and ''Tranvía a la Malvarrosa'' ''(Streetcar to the Malvarosa)'' (1997), which was his last film. He died, age 66, of
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 tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...
.
Partial filmography
Notes
References
* Mira, Alberto, ''Spanish Cinema'', The Scarecrow Press, Inc, 2010.
* Torres, Augusto, ''Diccionario del cine Español'', Espasa Calpe, 1994.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parra, Vicente
1931 births
1997 deaths
People from Valencia
Spanish male film actors
Spanish male stage actors
20th-century Spanish male actors