Celebrity Biographies
Manuel Alexandre
He was for a long time one of the most illustrious secondary faces of Spanish cinema until, curiously, he became the protagonist during his last years of his career. Manuel Alexandre had a natural grace that made him the ideal actor to improve a good cast. The well-known actor died on October 12, 2010, at the age of 92, at the San Camilo clinic in Madrid, as a result of cancer.
The actor’s funeral chapel will be installed in the Teatro Español, where he made his debut in the 1940s. Later, the coffin will be moved to the Almudena cemetery.
Born in the capital of Spain, on November 11, 1917, Manuel Alexandre Abarca had never thought of being an actor during his childhood and youth, as he was determined to study Law. Later, he verified that it was not his thing and decided to enroll in Journalism. He never finished his studies, due to the outbreak of the Civil War. During the war, he made his debut as an actor somewhat by chance, because one day a militiaman friend of his own military barracks asked him to accompany him to a test for a performance. There Manuel Alexandre was unexpectedly offered a role, which he decided to accept.
Later, the actor Fernando Fernán Gómez changed his life . “When I saw him recite a few verses, I understood that I liked this profession,” said the actor. He started at the Reina Victoria Theater, from there he went to the company of the Eslava Theater and later to the Spanish one. He ended up becoming good friends with Fernán Gómez with whom he worked at the TEU (University Spanish Theater).
He made his debut on the big screen in 1947, with Dos cuentos para dos , by Luis Lucia , although Bienvenido Mister Marshall , by Luis García Berlanga , one of the great classics of Spanish cinema, had a much greater impact , where he appeared briefly as a secretary. Passionate about literature, he was a regular at the famous Café Gijón literary gathering. The teacher Berlanga turned him into one of his usual actors, since he repeated his orders inThursdays, miracle ,The executioner ,Placid ,Natural size ,everyone to jail andParis Timbuktu .
Regular presence of TVE (Spanish Television), he was one of the regular actors of the mythical program “Estudio 1”, which adapted theater classics to the small screen. His most remembered intervention was as one of the members of the jury of “Twelve merciless men”, with an unparalleled cast, in which were the theater legends Carlos Lemos and José María Rodero , and also other illustrious artists: Fernando Delgado , Rafael Alonso , Jesús Puente , José Bódalo , Ismael Merlo , etc.
He worked on several occasions with Juan Antonio Bardem , who turned him into the cyclist who causes an accident, inDeath of a cyclist while at the magisterialCalle Mayor , was one of the protagonist’s cronies. But his most remembered role is undoubtedly Benítez, the employee of the branch who constantly made advances on Gracita Morales and asked for advances on account of the robbery they were going to commit, in the unforgettable comedyRobbery at three . Many years later she would play another role in the mediocre remakeRobbery at half past three . With the irregular José Luis Cuerda he shot Dawn, which is not little ,As in heaven as on Earth ,The animated forest andThe sow
He was also Don Matías, the professor who was adored by the members of the Parchís group, in Las locuras de Parchís and Parchís enters action . He won the CEC award for best actor for Natural Size , and the Goya de Honor in 2003. In the last years of his career he had played leading roles in titles such asElsa and Fred orAnd who are you? , where Antonio Mercero treated the tragedy of Alzheimer’s that he himself suffers.
His last job consisted of embodying the director of the school in the horribleCamp Flippy . A couple of years before, she had played General Franco, in the television production 20-N. The last days of Franco .