José Sazatornil Buendía (13 August 1925 – 23 July 2015) was a Spanish actor who appeared in numerous films since making his debut in 1946.

Biography

He was born in Barcelona on 13 August 1925. He was the son of the owner of a small shop in the city and studied in his native city, specifically at the Brothers of the Christian Doctrine School. Actor of great popularity, his career began in the theatre when he was thirteen years old. For seven years, according to his own words, was playing every Sunday a different work for months, and participated, in this way, in 280 comedies in seven years. Along these years, he combined his work in the theatres with his career as dependent on the family business. In 1946 debuted at the Victoria Theatre in Barcelona, later he entered the theatrical Company of Paco Martínez Soria. He debuted in cinema by the hand of Javier Setó in a Spanish fantasy film in 1953, since then he participated in more than one hundred and ten films including ''

La escopeta nacional ''La escopeta nacional'' (in English, ''The National Shotgun'') is a 1978 Spanish comedy film directed by Luis García Berlanga. The first installment in a critically and commercially successful trilogy, the picture is an indictment of the legac ...

'' directed by

Luis García Berlanga Luis García-Berlanga Martí Medal of Merit in Labour, MMT (12 June 1921 – 13 November 2010) was a Spanish film director and screenwriter. Acclaimed as a pioneer of modern Spanish cinema, his films are marked by social satire and acerbic criti ...

, and '' Amanece, que no es poco'' directed by

José Luis Cuerda José Luis Cuerda Martínez (18 February 19474 February 2020) was a Spanish filmmaker. He is nationally recognised and considered to be amongst the greatest and most influential Spanish directors of all time, having made such critically successfu ...

. In 1957, José Sazatornil founded his own Theatre Company. In 1974 he starred in his own television series: ''Los Maniáticos'', by Fernando García de la Vega, in TVE. In 1989 he received the

Goya Award for Best Supporting Actor The Goya Award for Best Supporting Actor () is an award presented annually by the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain. It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered an outstanding Supporting character, supporting performance ...

for his role in the movie ''

Espérame en el cielo ''Wait for Me in Heaven'' () is a 1988 Spanish comedy film directed by Antonio Mercero. Plot Paulino Alonso is an orthopedist who bears a strong resemblance to Spanish caudillo Francisco Franco and is kidnapped one day to be used as a double du ...

'' by

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'', ...

. During his long theatrical, filmic and television career he received numerous prizes and awards, and he became a popular and loved comedian actor. In November 2013 was announced that he was suffering from Alzheimer's. He died of natural causes in Madrid on 23 July 2015, at the age of 89. One of his most remembered roles was his unforgettable interpretation of ''Don Mendo in the play'' \"La revenge on Don Mendo\", traditionally represented by the first figures on the Spanish national theatre, such as

Fernando Fernán Gómez Fernando Fernández Gómez (28 August 1921 – 21 November 2007), better known as Fernando Fernán Gómez, was a Spanish actor, screenwriter, film director, theater director, novelist, and playwright. Prolific and outstanding in all these fiel ...

and Manolo Gómez Bur.

Selected filmography

* '' The Louts'' (1954) * '' The Sailor with Golden Fists'' (1968) * '' Blood in the Bullring '' (1969) * ''

The Rebellious Novice ''The Rebellious Novice'' () is a 1972 Spanish-Mexican musical film directed by Luis Lucia and starring Rocío Dúrcal, Guillermo Murray and Isabel Garcés.Mira p.192 It is a musical version of the 1889 novel ''Sister San Sulpicio (novel), Sister S ...

'' (1971) * '' English Striptease'' (1975) * '' ...And Give Us Our Daily Sex'' (1979) * '' Wait for Me in Heaven'' (1988) * '' Amanece, que no es poco'' (1989)

References

External links

* 1925 births 2015 deaths Male actors from Barcelona Spanish male film actors Best Supporting Actor Goya Award winners People with Alzheimer's disease {{Film-actor-stub