José Luis López Vázquez
José Luis López Vázquez de la Torre MMT (11 March 1922 – 2 November 2009) was a Spanish actor, comedian, costume designer, scenic designer, and assistant director. A prolific performer, he was an integral part of Spanish cinema for six decades, appearing in almost 250 films between 1948 and 2007. Internationally he was known for his lead role in the surrealist horror telefilm La cabina (1972).[1]
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is López and the second or maternal family name is Vázquez de la Torre.
José Luis López Vázquez
2 November 2009 (aged 87)
Spanish
- Actor
- Costume designer
- Scenic designer
- Assistant director
- Comedian
1939–2007
José Luis
Virginia
Cayetana
Camino
Born in Madrid of working-class parents, López Vázquez began his career on stage at 17 as a costume designer and set decorator before making his breakthrough as an actor. In film he initially worked as a costume designer and assistant director, while playing bit parts. However, his comedic talent soon allowed him to get bigger roles, cultivating an image as Spain's on-screen everyman in numerous comedies during the Franco era, although he later revealed his ability to play dramatic roles. At the time he took part in a distinctive Spanish art cinema led primarily by directors Luis García Berlanga, Juan Antonio Bardem, Carlos Saura and screenwriter Rafael Azcona, which gained international attention. He also worked with renowned foreign filmmakers such as Marco Ferreri and George Cukor.[2]
He acted in the films Boyfriend in Sight (1954), Miracles of Thursday (1957), El Pisito (1959), El Cochecito (1960), Plácido (1961), Atraco a las tres (1962), The Executioner (1963), Peppermint Frappé (1967), The Ancines Woods (1970), Long Live the Bride and Groom (1970), The Garden of Delights (1970), My Dearest Senorita (1972), Travels with My Aunt (1972), Habla, mudita (1973), Cousin Angelica (1974), La escopeta nacional (1978) and its sequels Patrimonio nacional (1981) and Nacional III (1982), The Beehive (1982), Akelarre (1984), Moors and Christians (1987), Esquilache (1989), The Fencing Master (1992), Everyone Off to Jail (1993), and Moon of Avellaneda (2004), among others.
López Vázquez won two Silver Hugo Awards at the Chicago International Film Festival, four CEC Awards, two Fotogramas de Plata, two Sant Jordi Awards, one TP de Oro, and two New York Latin ACE Awards bestowed by the Association of Latin Entertainment Critics. His accolades include the Honorary Spike at the Valladolid International Film Festival in 1989, the National Theatre Award in 2002, and the Honorary Goya Award for lifetime achievement in 2005. The Government of Spain awarded him the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts in 1985 and the Gold Medal of Merit in Labour in 1997.
Early life[edit]
José Luis López Vázquez was born in Madrid, Spain, on 11 March 1922.[3] The only son of a dressmaker mother and a father who worked as an official of the Ministry of Justice. In some biographies he appears as born on March 12. "With the nerves of the event, my father forgot to register me and he did it the next day" he said. His father also forgot to give the official the name he chose for the baby. And he had to return to his brother José. The offices were already closed and they had to return a day later. He was registered with the nicknames of both.[4] His parents separated when he was very young, causing them to go through difficulties and financial problems. As a teenager he was force to leave his studies and work as an administrative assistant and typist, a period that he began to overcome due to his ability in drawing and painting.[5]
Career[edit]
Early artistic work[edit]
In 1939, at the age of 17, he became interested in theatre through the Youth Front and entered in the Universitary Spanish Theatre (TEU) directed by Modesto Higueras. There he outlined his vocation as a draughtsman thanks to the painter José Caballero, who had been part of the group La Barraca led by Federico García Lorca. He originally worked as a scenic designer for the sets of the Theatre of María Guerrero in times of Luis Escobar Kirkpatrick, as well as an assistant director to Pío Ballesteros and Enrique Herreros.[6] The playwright and filmmaker José López Rubio had a decisive influence on his artistic side when he hired him as a costume designer for three films: It Happened in Damascus (1943), Eugenia de Montijo (1944) and Alhucemas (1948).[7] Some of the theatrical productions for which he created costume designs in the 1940s and 1950s are Don Juan Tenorio, where he met Salvador Dalí in 1949, The Phantom Lady, The Village of Stepanchikovo, El caballero de Olmedo, La guardia cuidadosa, a drawing of Don Gil of the Green Breeches, and five sketches for the sets of Life Is a Dream, Y no subió a la cruz, and The Dog in the Manger.[8]
Personal life and death[edit]
In 1951 he was married with the actress Ana María Ventura, but the couple were unable to have offspring. He later get into an eighteen-year relationship with Katty Magerus although they could not marry due to the lack of divorce. They had two children, José Luis (b. 1962), and Virginia (b. 1965), who died in the United States in 1994. He also had two other daughters with the journalist Flor Aguilar, named Cayetana and Camino.[79] In his latter years he had a relationship with the actress Carmen de la Maza.[80] He amassed a great fortune due to his work in cinema and lived in a duplex of 400 square meters on Paseo de la Castellana in the Spanish capital.[81]
López Vázquez died of natural causes in Madrid on 2 November 2009, at the age of 87. After his death, several tributes were paid to him, among them Álex de la Iglesia, president of the Spanish Film Academy, who said, "One of the greatest actors is gone, one of the legs of the table of great Spanish cinema along with Fernando Fernán Gómez and Pepe Isbert". The actor and filmmaker Santiago Segura stated that his death represents "the end of an era".[82] His coffin was installed at the Theatre of María Guerrero, headquarters of the national theatre company Centro Dramático Nacional (CDN), which was attended by figures such as actresses Carmen Sevilla and Verónica Forqué, film director Pedro Almodóvar, the mayor of Madrid Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, and the Prince and Princess of Asturias.[83] He was later cremated in the Almudena Cemetery in Madrid.[84]
Legacy[edit]
In 2010, his biography was posthumously published under the title ¿Para qué te cuento?: biografía autorizada de José Luis López Vázquez, written by Luis Lorente, who claimed that López Vázquez "belongs to a generation of extraordinary actors who have no replacement".[85] In the same year, the Cultural Centre José Luis López Vázquez was opened in the San Blas-Canillejas district in Madrid to honoured the Spanish actor,[86] and a postage stamp with his image was produced on July 6.[87]
In 2022 it was released the documentary José Luis López Vázquez: ¡Qué disparate!, directed by Roberto J. Oltra and sponsored by the actor's son, José Luis López Magerus, to commemorate his 100th birth anniversary, which explores the reasons for his success throughout his career.[88][89] On March 10, a silhouette was placed on the sculpture of La cabina installed in Madrid to remember his performance in the television film.[90]
In 2024, the Cultural Space Serrería Belga (Medialab Matadero) is presenting the exhibition José Luis before López Vázquez, showing the lesser-known facets of the actor. Through approximately one hundred pieces, it shows his work as a draughtsman, costume designer, and set designer, without neglecting his acting career and his more personal side, including little-known pieces from his private life. The exhibition also focuses on his facet as an art collector, which shows for the first time some of the works he collected over the years. These include works by Maruja Mallo (La sorpresa del trigo), Salvador Dalí (Cabeza de Gala), Antoni Tàpies (Jazz), Alberto Sánchez Pérez (Pájaro bebiendo agua), Antonio Saura (Ancestro 5), Fernando Zóbel de Ayala y Montojo (Pequeño esquema para...), Juan Manuel Díaz-Caneja (Naturaleza muerta), Benjamín Palencia (Boceto para La Barraca), Edgar Neville (Quai de la Seine), a drawing by José Caballero from 1936 and two drawings by Federico García Lorca from 1935.[91]
