Jose Luis Lopez Vazquez Passes Away

Jose Luis Lopez Vazquez, one of the most iconic actors in Spanish cinema, passed away at midday today in his Madrid home. He was 87 years-old and worked in more than 200 films. Brought up amidst the Cine Dore, where the Filmoteca Española is based, young Jose Luis, who lived in the Puerta de Atocha area with his mother, a humble dressmaker, his grandmother and his maternal uncle (his father having abandoned him when he was a small child), always wanted to dedicate himself to the film world – not “as an actor,” he said, as he never had the “physique” to act. With these beginnings, Jose Luis worked as an assistant director, decorator and costume designer until, alter appearing as an extra in some theatre play, he had his debut on the stage of the Maria Guerrero Theatre, along with Conchita Montes and Alberto Closas. Then came Berlanga, a director who was specifically interested in this “insignificant” physique, choosing him for some of the most memorable film titles of his career, such as Placido , The Executioner , The National Shotgun , National Heritage , National III ... Meanwhile, among those, he also starred in Marco Ferreri’s El Pisito [The Little Apartment ] and El Cochecito , Pedro Maso’s Atraco a las tres, the unforgettable godfather in La Gran Familia [The Big Family ], and the anxiety-ridden man trapped in a phone booth in the short made-for-TV film La cabina by Antonio Mercero. And, above all, the role of his life and also his favourite – that of Adela Castro in My Dearest Señorita by Jaime de Armiñan.

Lopez Vazquez received numerous awards throughout his film career, and long before the Bardems and Cruzes, he went to Hollywood to work under George Cukor (Travels with my Aunt ). In 2005, he was given the Goya de Honor for lifetime achievement, and although he never stopped working (his last works in cinema were Luna de Avellaneda [Moon of Avellenada ] in 2004 and ¿Y tu quien eres? [Do I Know You ] in 2007), in his later years, he complained about how actors of his size in Spain were being completely forgotten.

Jose Luis Lopez Vazquez was one of the great actors on Spanish stage and screen. The funeral chapel for him opens tomorrow for three days in the Maria Guerrero Theatre, which was also the location for many of his debut stage performances. This actor could always coax a smile out of his audiences, although this last time will be a rather melancholy one.