Francisco Rabal

“An intelligent and good man,” was how Asunción Balaguer , his wife of 50 years, saw him. The strong, virile actor with a hoarse voice and haughty gestures was returning from receiving a tribute at the Montreal Film Festival. On the plane, his Pulmonary emphysema brought him to a critical state and forced him to crash-land in Bordeaux, where his breath was extinguished forever.

Paco Rabal was born in Águilas (Murcia) in 1926, and at the age of six he emigrated to Madrid. After the Civil War, he, his brother and his father made a living selling merchandise on the streets of the capital. Around that time he began working as an electrician’s apprentice at the Chamartín Film Studios, and meanwhile he attended night classes at the Jesuits.

But the acting bug was already gnawing at his head. After acting as an extra in some productions, he followed the advice of the poet Dámaso Alonso and decided to interpret. In 1942 he debuted without specific training in the theater with “La rueda de la vida” and little by little he got small roles at the Infanta Isabel and María Guerrero Theaters. There he meets José Tamayo, who hires him as an actor. His consecration on stage came in 1952 with “The death of a salesman.” His name is already known. He then obtains other successes in works such as “Oedipus”, “Life is a dream” or “Caligula”. However, despite his theatrical cachet, the cinema was called to be his means of expression.

In 1948, he participated in his first film, Al Hoceima , and gradually the theater faded into the background and his life focused on the cinema. A handful of films give him international fame: God’s War (Silver Lion at the Venice Festival, 1953), There is a path to the right (Acting Award at the San Sebastian Festival, 1953), Everything is possible in Grenada (1954), etc. In 1958 he shot Nazarín in Mexico , a film by Luis Buñuel that definitely praised him. His star will never go out. Over time his work is related to other prestigious filmmakers (Bardem, Saura, Rivette, Visconti, Camus) and he will achieve some memorable performances inViridiana , La Colmena , Los santos inocentes (Cannes Award for Best Performance and National Cinematography Award) and Goya in Bordeaux , where she won the Goya for Best Performance.

Francisco Rabal’s entire life, a convinced man of the left, was linked to the actress María Asunción Balaguer, whom he married in 1950 and with whom he had two children. She does not hesitate to affirm with conviction: “I did well to give up everything for him: it was worth it”.