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Nelson Villagra | |
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| Born | 9 August 1937 |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, director, author |
| Years active | 1967-present |
Nelson Villagra (born 9 August 1937) is a Chilean actor, writer and director of stage and screen. He is recognised as one of the most masterful actors in Chilean cinema[1] and is widely known in Chile for his exceptional portrayal of a mentally retarded murderer in Miguel Littín's El Chacal de Nahueltoro (1969). He also collaborated with Raúl Ruiz on Tres tristes tigres[2] (1968), La colonia penal (1970) and Nadie dijo nada (1971).[3]
In 1973, Villagra was exiled from Chile as a result of the military coup which led to the Pinochet dictatorship. After a time in Europe, he proceeded to Cuba and worked with some of the key Latin American directors of the period, such as Humberto Solás (Cantata de Chile) and Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, winning the Best Actor award for his role as 'El Conde' in Gutiérrez Alea's The Last Supper at the 1978 Biarritz Film Festival. In 1979, he played a military torturer in Sergio Castilla's film Prisioneros desaparecidos, a role for which he won the Best Actor award at the San Sebastián Film Festival.
- ^ Garratt Viñes, Ernesto "Nelson Villagra: El señor del cine chileno" El Mercurio, 3 October 2008, Retrieved 9 February 2011
- ^ "Le Cinéma de Raoul Ruiz: Tres tristes tigres". lecinemaderaoulruiz.com. Archived from the original on 21 March 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
- ^ "Le Cinéma de Raoul Ruiz: La Colonia Penal". lecinemaderaoulruiz.com. Archived from the original on 19 May 2010. Retrieved 9 February 2011.