Fernando Rey

Fernando Rey
Rey in 1974
Born
Fernando Casado Arambillet

(1917-09-20)20 September 1917
Died9 March 1994(1994-03-09) (aged 76)
Madrid, Spain
OccupationActor
Years active1935–1994
Spouse
Mabel Karr
(m. 1960)
Children2
AwardsCannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor
1977 Elisa, vida mía

Fernando Casado Arambillet (20 September 1917 – 9 March 1994), best known as Fernando Rey, was a Spanish film, theatre, and television actor, who worked in both Europe and the United States. A suave, international actor best known for his roles in the films of surrealist director Luis Buñuel (Viridiana, 1961; Tristana, 1970; Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, 1972; That Obscure Object of Desire, 1977) and as the drug lord Alain Charnier in The French Connection (1971) and French Connection II (1975), he appeared in more than 150 films over half a century.

The debonair Rey was described by French Connection producer Philip D'Antoni as "the last of the Continental guys".[clarification needed] He achieved his greatest fame after he turned 50: "Perhaps it is a pity that my success came so late in life", he told the Los Angeles Times. "It might have been better to have been successful while young, like El Cordobés in the bullring. Then your life is all before you to enjoy it."[1]

  1. ^ Olive, Myrna (20 March 1994). "Fernando Rey, 76; Debonair Film Star". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 17 December 2015.