Celebrity Biographies
Jose Luis Coll
“I have written a tree, I have read a book and I have planted a son.” This is how José Luis Coll summed up his own life and the truth is that the little phrase gives an idea of the surreal humor that he cultivated, and that he was an ingenious humorist. In the 1960s he became a social phenomenon, after associating with Luis Sánchez Pollack, with whom he formed the humorous duo Tip y Coll. Together they were all the rage in Spain at the time with their absurd humor close to that of authors like Miguel Mihura. The phrases that were popularized at the time are still sometimes heard, such as ‘give me your hand, Pepe Lui’ and above all ‘next week, we’ll talk about the government’.
Born in Cuenca on May 23, 1931, José Luis Coll García lost his father when he was only one year old, while his mother, who had supported the Republican cause during the Civil War, left Spain, he went into exile in Argentina and left little ‘Pepe Lui’ in the care of his grandparents. He studied piano for five years, and after finishing high school, he went to work at the Abastos office in Cuenca. He began to study law, but never finished the degree.
In the mid-50s, José Luis Coll moved to Madrid, where he became a close friend of the ‘ultraísta’ journalist and poet César González Ruano. He hired him as a secretary, and introduced him to comedians, who introduced him to the world of humor, until they hired him in the humor magazine ‘Don José’ and later in the legendary ‘La codorniz’. He also collaborated on Radio Nacional de España before becoming a theater actor, taking part in numerous productions on stage. He made his film debut in 1960, withDays of the Fair , and soon after he played a small role inThe Executioner , by Luis García Berlanga , “who from childhood already had the name of a film director,” according to Coll. He also participated inHistories of television , by José Luis Sáenz de Heredia .
In 1967 Luis Sánchez Polack “Tip” was associated with, who came from the Tip y Top duo. Together they became Tip y Coll, although the idea was to call themselves Tip y Coll Spain exactly. They began by touring throughout the Spanish geography, and in the end they became regular collaborators of the most successful television programs of the time. Both were always dressed in black, looking like gravediggers. Tip always wore a top hat and Coll wore a bowler hat. Among their most celebrated gags, the one in which they taught the public to fill a glass of water stands out, with detailed explanations and simultaneous translation by Coll supposedly into French. Together they appeared in numerous films, such as Why do we sin at 40? , An almost decent girl ,Monica Stop ,We are not made of stoneJuicio de faldas and La garbanza negra, rest in peace , starring and co-written by them. Manuel Summers hired them to star inSex attacks (1st day) .
Married on January 16, 1961 to Clotilde ‘Tilde’, he had five children with her. He was so fond of billiards that he became president of the Spanish Federation of this discipline. He used to play with the former President of the Government of Spain Felipe González, who was also passionate about billiards. Coll was the author of books, such as the hilarious ‘Coll’s Dictionary’ (Charlatin: Person who speaks incessantly in the language used by the ancient Romans) and the novel El hermano bastardo de Dios , adapted for film by Benito Rabal. He always cultivated intelligent humor and harshly criticized those who resorted to coarse or obscene humor. “If I didn’t do this kind of humor, I would be contributing to miseducating the public,” he went on to declare. The popular comedian died on March 6, 2007, at the Hospital de La Paz in Madrid, after suffering heart problems. He remained optimistic until the end, and he liked to joke even about death: “The good thing about dying is that afterwards you don’t have to get up early.”