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Francisco Rabal

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Rabal and the second or maternal family name is Valera.
Francisco Rabal
Rabal in El hombre de la isla  [es] (1960)
Born
Francisco Rabal Valera

(1926-03-08)8 March 1926
Águilas, Murcia, Spain
Died29 August 2001(2001-08-29) (aged 75)
Bordeaux, France
Other namesPaco Rabal
Years active1946–2001
Spouse
​
(m. 1950)​
ChildrenTeresa Rabal

Francisco Rabal Valera (8 March 1926 – 29 August 2001), popularly known as Paco Rabal, was a Spanish actor. His career spanned more than 200 film and television roles, between 1942 and 2001. He received numerous accolades both in Spain and abroad, the Cannes Film Festival's Best Actor Award and the Goya Award for Best Actor.

Rabal was best known internationally for his collaborations with director Luis Buñuel, with Ronald Bergan writing "most of his other major roles he carried the heady, perverse whiff of the great surrealist director with him."[1] He worked with many other notable directors, including Carlos Saura, Pedro Almodóvar, William Friedkin, Michelangelo Antonioni, Claude Chabrol, Luchino Visconti, and Gillo Pontecorvo.

One of Spain's most-loved and acclaimed actors during his lifetime,[2] he also was known for his commitment to human rights and other social causes.[3]

Early life

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Rabal was born in Águilas, a town in the south-western part of the province of Murcia. In 1936, after the Spanish Civil War broke out, Rabal and his family left Murcia and moved to Madrid. Young Francisco had to work as a street salesboy and in a chocolate factory. When he was 13 years old, he left school to work as an electrician at film studios Estudios Chamartín. Rabal got some sporadic jobs as an extra. Dámaso Alonso and other people advised him to try his luck with a career in theater.

During the following years, he got some roles in theater companies such as Lope de Vega or María Guerrero. It was there that he met actress Asunción Balaguer; they married in 1951 and remained together for the rest of Rabal's life.[4] Their daughter, Teresa Rabal, is also an actress.

Career

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In 1947, Rabal got some regular jobs in theater. He used his full name, Francisco Rabal, as his stage name. However, the people who knew him always called him Paco Rabal (Paco is the familiar form for Francisco.) "Paco Rabal" became his unofficial stage name.

During the 1940s, Rabal began acting in movies as an extra, but it was not until 1950 that he was first cast in speaking roles, and played romantic leads and rogues. He starred in three films directed by Luis Buñuel - Nazarín (1959), Viridiana (1961) and Belle de jour (1967) - with whom he would develop a lifelong friendship.[5]

He was named best actor by the Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos for El hombre de la isla  [es] in 1962.[6]

Rabal was William Friedkin's first choice to play the antagonist Alain Charnier in his 1971 film The French Connection. However, he could not remember the name of "that Spanish actor", only remembering that his name started with an 'F' and that he worked with Luis Buñuel.[7] Mistakenly, his staff hired another Spanish actor, Fernando Rey. Friedkin later discovered that Rabal did not speak English or French, so he decided to keep Rey. Rabal had previously worked with Rey in Viridiana. Rabal did, however, work with Friedkin in the much less successful but Academy Award-nominated cult classic Sorcerer (1977), a remake of The Wages of Fear (1953).

Throughout his career, Rabal worked in France, Italy and Mexico with directors such as Gillo Pontecorvo, Michelangelo Antonioni, Luchino Visconti, Valerio Zurlini, Jacques Rivette, Alberto Lattuada and Silvano Agosti.

Rabal with Marga López in El hombre de la isla (1960)

It is widely considered that Rabal's best performances came after Francisco Franco's death in 1975. In the 1980s, Rabal starred in Los Santos Inocentes - winning the Award for Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival - in El Disputado Voto del Señor Cayo and also in the TV series Juncal. In 1989, he was a member of the jury at the 39th Berlin International Film Festival.[8] In 1999 he played the part of Francisco Goya in Carlos Saura's Goya en Burdeos, winning a Goya Award for Best Actor.

Rabal's final movie was Dagon, directed by Stuart Gordon. The film, which was released after Rabal's death in 2001, was dedicated to him. The dedication, which appears before the end credits, reads: "Dedicated to Francisco Rabal, a wonderful actor and even better human being."

Death

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Rabal died in 2001 from compensatory dilating emphysema while on an airplane travelling to Bordeaux, returning from having received an Award at the Montreal World Film Festival.[9][10][11] His death happened only a few weeks before he was due to collect the lifetime Donostia Award at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. The award was accepted by his grandson, Liberto Rabal, also an actor.[12]

Legacy

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Francisco Rabal is the only Spanish actor to have received an honoris causa doctoral degree from the University of Murcia. Murcia's Film Library and Cinematheque, Filmoteca Regional Francisco Rabal, created in 2004 as a meeting point for movie lovers, was named after him.

A square and the civic center in the town of Alpedrete are named after Rabal and his wife.[13] In 2024, the city council, governed by the right-wing parties People's Party and Vox, announced plans to rename the venues, due to Rabal and his wife's membership in the Communist Party of Spain.[13] The plan met widespread backlash, and was eventually cancelled.[13]

Selected filmography

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Rabal in the TV series Cristoforo Colombo (1968)
Rabal in a portrait made on wood in 2001

References

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  1. ^ Bergan, Ronald (2001-09-14). "Francisco Rabal". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-01-20.
  2. ^ "Francisco Rabal". The Independent. 2001-09-01. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  3. ^ Bergan, Ronald (2001-09-14). "Obituary: Francisco Rabal". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  4. ^ Pérez Ródenas, Mariano (30 August 2001). "Dramática muerte de Paco Rabal a los 75 año". ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  5. ^ Bergan, Ronald (2001-09-14). "Obituary: Francisco Rabal". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  6. ^ "Spain's Own 'Bests' Include 'Placido'". Variety. April 11, 1962. p. 5.
  7. ^ "William Friedkin on The French Connection - An IDC Under the Influence event". www.dga.org. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
  8. ^ "Berlinale: 1989 Juries". Berlinale.de. Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. 1989. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
  9. ^ "Francisco Rabal, 75, Prominent Spanish Actor". The New York Times. Associated Press. 2001-09-10. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  10. ^ "Paco Rabal; Award-Winning Spanish Actor". Los Angeles Times. 2001-08-31. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  11. ^ "Francisco Rabal". The Independent. 2001-09-01. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  12. ^ Gala Premio Donostia - Paco Rabal - 49 edición 2001, archived from the original on 2021-12-13, retrieved 2019-08-06
  13. ^ a b c Infobae, Por Newsroom (2024-05-13). "Ayuso y Génova piden al alcalde de Alpedrete rectificar con Paco Rabal y Asunción Balaguer". infobae (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2025-01-21. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
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