Claude Sydney Brook Marnat (28 August 1927 – 18 October 1995), known as Claudio Brook, was a Mexican actor. Active in film, stage, and television over a career spanning nearly 40-years, he was one of the stars of the

Golden Age of Mexican Cinema The Golden Age of Mexican Cinema (Spanish: la Época de Oro del Cine Mexicano), spanning the 1930s to 1950s, was a prolific era during which Mexico emerged as the leading film producer in Latin America. Filmmakers during this period tackled themes ...

, and was a noted collaborator of director

Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish and Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians and directors to be one of the greatest and ...

. For his work in motion pictures, Brook received two

Ariel Awards The Ariel Award () is an award that recognizes the best of Mexican cinema. Given annually, since 1946, by the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences (AMACC), the award recognizes artistical and technical excellence in the Mexic ...

, and was inducted into the Paseo de las Luminarias.

Early life

Brook was born Claude Sydney Brook Marnat in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, to a British father and a Mexican mother of French Basque descent. Raised fluent in Spanish, English, and French, he worked in the British embassy as a clerk while playing semi-pro

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

for Atlante F.C.

Career

Making him film debut in 1955, Brook appeared in over 100 film and television productions. He also worked in the theatre, playing the lead role in the Mexican premiere of ''

Man of La Mancha ''Man of La Mancha'' is a 1965 musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, music by Mitch Leigh, and lyrics by Joe Darion. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay '' I, Don Quixote'', which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervan ...

'' in

in 1969 One of his most fruitful collaborations was with director

, he appeared in five of the directors films over the course of nine years - '' The Young One'' (1960), ''

Viridiana ''Viridiana'' () is a 1961 Spanish-Mexican surrealist comedy-drama film directed by Luis Buñuel and produced by Gustavo Alatriste. It is loosely based on the 1895 novel ''Halma'' by Benito Pérez Galdós. The film was the co-winner of the Pa ...

'' (1961), ''

The Exterminating Angel ''The Exterminating Angel'' () is a 1962 Mexican surrealism, surrealist black comedy film written and directed by Luis Buñuel. Starring Silvia Pinal and produced by Pinal's then-husband Gustavo Alatriste, the film tells the story of a group of ...

'' (1962) ''

Simon of the Desert Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

'' (1965), and '' The Milky Way'' (1969). He won two

- Best Actor for ''Memoriales perdidos'' (1985) and Best Supporting Actor for ''Esperanza'' (1988). Brook also appeared in several international productions; notably as a British RAF pilot in French director

Gérard Oury Gérard Oury (; born Max-Gérard Houry Tannenbaum; 29 April 1919 – 20 July 2006) was a French film director, actor and writer. Life and career Max-Gérard Houry-Tannenbaum was the only son of Serge Tannenbaum, a violinist of Russian-Jewish or ...

's war comedy ''

La Grande Vadrouille ''La Grande Vadrouille'' (; ), originally released in the United Kingdom as ''Don't Look Now... We're Being Shot At!'', is a 1966 French-British comedy film directed by Gérard Oury about French civilians who, in 1942, help the crew of a Royal Ai ...

'' (1966), secret agent Francis Coplan in '' Coplan Saves His Skin'' (1968), a banker in the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

film ''

Licence to Kill ''Licence to Kill'' is a 1989 spy film, the sixteenth in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the second and final film to star Timothy Dalton as the MI6 agent James Bond (literary character), J ...

'' (1989), and Barone in

Tony Scott Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was a British film director and producer. He made his theatrical film debut with ''The Hunger (1983 film), The Hunger'' (1983) and went on to direct highly successful action and t ...

's ''

Revenge Revenge is defined as committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Vengeful forms of justice, such as primitive justice or retributive justice, are often differentiated from more fo ...

'' (1990). His distinctive voice and precise elocution found him plenty of voiceover work throughout his career, including

dubbing Dubbing (also known as re-recording and mixing) is a post-production process used in filmmaking and the video production process where supplementary recordings (known as doubles) are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production audio to cr ...

and narration. He was the official Spanish-language spokesperson of

Chrysler Motors FCA US, LLC, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of ...

from 1984 to 1992. He also recorded bumpers and sign-ons for Chilean radio. One of his final roles was as the villain Dieter de la Guardia in

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born 9 October 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist. His work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales, Gothic fiction, gothicism and horror fiction, horror often blending the genres ...

's directorial debut ''Cronos'' (1992).

Personal life

Brook was married three times, to Spanish-born Mercedes Pascual; to fellow voice actor Eugenia Avendaño; and finally to Alicia Bonet. He had four children, including actress Simone Brook (born 1969). His daughter Claudia died of cancer in 1997, and his son Gabriel died in a car accident in 2004.

Death

Brook died of

stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the Gastric mucosa, lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a numb ...

on 18 October 1995, at the age of 68. He posthumously starred on the telenovela '' Retrato de familia'', which premiered a week after his death.

Filmography

References

External links

* 1927 births 1995 deaths Male actors from Mexico City Ariel Award winners Best Actor Ariel Award winners Mexican people of English descent Mexican people of Basque descent Mexican people of French descent Deaths from stomach cancer Mexican male film actors Mexican male stage actors Mexican male telenovela actors Mexican male television actors Mexican voice actors 20th-century Mexican male actors {{Mexico-actor-stub