Raúl Juliá
Encyclopedia
Raúl Rafael Juliá y Arcelay (March 9, 1940 – October 24, 1994) was a Puerto Rican
actor
.
Born in San Juan
, he gained interest in acting while still in school. Upon completing his studies, Juliá decided to pursue a career in acting. After performing in the local scene for some time, he was convinced by entertainment personality Orson Bean
to move and work in New York City
. Juliá, who had been bilingual since his childhood, soon gained interest in Broadway and Off-Broadway
plays. He performed in mobile projects, including the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre.
Juliá was eventually noticed by Joseph Papp
, who offered him work in the New York Shakespeare Festival
. After gaining notoriety, he received roles in two television series, Love of Life
and Sesame Street
. For his performance in Two Gentlemen of Verona
, he received a nomination for the Tony Award
and won a Drama Desk Award
. Between 1974 and 1982, Juliá received Tony Award nominations for Where's Charley?
, The Threepenny Opera
and Nine
. During the 1980s, he worked in several films, receiving nominations for the Golden Globe Award
s, for his performance in Tempest
, and Kiss of the Spider Woman, winning the National Board of Review Award for Best Actor
for the latter.
In 1991 and 1993, Juliá portrayed "Gomez Addams
" in two film adaptations of The Addams Family
. In 1994, he filmed The Burning Season
and a film adaptation of the Street Fighter
video games. Later that year, Juliá suffered several health afflictions, eventually dying after suffering a stroke
. His funeral was held in Puerto Rico, being attended by thousands. For his work in The Burning Season, Juliá won a posthumous Golden Globe and Emmy Award
.
, to Olga Arcelay and Raúl Juliá. He was the oldest of four brothers and sisters. His mother was a mezzo-soprano
who sang at a church choir before marrying Juliá's father, who was an electrical engineer graduated from Tri-State University. Some relatives were also musicians, including his great aunt María González, whom he credited as the inspiration behind his artistic career. The family was Catholic. Raúl's father was the founder of "La Cueva del Chicken Inn", a restaurant in San Juan. The building was originally a gas station and body shop, before being remodeled after a similar restaurant in Madrid, Spain, called "Las Cuevas de Luis Candelas", which is intended to mimic the structure of a gypsy cave. Juliá's father claimed that he brought pizza to Puerto Rico, after he hired an Italian cook in New York City
that could prepare pizza. The restaurant is also supposed to be the first to distribute chicken-in-a-basket within the archipelago.
Since the beginning of his primary education, Juliá was enrolled in Colegio Espíritu Santo in Hato Rey
, a Catholic private school, where most of the personnel spoke exclusively English. There he participated in his first play in first grade, interpreting the devil, with his performance earning him participation in all subsequent school plays. After witnessing Errol Flynn
's performance in The Adventures of Robin Hood
, he decided to pursue an acting career. During his childhood, Juliá's family followed a strict Jesuit practice, often bringing homeless children into their household. His mother received a recognition from the Catholic University of Ponce due to these efforts. When he was in seventh grade, Juliá was able to speak English fluently and had gained interest in the works of William Shakespeare
. Juliá concluded his secondary education at Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola
, where he would organize plays of Julius Caesar
, Hamlet
, King Lear
, and The Tempest
. Seeking to please his parents, he continued his university education spending a year at Fordham University
, before returning to Puerto Rico, where he attended the University of Puerto Rico
, becoming a member of Phi Sigma Alpha
Fraternity. Throughout this timeframe, Juliá continued acting in local plays and nightclubs. He studied liberal arts, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree. Juliá eventually realized that he had no interest in pursuing a law career, which was favored by his parents, choosing to act full time despite having doubts if he could sustain his needs working as an actor.
, which was held in one of the municipality's colonial castles in order to emulate the setting of the work. Other works included playing the role of Roderigo
in Othello
at a local drama production. Parallel to this, Juliá began making presentations at the Ted Mack Amateur Hour. After joining a musical group name the "Lamplighters", despite receiving opposition from his parents, he was recruited by Lillian Hurst
to perform alongside her, eventually receiving work at a hotel named El Convento. During this time, he began considering the possibility of moving to Europe to take acting classes. During one of their acts, Juliá was approached by Orson Bean
, who was on vacation in Puerto Rico, who provided him with contact information, wanting him to travel to New York and work there. His parents were shocked by the proposal, but ultimately agreed to support his decision. However, Juliá's departure was postponed after his younger brother, Rafael, died in a traffic collision. During this timeframe, he became engaged to Magda Vassallo Molinelli.
In 1964, when he was 24 years old, he traveled to New York, arriving in the middle of a winter storm. After establishing residence in Manhattan, Juliá had to do several odd jobs to pay for his expenses, going as far as receiving training on the proper way to sell pens for a distributor. When Hurst visited him, both attended a Broadway play and the fact that he could work as an actor fulltime surprised him. As a result of this, Juliá began seeking employment in both Broadway and "Off Broadway" plays. Seeking to further improve his acting. He received lessons from Wynn Handman
, who was recommended by Bean. His first work was a reenactment of Pedro Calderón de la Barca
's Life is a Dream, where he played Astolfo. This allowed him to receive the Actors Equity card from Actors' Equity Association
. Initially, Juliá received allowance from his parents, but after contracting Jeff Hunter as manager, he was able to perform in a staging of Bye Bye Birdie, declining further donations. He began performing with Phoebe Brand
's mobile theatre, presenting plays in poor areas of New York. In 1965, he married Vassallo Molinelli.
In 1966, Juliá was cast for the role of Macduff in a Spanish version of Macbeth and performed in The Ox Cart, a stage play written by Puerto Rican play writer René Marqués. Miriam Colón Valle, who also participated in La Carreta
, established the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre, where he performed. In 1967, the founder of the New York Shakespeare Festival
(NYSF), Joseph Papp
, attended a performance at Delacorte Theater
, where Juliá was reading patriotic Puerto Rican poetry. Subsequently, Papp offered him the role of Demetrius in a staging of Titus Andronicus. After this play concluded, he contacted Papp who offered him the role of role manager in NYSF's Hamlet. While performing this task, Juliá also performed in some of the plays.
. During this timeframe, he divorced from Vasallo Molinelli. In 1970, Juliá received the role of Paco Montoya in The Castro Complex, receiving favorable reviews for his performance. While rehearsing for an Off Broadway play, he met Merel Poloway, forming a relationship with her. As he gained notoriety in Broadway, Juliá received roles in two television series, Love of Life
and Sesame Street
. He disliked the role given to him in Love of Life and only appeared on the show for a brief time. His Sesame Street character, Rafael the Fixit Man, was a recurring character during the show’s third season. Between 1971 and 1972, Juliá received roles in The Organization
, The Panic in Needle Park
, and a film adaptation of Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me
. While working in Sesame Street, Papp contacted him and offered the role of Proteus in Two Gentlemen of Verona
. For his performance in this play, Juliá received his first nomination for a Tony Award
and won the 1972 Drama Desk Award
for Outstanding Performance. In 1973, he interpreted Edmund
in King Lear
. This was followed by the role of Orlando in As You Like It. Juliá noted that he cherished the roles played during these Shakespearian plays, particularly the rhythm, music, and poetry present in them. He also acted in Via Galactica
's limited presentation in Broadway and, in television, played Dr. Greg Robinson, Jerry's brother, in the "Oh, Brother" episode of The Bob Newhart Show
. In 1974, he was cast in the lead role of Where's Charley?
, playing Charley Wykeham . Juliá received his second Tony Award for his performance in this comedy. He subsequently joined Erhard Seminars Training
or "est", an organization that promotes self-motivation, by participating in its seminars. In 1976, Juliá played Mack the Knife in The Threepenny Opera
, interpreting the dialogue with a marked British accent. The performance earned him a third Tony Award nomination. He followed this performance with a turn as Italian car racer Franco Bertollini in The Gumball Rally
.
That same year Juliá married Poloway in the Catskill Mountains
. The ceremony was led by Swami Baba Muktananda as part of a spiritual retreat. The couple had met the Swami through Werner Erhard
, founder of "est". After this retreat, Erhard founded "The Hunger Project
", claiming that after traveling to India, he felt motivated to found a non-profit organization to eliminate world hunger through philanthropic galas. Juliá joined the initiative since its conception, establishing a personal goal of raising one million dollars for the organization. In 1978, he accepted the lead role in Dracula
, receiving a good reception for his interpretation of the character. While performing as Dracula
, Juliá also played Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew
. The interaction with co-star Meryl Streep
was tense at first, before developing into a friendship as the production advanced. Juliá then accepted a role in a film adaptation
of The Tempest
, spending several months in Italy while exploring its culture. While in the country, he received the script of Nine
for which he received his fourth Tony Award nomination. In preparation for his role in Betrayal
, Juliá moved to London temporarily, hiring a coach to adapt his accent to the English dialect.
. In 1983, his first son, Raúl Sigmund Juliá was born. That year he also starred in the public television film Overdrawn at the Memory Bank
, which received a weak reception and was satirized on Mystery Science Theater 3000
. After not appearing in a film for two years, Juliá played a political prisoner named Valentín in an adaptation of Manuel Puig
's Kiss of the Spider Woman. Considering that the script was unique, he agreed to begin filming before receiving his salary and traveled to South America, where he interviewed rebels and ex-prisoners to familiarize himself with their experiences and ideology. Upon its release, the film was a commercial success. For his performance, Juliá received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award
and won the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures
' award for best actor along co-lead actor William Hurt
. The following year, he appeared in his first Puerto Rican film, La Gran Fiesta
, offering a monologue near the end of the film. In 1985, he starred as Major Sergius Saranoff in an adaptation of Arms and the Man
. This was followed by the role of David Suárez in the romantic comedy Compromising Positions
. In 1986, Juliá played a hairdresser named Joaquin Manero in The Morning After. To prepare for the role, he took lessons and worked at a hair salon for some time.
In 1987, Juliá had the lead role in The Penitent. Later on that year, his second son, Benjamín Rafael Juliá, was born. In 1988, Juliá played a corrupt official in Moon over Parador
, but the movie received negative reviews from critics. The following year, he co-starred with Anthony Quinn
in Onassis: The Richest Man in the World, a biographic film covering the life of Aristotle Onassis
. In 1989, Juliá was cast as Archbishop Óscar Romero
in the biographical movie, Romero
. During his life, Romero had been an advocate of civil rights, often denouncing violations of these rights in public, which prompted his assassination during a mass. Juliá accepted the role based on its political nature, seeking to draw attention to the issues in that Central American region. To prepare for the role, he read Romero's diary and autobiography as well as listening to or watching recordings of his messages and masses, which prompted him to rejoin the Catholic Church. Due to this and Poloway's Jewish religion, the couple decided not to raise their children in a particular religion, believing that they should make their own decision after growing older. The government of El Salvador refused to allow distribution of the film because of its content, so that the film received only clandestine circulation. Due to his activity between 1987 and 1989, Juliá was ranked first in Variety
's "List of Busiest Hollywood Actors". Julia then starred in the film adaptation of The Threepenny Opera
, recreating the role of Macheath in the movie, which was renamed Mack the Knife
for its American release.
In 1990, he was cast to play a lawyer in Presumed Innocent
, receiving solid reviews for his performance. Prior to the filming, Juliá spent time in court rooms and studied the court system. In 1991, when Papp died, Juliá commented that the director was directly responsible for finding him roles besides that of "stereotypical Latinos" such as that of the "Latin lover". Juliá was cast to play Gomez Addams
in an adaptation
of The Addams Family. He was attracted to the role because of the character's irreverent portrayal, noting that "even his depressions are wonderful." Since his earlier recollections of the role were those from the Spanish-dubbed version of the first television series, he had to adapt the role directly from the original cartoons drawn by Charles Addams
, receiving a nomination for a Saturn Award
. In 1992, Juliá played Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha
with Sheena Easton
, a Broadway adaptation of Miguel de Cervantes
' classical novel. The play had originally begun in 1965, with the main character being played by one of his favorite actors, José Ferrer
. Juliá performed this role eight times per week. Subsequently, he reprised his role as Gomez Addams in Addams Family Values
. In 1994, Juliá participated in his only project for HBO, playing Chico Mendes
in The Burning Season, for which he received solid reviews. He familiarized himself with the role by analyzing interviews and footage from Mendes' Xapuri Rubber Tappers' Union, being impressed by the subject's actions.
in Mexico
, Juliá contracted food poisoning after consuming sushi
. The condition worsened, since he had undergone stomach surgery a few months earlier for an infection which was rumored to be stomach cancer. Juliá was airlifted to Los Angeles and received medical attention. He recovered and returned to Mexico to finish the movie, but he lost several pounds and was physically weakened by his condition. Despite his poor health, he completed The Burning Season and was anxious to continue his plans and play M. Bison
in Street Fighter
to be filmed in Australia
that spring. Juliá felt that this film would allow him to spend more time with his children, who were fanatics of the video game franchise
and helped him prepare for the role. He received his second Saturn Award nomination for this performance. This would be his final role in a major film, with his last work being a supporting role in the TV drama film Down Came a Blackbird
which was filmed in Washington state during September and October of 1994.
On October 16, 1994, Juliá and Poloway attended the Metropolitan Opera House
in New York. After attending the play, he was supposed to meet Marcos Zurinaga
, a Puerto Rican director who filmed the Argentine
/Puerto Rican coproduction Tango Bar. However, Juliá began feeling an intense abdominal pain and had to be carried by ambulance to North Shore University Hospital
on Manhasset, Long Island, New York. He was initially not worried by the issue, reviewing the script for his intended role in Desperado
from his hospital bed, but his condition worsened. Later that night, Juliá suffered an unexpected stroke
. The condition continued worsening and he fell into a coma on October 20, 1994, and was put on life support. Four days later, on October 24, 1994, Juliá died due to terminal complications from the brain hemorrhage. He was 54 years old. Despite the fact that he had been in ill health since 1991, which was speculated by the public to be from stomach cancer to other rare ailments, the underlying and unifying cause of his illness and unexpected death has never been revealed to the public.
Following previous instructions, his body was transported to Puerto Rico. A state funeral was held in San Juan on October 27, 1994, with Juliá being escorted to the building of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture
, where a funeral ceremony was held. This activity was attended by thousands of Puerto Ricans, with plena
being played in the background. The burial ceremony was also attended by thousands of spectators, with La Borinqueña
being sung by Lucecita Benítez
prior to the procession. After stopping at San Ignacio de Loyola Church, the procession advanced to Buxeda Cemetery, where Rubén Berríos
offered the final words. As Juliá's coffin was lowered, a load of carnations was dropped from a helicopter, while the crowd shouted ¡Viva Puerto Rico Libre!. Juliá was a lifelong supporter of the Puerto Rican independence movement
; on one occasion, he convinced his agent to allow him to do an advertising campaign on behalf of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company
.
Subsequent memorial ceremonies were held at Joe Papp Public Theatre in New York and in Los Angeles, where several actors and personalities, including Rubén Blades
and Edward James Olmos
, expressed their grief. A church mass in Miami and numerous private ceremonies were also held. The staff of Universal Pictures paid homage to him by dedicating Street Fighter in his memory, adding the phrase "For Raúl. Vaya con Dios" in the film's ending credits. Juliá was set to reprise his role as M. Bison
in the video game version of the Street Fighter film, having already met with the production staff. The New York Shakespeare Festival paid to have an obituary in Variety, where his birth and death dates were accompanied by a Shakespearean quote. The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater established free acting classes to young actors, which were named The Raúl Juliá Training Unit.
For his performance in The Burning Season, Juliá posthumously won a Golden Globe Award
, a Screen Actors Guild Award
, a Cable Ace Award, and an Emmy Award
. Although he did not make his screen debut before 1950, Juliá was a nominee for the American Film Institute
's AFI's 100 Years…100 Stars. Actors such as Helen Hunt
and Jimmy Smits
have quoted him as a source of inspiration. On November 21, 1994, Rudy Giuliani
declared that date "Raúl Juliá Day". In 1996, he was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame on Broadway. The Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce created the Raúl Juliá Scholarship Fund in 1997, intended to provide college education for teenagers.
(HOLA) and co-founded Visiones Luminosas, an initiative to promote screenwriters. He continued to work in the NYSF, but performed without receiving a salary. In a similar fashion, Juliá cooperated with independent filmmakers in Puerto Rico by acting in their productions for free or receiving a low salary. This constant involvement with the Latin American community earned him a posthumous Hispanic Heritage Award. Juliá also promoted interracial integration, being a member of Racial Harmony and serving as the chairman of the Joseph Papp Celebrity Coalition for Racial Harmony.
As part of his work in The Hunger Project
, Juliá donated food to a food bank once every month. He also promoted the program on television and radio and served as narrator in bilingual videos. Juliá opened slots in his schedule to participate in multiple benefit galas on behalf of the organization. Due to this work, the project gave him their Global Citizen Award. His involvement was also recognized in "Ending Hunger: An Idea Whose time Has Come". On March 24, 1992, Juliá received the Courage of Conscience Award. In 1994, the government of El Salvador recognized his activism for human rights, granting him the role of overseer in their general elections in representation of Freedom House. During his visit to the country, he visited the tomb of Romero, subsequently describing his experience in a piece published in Freedom Review.
In recognition, the National Endowment for the Hispanic Arts offers the Raúl Juliá Award for Excellence annually. In 2002, actress Sandra Bullock
was presented with the award. She received it for her work as the executive producer of The George Lopez Show
, which offered work and exposition for Hispanic talent. In 2003, Daniel Rodríguez
won the first Raúl Juliá Global Citizen Award from the Puerto Rico Family Institute based in New York, receiving the recognition due to charity work.
Puerto Rican people
A Puerto Rican is a person who was born in Puerto Rico.Puerto Ricans born and raised in the continental United States are also sometimes referred to as Puerto Ricans, although they were not born in Puerto Rico...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
.
Born in San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
, he gained interest in acting while still in school. Upon completing his studies, Juliá decided to pursue a career in acting. After performing in the local scene for some time, he was convinced by entertainment personality Orson Bean
Orson Bean
Orson Bean is an American film, television, and Broadway actor. He appeared frequently on televised game shows in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, including being a long-time panelist on the television game show To Tell the Truth....
to move and work in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Juliá, who had been bilingual since his childhood, soon gained interest in Broadway and Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
plays. He performed in mobile projects, including the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre.
Juliá was eventually noticed by Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp was an American theatrical producer and director. Papp established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in downtown New York . "The Public," as it is known, has many small theatres within it...
, who offered him work in the New York Shakespeare Festival
New York Shakespeare Festival
New York Shakespeare Festival is the previous name of the New York City theatrical producing organization now known as the Public Theater. The Festival produced shows at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, as part of its free Shakespeare in the Park series, at the Public Theatre near Astor Place...
. After gaining notoriety, he received roles in two television series, Love of Life
Love of Life
Love of Life is an American soap opera which aired on CBS Daytime from September 24, 1951 to February 1, 1980. It was created by Roy Winsor, whose previous creation Search for Tomorrow had premiered three weeks before Love of Life, and who would go on to create The Secret Storm two and a half years...
and Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
. For his performance in Two Gentlemen of Verona
Two Gentlemen of Verona (musical)
Two Gentlemen of Verona is a rock musical, with a book by John Guare and Mel Shapiro, lyrics by Guare and music by Galt MacDermot, based on the Shakespeare comedy of the same name....
, he received a nomination for the Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
and won a Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
. Between 1974 and 1982, Juliá received Tony Award nominations for Where's Charley?
Where's Charley?
Where's Charley? is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by George Abbott. The story was based on the play Charley's Aunt by Brandon Thomas. The musical debuted on Broadway in 1948 and was revived on Broadway and in the West End...
, The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera is a musical by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill, in collaboration with translator Elisabeth Hauptmann and set designer Caspar Neher. It was adapted from an 18th-century English ballad opera, John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, and offers a Marxist critique...
and Nine
Nine (musical)
Nine is a musical with a book by Arthur Kopit, music and lyrics by Maury Yeston. The story is based on Federico Fellini's semi-autobiographical film 8½...
. During the 1980s, he worked in several films, receiving nominations for the Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
s, for his performance in Tempest
Tempest (1982 film)
Tempest is an American comedy-drama film directed by Paul Mazursky. It is a very loose adaptation of the William Shakespeare play, The Tempest....
, and Kiss of the Spider Woman, winning the National Board of Review Award for Best Actor
National Board of Review Award for Best Actor
An incomplete list of the winners of the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Award for Best Actor :-1940s:-1950s:-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
for the latter.
In 1991 and 1993, Juliá portrayed "Gomez Addams
Gomez Addams
Gomez Addams is the fictional patriarch of The Addams Family, created by cartoonist Charles Addams for The New Yorker magazine in the 1930s....
" in two film adaptations of The Addams Family
The Addams Family
The Addams Family is a group of fictional characters created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. As named by Charles Addams, the Addams Family characters include Gomez, Morticia, Uncle Fester, Lurch, Grandmama, Wednesday, Pugsley, and Thing....
. In 1994, he filmed The Burning Season
The Burning Season (1994 film)
The Burning Season is a 1994 television movie directed by John Frankenheimer. The film chronicled Chico Mendes's fight to protect the rainforest.-Plot:...
and a film adaptation of the Street Fighter
Street Fighter
, commonly abbreviated as SF, is a series of Fighting Games developed in Japan in which the players pit the video games' competitive fighters from around the world, each with his or her own unique fighting style, against one another...
video games. Later that year, Juliá suffered several health afflictions, eventually dying after suffering a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
. His funeral was held in Puerto Rico, being attended by thousands. For his work in The Burning Season, Juliá won a posthumous Golden Globe and Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
.
Early life and education
Juliá was born in Floral Park, a subsector of San JuanSan Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
, to Olga Arcelay and Raúl Juliá. He was the oldest of four brothers and sisters. His mother was a mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
who sang at a church choir before marrying Juliá's father, who was an electrical engineer graduated from Tri-State University. Some relatives were also musicians, including his great aunt María González, whom he credited as the inspiration behind his artistic career. The family was Catholic. Raúl's father was the founder of "La Cueva del Chicken Inn", a restaurant in San Juan. The building was originally a gas station and body shop, before being remodeled after a similar restaurant in Madrid, Spain, called "Las Cuevas de Luis Candelas", which is intended to mimic the structure of a gypsy cave. Juliá's father claimed that he brought pizza to Puerto Rico, after he hired an Italian cook in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
that could prepare pizza. The restaurant is also supposed to be the first to distribute chicken-in-a-basket within the archipelago.
Since the beginning of his primary education, Juliá was enrolled in Colegio Espíritu Santo in Hato Rey
Hato Rey, Puerto Rico
Hato Rey is a former ward located in the northwest part of the dissolved municipality of Río Piedras. It now stretches over three wards of the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico:*Hato Rey Central*Hato Rey Norte*Hato Rey Sur...
, a Catholic private school, where most of the personnel spoke exclusively English. There he participated in his first play in first grade, interpreting the devil, with his performance earning him participation in all subsequent school plays. After witnessing Errol Flynn
Errol Flynn
Errol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...
's performance in The Adventures of Robin Hood
The Adventures of Robin Hood (film)
The Adventures of Robin Hood is a 1938 American swashbuckler film directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley. Filmed in Technicolor, the picture stars Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, and Claude Rains.-Plot:...
, he decided to pursue an acting career. During his childhood, Juliá's family followed a strict Jesuit practice, often bringing homeless children into their household. His mother received a recognition from the Catholic University of Ponce due to these efforts. When he was in seventh grade, Juliá was able to speak English fluently and had gained interest in the works of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
. Juliá concluded his secondary education at Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola
Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola
Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola is a Catholic Jesuit college-preparatory school founded by the Society of Jesus in in 1952. The school was originally located in Santurce, but was moved to its current location by the Jesuit fathers in 1956. Colegio San Ignacio is the only Jesuit school in Puerto Rico...
, where he would organize plays of Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar (play)
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, also known simply as Julius Caesar, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against...
, Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
, King Lear
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
, and The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
. Seeking to please his parents, he continued his university education spending a year at Fordham University
Fordham University
Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...
, before returning to Puerto Rico, where he attended the University of Puerto Rico
University of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico is the state university system of Puerto Rico. The system consists of 11 campuses and has approximately 64,511 students and 5,300 faculty members...
, becoming a member of Phi Sigma Alpha
Phi Sigma Alpha
Phi Sigma Alpha Fraternity commonly known as La Sigma, is a Puerto Rican fraternity established originally as the Sigma Delta Alpha Fraternity on October 22, 1928 at the University of Puerto Rico by 12 students and a professor...
Fraternity. Throughout this timeframe, Juliá continued acting in local plays and nightclubs. He studied liberal arts, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree. Juliá eventually realized that he had no interest in pursuing a law career, which was favored by his parents, choosing to act full time despite having doubts if he could sustain his needs working as an actor.
NYSF and the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater
Consequently, Juliá began performing in several plays that were held in San Juan. He performed in a recount of MacbethMacbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
, which was held in one of the municipality's colonial castles in order to emulate the setting of the work. Other works included playing the role of Roderigo
Roderigo
Roderigo is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Othello . He is a dissolute Venetian lusting after Othello's wife Desdemona. Roderigo has opened his purse to Iago in the mistaken belief that Iago is using his money to pave the way to Desdemona's bed...
in Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
at a local drama production. Parallel to this, Juliá began making presentations at the Ted Mack Amateur Hour. After joining a musical group name the "Lamplighters", despite receiving opposition from his parents, he was recruited by Lillian Hurst
Lillian Hurst
Lillian Hurst is a Puerto Rican actress and comedienne. Hurst made her debut as a television comedian in the early 1960s. She participated in various Off-Broadway and movie productions in the United States.-Early years:...
to perform alongside her, eventually receiving work at a hotel named El Convento. During this time, he began considering the possibility of moving to Europe to take acting classes. During one of their acts, Juliá was approached by Orson Bean
Orson Bean
Orson Bean is an American film, television, and Broadway actor. He appeared frequently on televised game shows in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, including being a long-time panelist on the television game show To Tell the Truth....
, who was on vacation in Puerto Rico, who provided him with contact information, wanting him to travel to New York and work there. His parents were shocked by the proposal, but ultimately agreed to support his decision. However, Juliá's departure was postponed after his younger brother, Rafael, died in a traffic collision. During this timeframe, he became engaged to Magda Vassallo Molinelli.
In 1964, when he was 24 years old, he traveled to New York, arriving in the middle of a winter storm. After establishing residence in Manhattan, Juliá had to do several odd jobs to pay for his expenses, going as far as receiving training on the proper way to sell pens for a distributor. When Hurst visited him, both attended a Broadway play and the fact that he could work as an actor fulltime surprised him. As a result of this, Juliá began seeking employment in both Broadway and "Off Broadway" plays. Seeking to further improve his acting. He received lessons from Wynn Handman
Wynn Handman
Wynn Handman, is the Artistic Director of The American Place Theatre, which he co-founded with Sidney Lanier and Michael Tolan in 1963. His role in the theatre has been to seek out, encourage, train, and present new and exciting writing and acting talent and to develop and produce new plays by...
, who was recommended by Bean. His first work was a reenactment of Pedro Calderón de la Barca
Pedro Calderón de la Barca
Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riaño usually referred as Pedro Calderón de la Barca , was a dramatist, poet and writer of the Spanish Golden Age. During certain periods of his life he was also a soldier and a Roman Catholic priest...
's Life is a Dream, where he played Astolfo. This allowed him to receive the Actors Equity card from Actors' Equity Association
Actors' Equity Association
The Actors' Equity Association , commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing the world of live theatrical performance, as opposed to film and television performance. However, performers appearing on live stage productions without a book or...
. Initially, Juliá received allowance from his parents, but after contracting Jeff Hunter as manager, he was able to perform in a staging of Bye Bye Birdie, declining further donations. He began performing with Phoebe Brand
Phoebe Brand
Phoebe Brand was an American actress, who was blacklisted along with her husband, Morris Carnovsky, in the McCarthy era.-Early life:...
's mobile theatre, presenting plays in poor areas of New York. In 1965, he married Vassallo Molinelli.
In 1966, Juliá was cast for the role of Macduff in a Spanish version of Macbeth and performed in The Ox Cart, a stage play written by Puerto Rican play writer René Marqués. Miriam Colón Valle, who also participated in La Carreta
La Carreta
La Carreta is a 1940s play by Puerto Rican playwright René Marqués. The story follows a family of "jíbaros" that in an effort to find better opportunities end up moving to the United States....
, established the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre, where he performed. In 1967, the founder of the New York Shakespeare Festival
New York Shakespeare Festival
New York Shakespeare Festival is the previous name of the New York City theatrical producing organization now known as the Public Theater. The Festival produced shows at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, as part of its free Shakespeare in the Park series, at the Public Theatre near Astor Place...
(NYSF), Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp was an American theatrical producer and director. Papp established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in downtown New York . "The Public," as it is known, has many small theatres within it...
, attended a performance at Delacorte Theater
Delacorte Theater
The Delacorte Theater, established in 1962, is an open-air theater located in Manhattan's Central Park and has a seating capacity of 1,800. The Delacorte is owned by the City of New York and operated by The Public Theater. It is an open-air amphitheater, with the Turtle Pond and Belvedere Castle...
, where Juliá was reading patriotic Puerto Rican poetry. Subsequently, Papp offered him the role of Demetrius in a staging of Titus Andronicus. After this play concluded, he contacted Papp who offered him the role of role manager in NYSF's Hamlet. While performing this task, Juliá also performed in some of the plays.
Broadway and television
In September 1968, after auditioning four times for the role, Juliá debuted in his first Broadway play, performing as Chan in a staging of The Cuban Thing. The following year he received a role in a reenactment of Arthur Kopit's IndiansIndians (play)
Indians is a play by Arthur Kopit.At its core is Buffalo Bill Cody and his Wild West Show. The play examines the contradictions of Cody's life and his work with Native Americans....
. During this timeframe, he divorced from Vasallo Molinelli. In 1970, Juliá received the role of Paco Montoya in The Castro Complex, receiving favorable reviews for his performance. While rehearsing for an Off Broadway play, he met Merel Poloway, forming a relationship with her. As he gained notoriety in Broadway, Juliá received roles in two television series, Love of Life
Love of Life
Love of Life is an American soap opera which aired on CBS Daytime from September 24, 1951 to February 1, 1980. It was created by Roy Winsor, whose previous creation Search for Tomorrow had premiered three weeks before Love of Life, and who would go on to create The Secret Storm two and a half years...
and Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
. He disliked the role given to him in Love of Life and only appeared on the show for a brief time. His Sesame Street character, Rafael the Fixit Man, was a recurring character during the show’s third season. Between 1971 and 1972, Juliá received roles in The Organization
The Organization (film)
The Organization is a 1971 film starring Sidney Poitier as Virgil Tibbs. It was the last of the trilogy featuring the police detective Tibbs that had begun with In the Heat of the Night . In it Tibbs is called in to hunt down a gang of urban revolutionaries, suspected of a series of crimes...
, The Panic in Needle Park
The Panic in Needle Park
The Panic in Needle Park is a 1971 American film directed by Jerry Schatzberg and starring Al Pacino in his second film appearance. The screenplay was written by Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, adapted from the book by James Mills....
, and a film adaptation of Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me
Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me
Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me is a novel by Richard Fariña. First published in the United States during 1966 the novel, based largely on Fariña's college experiences and travels, is a comic picaresque story that is set in the American West, in Cuba during the Cuban Revolution, and at an...
. While working in Sesame Street, Papp contacted him and offered the role of Proteus in Two Gentlemen of Verona
Two Gentlemen of Verona (musical)
Two Gentlemen of Verona is a rock musical, with a book by John Guare and Mel Shapiro, lyrics by Guare and music by Galt MacDermot, based on the Shakespeare comedy of the same name....
. For his performance in this play, Juliá received his first nomination for a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
and won the 1972 Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for Outstanding Performance. In 1973, he interpreted Edmund
Edmund (King Lear)
Edmund or Edmond is a fictional character and the main antagonist in William Shakespeare's King Lear. He is the illegitimate son of the Earl of Gloucester, and the younger brother of Edgar, the Earl's legitimate son. Early on in the play, Edmund resolves to get rid of his brother, then his...
in King Lear
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
. This was followed by the role of Orlando in As You Like It. Juliá noted that he cherished the roles played during these Shakespearian plays, particularly the rhythm, music, and poetry present in them. He also acted in Via Galactica
Via Galactica
Via Galactica is a rock musical with a book by Christopher Gore and Judith Ross, lyrics by Gore, and music by Galt MacDermot. It marked the Broadway debut of actor Mark Baker....
's limited presentation in Broadway and, in television, played Dr. Greg Robinson, Jerry's brother, in the "Oh, Brother" episode of The Bob Newhart Show
The Bob Newhart Show
The Bob Newhart Show is an American situation comedy produced by MTM Enterprises, which aired 142 original episodes on CBS from September 16, , to April 1, . Comedian Bob Newhart portrayed a psychologist having to deal with his patients and fellow office workers...
. In 1974, he was cast in the lead role of Where's Charley?
Where's Charley?
Where's Charley? is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by George Abbott. The story was based on the play Charley's Aunt by Brandon Thomas. The musical debuted on Broadway in 1948 and was revived on Broadway and in the West End...
, playing Charley Wykeham . Juliá received his second Tony Award for his performance in this comedy. He subsequently joined Erhard Seminars Training
Erhard Seminars Training
Erhard Seminars Training, an organization founded by Werner H. Erhard, offered a two-weekend course known officially as "The est Standard Training"...
or "est", an organization that promotes self-motivation, by participating in its seminars. In 1976, Juliá played Mack the Knife in The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera is a musical by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill, in collaboration with translator Elisabeth Hauptmann and set designer Caspar Neher. It was adapted from an 18th-century English ballad opera, John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, and offers a Marxist critique...
, interpreting the dialogue with a marked British accent. The performance earned him a third Tony Award nomination. He followed this performance with a turn as Italian car racer Franco Bertollini in The Gumball Rally
The Gumball Rally
The Gumball Rally is a 1976 film directed and co-written by Chuck Bail about a coast-to-coast road race. It was inspired by the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash run by Brock Yates which inspired several other films, including Cannonball and Cannonball Run.-Plot:Michael...
.
That same year Juliá married Poloway in the Catskill Mountains
Catskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, an area in New York State northwest of New York City and southwest of Albany, are a mature dissected plateau, an uplifted region that was subsequently eroded into sharp relief. They are an eastward continuation, and the highest representation, of the Allegheny Plateau...
. The ceremony was led by Swami Baba Muktananda as part of a spiritual retreat. The couple had met the Swami through Werner Erhard
Werner Erhard
Werner Hans Erhard is an author of transformational models and applications for individuals, groups, and organizations...
, founder of "est". After this retreat, Erhard founded "The Hunger Project
The Hunger Project
The Hunger Project is a 501 non-profit charitable organization incorporated in the state of California.The Hunger Project describes itself as an organization committed to the sustainable end of world hunger...
", claiming that after traveling to India, he felt motivated to found a non-profit organization to eliminate world hunger through philanthropic galas. Juliá joined the initiative since its conception, establishing a personal goal of raising one million dollars for the organization. In 1978, he accepted the lead role in Dracula
Dracula (play)
Dracula is a 1924 stage play adapted by Hamilton Deane from the novel of the same name by Bram Stoker, and substantially revised by John L. Balderston in 1927...
, receiving a good reception for his interpretation of the character. While performing as Dracula
Count Dracula
Count Dracula is a fictional character, the titular antagonist of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula and archetypal vampire. Some aspects of his character have been inspired by the 15th century Romanian general and Wallachian Prince Vlad III the Impaler...
, Juliá also played Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1591.The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the Induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken tinker named Sly into believing he is actually a nobleman himself...
. The interaction with co-star Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...
was tense at first, before developing into a friendship as the production advanced. Juliá then accepted a role in a film adaptation
Tempest (1982 film)
Tempest is an American comedy-drama film directed by Paul Mazursky. It is a very loose adaptation of the William Shakespeare play, The Tempest....
of The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
, spending several months in Italy while exploring its culture. While in the country, he received the script of Nine
Nine (musical)
Nine is a musical with a book by Arthur Kopit, music and lyrics by Maury Yeston. The story is based on Federico Fellini's semi-autobiographical film 8½...
for which he received his fourth Tony Award nomination. In preparation for his role in Betrayal
Betrayal (play)
Betrayal is a play written by Harold Pinter in 1978. Critically regarded as one of the English playwright's major dramatic works, it features his characteristically economical dialogue, characters' hidden emotions and veiled motivations, and their self-absorbed competitive one-upmanship,...
, Juliá moved to London temporarily, hiring a coach to adapt his accent to the English dialect.
Acting in Hollywood
In 1982, Juliá played Caliban in the musical One from the HeartOne from the Heart
One from the Heart is a 1982 musical film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The characters themselves do not actually sing but the powerful score dominates the movie. It is set entirely in Las Vegas, on the Las Vegas Strip and the desert surrounding the city...
. In 1983, his first son, Raúl Sigmund Juliá was born. That year he also starred in the public television film Overdrawn at the Memory Bank
Overdrawn at the Memory Bank
Overdrawn at the Memory Bank was a 1983 television movie. It was produced by Canada’s RSL Productions in Toronto. Financing was provided by WNET/PBS New Jersey, which had hoped to create an entire science fiction series adapting famous works, but due to lack of funding this was the last of three...
, which received a weak reception and was satirized on Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
. After not appearing in a film for two years, Juliá played a political prisoner named Valentín in an adaptation of Manuel Puig
Manuel Puig
Manuel Puig was an Argentine author...
's Kiss of the Spider Woman. Considering that the script was unique, he agreed to begin filming before receiving his salary and traveled to South America, where he interviewed rebels and ex-prisoners to familiarize himself with their experiences and ideology. Upon its release, the film was a commercial success. For his performance, Juliá received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
and won the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures
National Board of Review of Motion Pictures
The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures was founded in 1909 in New York City, just 13 years after the birth of cinema, to protest New York City Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr.'s revocation of moving-picture exhibition licenses on Christmas Eve 1908. The mayor believed that the new medium...
' award for best actor along co-lead actor William Hurt
William Hurt
William McGill Hurt is an American stage and film actor. He received his acting training at the Juilliard School, and began acting on stage in the 1970s. Hurt made his film debut as a troubled scientist in the science-fiction feature Altered States , for which he received a Golden Globe nomination...
. The following year, he appeared in his first Puerto Rican film, La Gran Fiesta
La Gran Fiesta
La Gran Fiesta is a 1985 Puerto Rican film, written and directed by Marcos Zurinaga, based on a story by Ana Lydia Vega....
, offering a monologue near the end of the film. In 1985, he starred as Major Sergius Saranoff in an adaptation of Arms and the Man
Arms and the Man
Arms and the Man is a comedy by George Bernard Shaw, whose title comes from the opening words of Virgil's Aeneid in Latin:"Arma virumque cano" ....
. This was followed by the role of David Suárez in the romantic comedy Compromising Positions
Compromising Positions
Compromising Positions is a 1985 film released by Paramount and directed by Frank Perry. The screenplay, by Susan Isaacs, was adapted from her 1978 detective novel. The plot concerns a Long Island housewife and former journalist who becomes involved in a murder investigation...
. In 1986, Juliá played a hairdresser named Joaquin Manero in The Morning After. To prepare for the role, he took lessons and worked at a hair salon for some time.
In 1987, Juliá had the lead role in The Penitent. Later on that year, his second son, Benjamín Rafael Juliá, was born. In 1988, Juliá played a corrupt official in Moon over Parador
Moon Over Parador
Moon over Parador is a 1988 romantic comedy film, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Raúl Juliá and Sonia Braga. It is a remake of the 1939 film The Magnificent Fraud, based on the unpublished short story entitled Caviar for His Excellency by Charles G...
, but the movie received negative reviews from critics. The following year, he co-starred with Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Antonio Rodolfo Quinn-Oaxaca , more commonly known as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican American actor, as well as a painter and writer...
in Onassis: The Richest Man in the World, a biographic film covering the life of Aristotle Onassis
Aristotle Onassis
Aristotle Sokratis Onassis , commonly called Ari or Aristo Onassis, was a prominent Greek shipping magnate.- Early life :Onassis was born in Karatass, a suburb of Smyrna to Socrates and Penelope Onassis...
. In 1989, Juliá was cast as Archbishop Óscar Romero
Óscar Romero
Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez was a bishop of the Catholic Church in El Salvador. He became the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador, succeeding Luis Chávez. He was assassinated on 24 March 1980....
in the biographical movie, Romero
Romero (film)
Romero is a film depicting the life of assassinated Salvadoran Archbishop Óscar Romero, played by Raúl Juliá. Richard Jordan played the role of Romero's close friend and fellow martyred priest Rutilio Grande, and actors Ana Alicia and Harold Gould also appeared in the film.Romero was the first...
. During his life, Romero had been an advocate of civil rights, often denouncing violations of these rights in public, which prompted his assassination during a mass. Juliá accepted the role based on its political nature, seeking to draw attention to the issues in that Central American region. To prepare for the role, he read Romero's diary and autobiography as well as listening to or watching recordings of his messages and masses, which prompted him to rejoin the Catholic Church. Due to this and Poloway's Jewish religion, the couple decided not to raise their children in a particular religion, believing that they should make their own decision after growing older. The government of El Salvador refused to allow distribution of the film because of its content, so that the film received only clandestine circulation. Due to his activity between 1987 and 1989, Juliá was ranked first in Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
's "List of Busiest Hollywood Actors". Julia then starred in the film adaptation of The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera is a musical by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill, in collaboration with translator Elisabeth Hauptmann and set designer Caspar Neher. It was adapted from an 18th-century English ballad opera, John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, and offers a Marxist critique...
, recreating the role of Macheath in the movie, which was renamed Mack the Knife
Mack the Knife (film)
Mack the Knife is an American film adaptation of the Brecht/Weill musical The Threepenny Opera . The film was made in 1989.It was directed by Menahem Golan, with Raúl Juliá as Macheath, Richard Harris as Mr...
for its American release.
In 1990, he was cast to play a lawyer in Presumed Innocent
Presumed Innocent (film)
Presumed Innocent is a 1990 film adaptation of the best-selling novel of the same name by Scott Turow, which tells the story of a prosecutor charged with the murder of his female colleague and mistress....
, receiving solid reviews for his performance. Prior to the filming, Juliá spent time in court rooms and studied the court system. In 1991, when Papp died, Juliá commented that the director was directly responsible for finding him roles besides that of "stereotypical Latinos" such as that of the "Latin lover". Juliá was cast to play Gomez Addams
Gomez Addams
Gomez Addams is the fictional patriarch of The Addams Family, created by cartoonist Charles Addams for The New Yorker magazine in the 1930s....
in an adaptation
The Addams Family (film)
The Addams Family is a 1991 American black comedy film based on the characters from the cartoon of the same name created by cartoonist Charles Addams....
of The Addams Family. He was attracted to the role because of the character's irreverent portrayal, noting that "even his depressions are wonderful." Since his earlier recollections of the role were those from the Spanish-dubbed version of the first television series, he had to adapt the role directly from the original cartoons drawn by Charles Addams
Charles Addams
Charles "Chas" Samuel Addams was an American cartoonist known for his particularly black humor and macabre characters...
, receiving a nomination for a Saturn Award
Saturn Award
The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
. In 1992, Juliá played Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha
Man of La Mancha
Man of La Mancha is a musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion and music by Mitch Leigh. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay I, Don Quixote, which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervantes's seventeenth century masterpiece Don Quixote...
with Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton is a Scottish recording artist. Easton became famous for being the focus of an episode in the British television programme The Big Time, which recorded her attempts to gain a record contract and her eventual signing with EMI Records.Easton rose to fame in the early 1980s with the pop...
, a Broadway adaptation of Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered the first modern novel, is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written...
' classical novel. The play had originally begun in 1965, with the main character being played by one of his favorite actors, José Ferrer
José Ferrer
José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón , best known as José Ferrer, was a Puerto Rican actor, as well as a theater and film director...
. Juliá performed this role eight times per week. Subsequently, he reprised his role as Gomez Addams in Addams Family Values
Addams Family Values
Addams Family Values is a 1993 sequel to the 1991 comedy The Addams Family. The film was written by Paul Rudnick and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, and many cast members from the original returned for the sequel, including Raúl Juliá, Anjelica Huston, Christopher Lloyd, and Christina Ricci...
. In 1994, Juliá participated in his only project for HBO, playing Chico Mendes
Chico Mendes
Francisco Alves Mendes Filho, better known as Chico Mendes , was a Brazilian rubber tapper, trade union leader and environmentalist. He fought to preserve the Amazon rainforest, and advocated for the human rights of Brazilian peasants and indigenous peoples...
in The Burning Season, for which he received solid reviews. He familiarized himself with the role by analyzing interviews and footage from Mendes' Xapuri Rubber Tappers' Union, being impressed by the subject's actions.
Illness and Death
In early 1994, while filming The Burning SeasonThe Burning Season (1994 film)
The Burning Season is a 1994 television movie directed by John Frankenheimer. The film chronicled Chico Mendes's fight to protect the rainforest.-Plot:...
in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Juliá contracted food poisoning after consuming sushi
Sushi
is a Japanese food consisting of cooked vinegared rice combined with other ingredients . Neta and forms of sushi presentation vary, but the ingredient which all sushi have in common is shari...
. The condition worsened, since he had undergone stomach surgery a few months earlier for an infection which was rumored to be stomach cancer. Juliá was airlifted to Los Angeles and received medical attention. He recovered and returned to Mexico to finish the movie, but he lost several pounds and was physically weakened by his condition. Despite his poor health, he completed The Burning Season and was anxious to continue his plans and play M. Bison
M. Bison
M. Bison, known in Japan as Vega, is a video game character created by Capcom. First introduced in Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, he is a recurring character in the Street Fighter series of fighting games, acting as the final boss and primary antagonist of the Street Fighter II and Street...
in Street Fighter
Street Fighter (film)
Street Fighter is a 1994 American action film written and directed by Steven E. de Souza. It is based loosely on the same-titled video games produced by Capcom, and stars Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Raul Julia, along with supporting performances by Byron Mann, Damian Chapa, Kylie Minogue, Ming-Na...
to be filmed in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
that spring. Juliá felt that this film would allow him to spend more time with his children, who were fanatics of the video game franchise
Street Fighter
, commonly abbreviated as SF, is a series of Fighting Games developed in Japan in which the players pit the video games' competitive fighters from around the world, each with his or her own unique fighting style, against one another...
and helped him prepare for the role. He received his second Saturn Award nomination for this performance. This would be his final role in a major film, with his last work being a supporting role in the TV drama film Down Came a Blackbird
Down Came a Blackbird (film)
Down Came a Blackbird is a 1995 drama film made for TV starring Raúl Juliá. It was the final film appearance of Juliá, filmed in October 1994...
which was filmed in Washington state during September and October of 1994.
On October 16, 1994, Juliá and Poloway attended the Metropolitan Opera House
Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center)
The Metropolitan Opera House is an opera house located on Broadway at Lincoln Square in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the theater opened in 1966. It replaced the former Metropolitan Opera House at Broadway and 39th St...
in New York. After attending the play, he was supposed to meet Marcos Zurinaga
Marcos Zurinaga
Marcos Zurinaga is a cinematographer born and raised in Puerto Rico. Among the several movies that he has directed is "La Gran Fiesta", a movie about the last grand party at the old "Casino de Puerto Rico" building in Old San Juan before it was turned over to military use as the United States was...
, a Puerto Rican director who filmed the Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
/Puerto Rican coproduction Tango Bar. However, Juliá began feeling an intense abdominal pain and had to be carried by ambulance to North Shore University Hospital
North Shore University Hospital
North Shore University Hospital is one of the cornerstones of the North Shore-LIJ Health System, as well as an academic campus for the New York University School of Medicine and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine....
on Manhasset, Long Island, New York. He was initially not worried by the issue, reviewing the script for his intended role in Desperado
Desperado (film)
Desperado is a 1995 action thriller film written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. The film stars Antonio Banderas as the former mariachi who seeks revenge on the drug lord who killed his lover....
from his hospital bed, but his condition worsened. Later that night, Juliá suffered an unexpected stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
. The condition continued worsening and he fell into a coma on October 20, 1994, and was put on life support. Four days later, on October 24, 1994, Juliá died due to terminal complications from the brain hemorrhage. He was 54 years old. Despite the fact that he had been in ill health since 1991, which was speculated by the public to be from stomach cancer to other rare ailments, the underlying and unifying cause of his illness and unexpected death has never been revealed to the public.
Following previous instructions, his body was transported to Puerto Rico. A state funeral was held in San Juan on October 27, 1994, with Juliá being escorted to the building of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture
Institute of Puerto Rican Culture
The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture , or ICP, for short, is an institution of the Government of Puerto Rico responsible for the establishment of the cultural policies required in order to study, preserve, promote, enrich, and diffuse the cultural values of Puerto Rico...
, where a funeral ceremony was held. This activity was attended by thousands of Puerto Ricans, with plena
Plena
Plena is a folkloric genre native to Puerto Rico. Its creation was influenced by African and Spanish music.-History:The music is generally folkloric. The music's beat and rhythm are usually played using hand drums called panderetas, but also known as panderos or pleneras. The music is accompanied...
being played in the background. The burial ceremony was also attended by thousands of spectators, with La Borinqueña
La Borinqueña
La Borinqueña is the official anthem of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. After Puerto Rico became the "The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico" in 1952, the first elected governor, Luis Muñoz Marín, signed law #2 of July 24, 1952 that stated that the musical composition known as "La Borinqueña" was to...
being sung by Lucecita Benítez
Lucecita Benítez
Luz Esther Benítez , better known in the music world as Lucecita, is a Puerto Rican singer.-Biography:Lucecita was a member of what is historically known in Puerto Rico as the New Wave, or Nueva Ola of popular music, created by Alfred D. Herger, alongside Lissette and Chucho Avellanet, among others...
prior to the procession. After stopping at San Ignacio de Loyola Church, the procession advanced to Buxeda Cemetery, where Rubén Berríos
Rubén Berríos
Rubén Ángel Berríos Martínez is a lawyer, a Puerto Rican politician, and the current president of the Puerto Rican Independence Party...
offered the final words. As Juliá's coffin was lowered, a load of carnations was dropped from a helicopter, while the crowd shouted ¡Viva Puerto Rico Libre!. Juliá was a lifelong supporter of the Puerto Rican independence movement
Puerto Rican independence movement
The Puerto Rican independence movement refers to initiatives throughout the history of Puerto Rico aimed at obtaining independence for the Island, first from Spain, and then from the United States...
; on one occasion, he convinced his agent to allow him to do an advertising campaign on behalf of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company
Puerto Rico Tourism Company
The Puerto Rico Tourism Company was created during Governor Luis A. Ferré's administration to coordinate the marketing and growth of Puerto Rico's tourism sector...
.
Subsequent memorial ceremonies were held at Joe Papp Public Theatre in New York and in Los Angeles, where several actors and personalities, including Rubén Blades
Rubén Blades
Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna is a Panamanian salsa singer, songwriter, lawyer, actor, Latin jazz musician, and politician, performing musically most often in the Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz genres...
and Edward James Olmos
Edward James Olmos
Edward James Olmos is an American actor and director. Among his most memorable roles are William Adama in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, Lt...
, expressed their grief. A church mass in Miami and numerous private ceremonies were also held. The staff of Universal Pictures paid homage to him by dedicating Street Fighter in his memory, adding the phrase "For Raúl. Vaya con Dios" in the film's ending credits. Juliá was set to reprise his role as M. Bison
M. Bison
M. Bison, known in Japan as Vega, is a video game character created by Capcom. First introduced in Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, he is a recurring character in the Street Fighter series of fighting games, acting as the final boss and primary antagonist of the Street Fighter II and Street...
in the video game version of the Street Fighter film, having already met with the production staff. The New York Shakespeare Festival paid to have an obituary in Variety, where his birth and death dates were accompanied by a Shakespearean quote. The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater established free acting classes to young actors, which were named The Raúl Juliá Training Unit.
For his performance in The Burning Season, Juliá posthumously won a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
, a Screen Actors Guild Award
Screen Actors Guild Awards
A Screen Actors Guild Award is an accolade given by the Screen Actors Guild to recognize outstanding performances by its members. The statuette given, a nude male figure holding both a mask of comedy and a mask of tragedy, is called "The Actor"...
, a Cable Ace Award, and an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
. Although he did not make his screen debut before 1950, Juliá was a nominee for the American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
's AFI's 100 Years…100 Stars. Actors such as Helen Hunt
Helen Hunt
Helen Elizabeth Hunt is an American actress, film director, and screenwriter. She starred in the sitcom Mad About You for seven years, before being cast in the romantic comedy As Good as It Gets...
and Jimmy Smits
Jimmy Smits
Jimmy Smits is an American actor. Smits is perhaps best known for his roles as attorney Victor Sifuentes on the 1980s legal drama L.A. Law, as NYPD Detective Bobby Simone on the 1990s police drama NYPD Blue, and as Congressman Matt Santos on The West Wing...
have quoted him as a source of inspiration. On November 21, 1994, Rudy Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
declared that date "Raúl Juliá Day". In 1996, he was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame on Broadway. The Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce created the Raúl Juliá Scholarship Fund in 1997, intended to provide college education for teenagers.
Humanitarian work
During his life, Juliá continued the work that was done by his parents during his childhood, cooperating with social and educational activities. Due to this, he was named to the New York Council for the Humanities. Among the targets of Juliá's charity work were initiatives directed towards youth. Concerned with rising levels of violence among teenagers, he sponsored script writing in high school students and supported young actions. In order to promote other Latin American performers, Juliá actively lent his support to the Hispanic Organization of Latin ActorsHispanic Organization of Latin Actors
The Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors is an active arts service and advocacy organization. It is in the United States and dedicated to Hispanic artists and actors....
(HOLA) and co-founded Visiones Luminosas, an initiative to promote screenwriters. He continued to work in the NYSF, but performed without receiving a salary. In a similar fashion, Juliá cooperated with independent filmmakers in Puerto Rico by acting in their productions for free or receiving a low salary. This constant involvement with the Latin American community earned him a posthumous Hispanic Heritage Award. Juliá also promoted interracial integration, being a member of Racial Harmony and serving as the chairman of the Joseph Papp Celebrity Coalition for Racial Harmony.
As part of his work in The Hunger Project
The Hunger Project
The Hunger Project is a 501 non-profit charitable organization incorporated in the state of California.The Hunger Project describes itself as an organization committed to the sustainable end of world hunger...
, Juliá donated food to a food bank once every month. He also promoted the program on television and radio and served as narrator in bilingual videos. Juliá opened slots in his schedule to participate in multiple benefit galas on behalf of the organization. Due to this work, the project gave him their Global Citizen Award. His involvement was also recognized in "Ending Hunger: An Idea Whose time Has Come". On March 24, 1992, Juliá received the Courage of Conscience Award. In 1994, the government of El Salvador recognized his activism for human rights, granting him the role of overseer in their general elections in representation of Freedom House. During his visit to the country, he visited the tomb of Romero, subsequently describing his experience in a piece published in Freedom Review.
In recognition, the National Endowment for the Hispanic Arts offers the Raúl Juliá Award for Excellence annually. In 2002, actress Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock
Sandra Annette Bullock is an Academy Award winning American actress and producer who rose to fame in the 1990s after roles in successful films such as Demolition Man, Speed, The Net, A Time to Kill, and While You Were Sleeping. She continued with films such as Miss Congeniality, The Lake House,...
was presented with the award. She received it for her work as the executive producer of The George Lopez Show
George Lopez (TV series)
"The George Lopez Show" redirects here. For the late-night program hosted by the same comedian, see Lopez Tonight.George Lopez is an American sitcom starring comedian George Lopez...
, which offered work and exposition for Hispanic talent. In 2003, Daniel Rodríguez
Daniel Rodriguez
Daniel Rodríguez is an American operatic tenor from New York City. He became known as "The Singing Policeman" in his former work with the New York City Police Department, due to his role as one of the department's designated National Anthem singers...
won the first Raúl Juliá Global Citizen Award from the Puerto Rico Family Institute based in New York, receiving the recognition due to charity work.
Honors
- The Raul Julia Micro Society, a charter schoolCharter schoolCharter schools are primary or secondary schools that receive public money but are not subject to some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other public schools in exchange for some type of accountability for producing certain results, which are set forth in each school's charter...
located inside Public School 3 was named in honor of Julia. The school is located in the TremontTremont, BronxTremont is a low income residential neighborhood geographically located in the west Bronx, New York City. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 5. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: East 183rd Street to the north, Webster Avenue to the east, the...
neighborhood in the New York City borough of the Bronx. - The actor's training unit of the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre was renamed the Raul Julia Training Unit.
- The National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts (NHFA) honors outstanding entertainment personalities annually with their Raúl Juliá Award for Excellence. The award which recognizes individuals who have contributed to the growth and awareness of Latinos in the arts and media is awarded annually to many Hispanic and non-Hispanic personalities. Past winners include Cristina SaraleguiCristina SaraleguiCristina Saralegui is a Cuban American journalist, actress and talk show host of the Spanish-language eponymous show, Cristina. She also has her own fashion line of accessories and comforters for bed and bath....
(2010) and Sandra BullockSandra BullockSandra Annette Bullock is an Academy Award winning American actress and producer who rose to fame in the 1990s after roles in successful films such as Demolition Man, Speed, The Net, A Time to Kill, and While You Were Sleeping. She continued with films such as Miss Congeniality, The Lake House,...
(2002). - In 2000, the Hispanic Organization of Latin ActorsHispanic Organization of Latin ActorsThe Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors is an active arts service and advocacy organization. It is in the United States and dedicated to Hispanic artists and actors....
(HOLA) renamed its Founders Award to the Raúl Juliá HOLA Founders Award.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Stiletto | ||
| 1971 | The Organization The Organization (film) The Organization is a 1971 film starring Sidney Poitier as Virgil Tibbs. It was the last of the trilogy featuring the police detective Tibbs that had begun with In the Heat of the Night . In it Tibbs is called in to hunt down a gang of urban revolutionaries, suspected of a series of crimes... |
Juan Mendoza | |
| Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me is a novel by Richard Fariña. First published in the United States during 1966 the novel, based largely on Fariña's college experiences and travels, is a comic picaresque story that is set in the American West, in Cuba during the Cuban Revolution, and at an... |
Juan Carlos Rosenbloom | ||
| The Panic in Needle Park The Panic in Needle Park The Panic in Needle Park is a 1971 American film directed by Jerry Schatzberg and starring Al Pacino in his second film appearance. The screenplay was written by Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, adapted from the book by James Mills.... |
Marco | ||
| 1976 | The Gumball Rally The Gumball Rally The Gumball Rally is a 1976 film directed and co-written by Chuck Bail about a coast-to-coast road race. It was inspired by the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash run by Brock Yates which inspired several other films, including Cannonball and Cannonball Run.-Plot:Michael... |
Franco Bertollini | |
| 1978 | Eyes of Laura Mars Eyes of Laura Mars Eyes of Laura Mars is a 1978 thriller film starring Faye Dunaway and Tommy Lee Jones and directed by Irvin Kershner. The screenplay, adapted from a spec script titled Eyes, written by John Carpenter, was Carpenter's first major studio film... |
Michael Reisler | |
| 1979 | A Life of Sin | Paulo | |
| 1981 | Strong Medicine | ||
| 1982 | Tempest Tempest (1982 film) Tempest is an American comedy-drama film directed by Paul Mazursky. It is a very loose adaptation of the William Shakespeare play, The Tempest.... |
Kalibanos | Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture |
| The Escape Artist The Escape Artist The Escape Artist is a 1982 film starring Griffin O'Neal and Raúl Juliá. It was based on a book by David Wagoner, and was the directorial debut of Caleb Deschanel.-Plot:... |
Stu Quinones | ||
| One from the Heart One from the Heart One from the Heart is a 1982 musical film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The characters themselves do not actually sing but the powerful score dominates the movie. It is set entirely in Las Vegas, on the Las Vegas Strip and the desert surrounding the city... |
Ray | ||
| 1983 | Overdrawn at the Memory Bank Overdrawn at the Memory Bank Overdrawn at the Memory Bank was a 1983 television movie. It was produced by Canada’s RSL Productions in Toronto. Financing was provided by WNET/PBS New Jersey, which had hoped to create an entire science fiction series adapting famous works, but due to lack of funding this was the last of three... |
Aram Fingal | Featured in Mystery Science Theater 3000 Mystery Science Theater 3000 Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999.... , Episode 822 |
| 1985 | Compromising Positions Compromising Positions Compromising Positions is a 1985 film released by Paramount and directed by Frank Perry. The screenplay, by Susan Isaacs, was adapted from her 1978 detective novel. The plot concerns a Long Island housewife and former journalist who becomes involved in a murder investigation... |
David Suarez | |
| Kiss of the Spider Woman | Valentin Arregui | National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Award for Best Actor Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama |
|
| Mussolini: The Untold Story | Count Galeazzo Ciano Galeazzo Ciano Gian Galeazzo Ciano, 2nd Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari was an Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Benito Mussolini's son-in-law. In early 1944 Count Ciano was shot by firing squad at the behest of his father-in-law, Mussolini under pressure from Nazi Germany.-Early life:Ciano was born in... |
||
| La Gran Fiesta | |||
| 1986 | The Morning After | Joaquin Manero | |
| Florida Straits | Carlos Jayne | ||
| 1987 | Trading Hearts | Vinnie Iacona | |
| The Alamo: 13 Days To Glory | Antonio López de Santa Anna Antonio López de Santa Anna Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón , often known as Santa Anna or López de Santa Anna, known as "the Napoleon of the West," was a Mexican political leader, general, and president who greatly influenced early Mexican and Spanish politics and government... |
||
| 1988 | Tequila Sunrise Tequila Sunrise (film) Tequila Sunrise is an American crime thriller film written and directed by Robert Towne, and starring Mel Gibson, Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell, with support from Raúl Juliá, J. T... |
Carlos - Comandante Xavier Escalante | |
| Onassis: The Richest Man in the World | Aristotle Onassis Aristotle Onassis Aristotle Sokratis Onassis , commonly called Ari or Aristo Onassis, was a prominent Greek shipping magnate.- Early life :Onassis was born in Karatass, a suburb of Smyrna to Socrates and Penelope Onassis... |
||
| Tango Bar | Ricardo | ||
| Moon over Parador Moon Over Parador Moon over Parador is a 1988 romantic comedy film, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Raúl Juliá and Sonia Braga. It is a remake of the 1939 film The Magnificent Fraud, based on the unpublished short story entitled Caviar for His Excellency by Charles G... |
Roberto Strausmann | Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture | |
| The Penitent | Ramón Guerola | ||
| 1989 | Romero Romero (film) Romero is a film depicting the life of assassinated Salvadoran Archbishop Óscar Romero, played by Raúl Juliá. Richard Jordan played the role of Romero's close friend and fellow martyred priest Rutilio Grande, and actors Ana Alicia and Harold Gould also appeared in the film.Romero was the first... |
Óscar Romero Óscar Romero Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez was a bishop of the Catholic Church in El Salvador. He became the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador, succeeding Luis Chávez. He was assassinated on 24 March 1980.... |
|
| 1990 | Havana Havana (film) Havana is a drama film starring Robert Redford, Lena Olin and Raúl Juliá, directed by Sydney Pollack with music by Dave Grusin, and released in 1990. In the film, an American professional gambler named Jack Weil decides to visit Havana, Cuba to gamble. On the boat to Havana, he meets Roberta Duran... |
Arturo Duran | |
| The Rookie The Rookie (1990 film) The Rookie is a 1990 American action film directed by Clint Eastwood and produced by Howard G. Kazanjian, Steven Siebert and David Valdes. It was written from a screenplay conceived by Boaz Yakin and Scott Spiegel. The film stars Charlie Sheen, Clint Eastwood, Raúl Juliá, Sônia Braga, Lara Flynn... |
Strom | ||
| Frankenstein Unbound Frankenstein Unbound Frankenstein Unbound is a 1990 horror movie based on Brian Aldiss' novel of the same name. This film was directed by Roger Corman, returning to the director's chair after a hiatus of almost twenty years.- Cast :... |
Victor Frankenstein Victor Frankenstein Victor Frankenstein was born in Napoli, is a Swiss fictional character and the protagonist of the 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, written by Mary Shelley... |
||
| Presumed Innocent Presumed Innocent (film) Presumed Innocent is a 1990 film adaptation of the best-selling novel of the same name by Scott Turow, which tells the story of a prosecutor charged with the murder of his female colleague and mistress.... |
Sandy Stern | ||
| Mack the Knife Mack the Knife (film) Mack the Knife is an American film adaptation of the Brecht/Weill musical The Threepenny Opera . The film was made in 1989.It was directed by Menahem Golan, with Raúl Juliá as Macheath, Richard Harris as Mr... |
MacHeath | ||
| 1991 | The Addams Family The Addams Family (film) The Addams Family is a 1991 American black comedy film based on the characters from the cartoon of the same name created by cartoonist Charles Addams.... |
Gomez Addams | Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Actor Saturn Award for Best Actor The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed, who felt that films within those genres... |
| 1992 | La Peste | Cottard | Also known as The Plague |
| 1993 | Addams Family Values Addams Family Values Addams Family Values is a 1993 sequel to the 1991 comedy The Addams Family. The film was written by Paul Rudnick and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, and many cast members from the original returned for the sequel, including Raúl Juliá, Anjelica Huston, Christopher Lloyd, and Christina Ricci... |
Gomez Addams | |
| 1994 | The Burning Season The Burning Season (1994 film) The Burning Season is a 1994 television movie directed by John Frankenheimer. The film chronicled Chico Mendes's fight to protect the rainforest.-Plot:... |
Chico Mendes | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Miniseries or a Movie Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie |
| Street Fighter Street Fighter (film) Street Fighter is a 1994 American action film written and directed by Steven E. de Souza. It is based loosely on the same-titled video games produced by Capcom, and stars Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Raul Julia, along with supporting performances by Byron Mann, Damian Chapa, Kylie Minogue, Ming-Na... |
General M. Bison | Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor | |
| 1995 | Down Came a Blackbird Down Came a Blackbird (film) Down Came a Blackbird is a 1995 drama film made for TV starring Raúl Juliá. It was the final film appearance of Juliá, filmed in October 1994... |
Tomas Ramirez |
See also
- Cinema of Puerto RicoCinema of Puerto RicoThe history of the Cinema industry in Puerto Rico begins with the US invasion of the island in 1898. At that time, the American soldiers brought cameras to record what they saw. It was not until the 1912 that Puerto Ricans would begin to produce their own films.After this, Puerto Rican cinema has...
- List of Puerto Ricans