José Asunción Martínez (11 November 1944 – 3 March 2013) better known as José Sancho or Pepe Sancho, was a Spanish actor. Over a period of fifty years he appeared extensively in Spanish television and films. He was perhaps best known internationally for his roles in

Pedro Almodóvar Pedro Almodóvar Caballero (; born 25 September 1949) is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and author. His films are distinguished by Melodrama (film genre), melodrama, irreverent humour, bold colour, glossy décor, quotations from popular c ...

's films '' Live Flesh'' and '' Talk to Her''.

Private life

Sancho was born in

Manises Manises (, ) is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Horta Oest in the Valencian Community, Spain. Located in the province of Valencia, it had 30,693 inhabitants in 2018 (NSI) and is famous for its pottery and being the location of Valencia Airp ...

(

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

), Spain, in 1944. He married and divorced twice the singer María Jiménez (with whom he had a son named Alejandro) and, after his second divorce with Jiménez, he married journalist Reyes Monforte, from 2006 until the death of the actor in 2013. He was a cousin of the Spanish Socialist Party politician Antoni Asunción. Sancho died March 3, 2013, with 68 years old in

after a long illness from a

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

Career

Sancho's first film role was when he was aged just four in ' (1948), directed by

Victor Tourjansky Victor Tourjansky ( 4 March 1891 – 13 August 1976), born Vyacheslav Konstantinovich Turzhansky (), was a Russian actor, screenwriter and film director who emigrated after the Russian Revolution (1917), Russian Revolution of 1917. He worked in F ...

. He became popular thanks to his role as ''The Student'', in

Televisión Española (acronym TVE, branded tve, "Spanish Television") is Spain's national state-owned public television broadcaster and the oldest regular television service in the country. It was also the first regular television service in Equatorial Guinea. T ...

series '' Curro Jiménez'' (1977–1978), directed by Pilar Miró,

Mario Camus Mario Camus García (20 April 1935 – 18 September 2021) was a Spanish film director and screenwriter. He won the Golden Bear at the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival with '' La colmena''. His 1987 film '' The House of Bernarda Alba'' ...

, ,

Rafael Romero Marchent Rafael Romero Marchent (3 May 1926 – 13 February 2020) was a Spanish director, screenwriter and actor. Life and career Born in Madrid, the son of the author Joaquín Romero Marchent Gómez de Avellaneda, he started his career as an actor, mai ...

Francisco Rovira Beleta Francisco Rovira Beleta (1913 in Barcelona – 23 June 1999) was a twice Academy Awards, Academy Award nominee Spanish screenwriter and film director. His film ''The Robbers (film), Los atracadores'' was entered into the 12th Berlin International ...

and others. Almost twenty years after that work, he returned to star in another television series, ' (1995), together with

Beatriz Carvajal Beatriz Pla Navarro (born 24 December 1949) better known as Beatriz Carvajal is a Spanish theatre, television and film actress. Career She wanted to be an actress since she was a child and she took part in some theatre plays (''La zapatera pr ...

and his former partner in ''Curro Jiménez'',

Álvaro de Luna Álvaro de Luna y Fernández de Jarava (between 1388 and 13902 June 1453), was a Castilian statesman, favourite of John II of Castile. He served as Constable of Castile and as Grand Master of the Order of Santiago. He earned great influence in ...

. One year later, he joined up with

Rocío Dúrcal María de los Ángeles de las Heras Ortiz (4 October 1944 – 25 March 2006), better known as Rocío Dúrcal (), was a Spanish singer and actress with a career spanning more than four decades. She performed pop music, bolero, mariachi and romanti ...

in '' Los negocios de mamá'' (1997), also for television. Among his many roles in films is his collaboration with Pedro Almodóvar in ''Talk to Her'' and in ''Live Flesh'' along with

Javier Bardem Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem (born 1 March 1969) is a Spanish actor. In a career spanning over three decades, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, tw ...

, where he won the Goya Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1997. In 2000 he guest-starred as ''Don Rafael Alvarado'' in the syndicated television series '' Queen of Swords'', who is murdered in the first episode, "

Destiny Destiny, sometimes also called fate (), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often used interchangeably, the words ''fate'' and ''destiny'' ...

", causing his daughter Tessa to take up arms as the title character. His involvement in several films and theatrical activity was significant, but his role of ''Don Pablo'', in Televisión Española series ''

Cuéntame cómo pasó ' (), usually shortened to ''Cuéntame'' and also known in English as ''Remember When'', is a Spanish prime-time television historical drama series that originally ran on La 1 (Spanish TV channel), La 1 of Televisión Española for twenty-three ...

'', from 2001 to 2008, brought his greatest popularity and recognition.

Filmography

References

External links

* * 1944 births 2013 deaths People from Horta Oest Spanish male film actors Spanish male television actors Best Supporting Actor Goya Award winners Deaths from lung cancer in Spain 20th-century Spanish male actors 21st-century Spanish male actors Male actors from the Valencian Community {{Spain-actor-stub