Carlos Villarias

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Carlos Villarias (born July 7, 1892 in Córdoba , † April 27, 1976 in Los Angeles ) was a Spanish-American film actor .

Life

In the 1930s to 1950s Villarias took part in over 80 cinema productions of all genres. He made his first film in 1930, directed by Richard Harlan , entitled El Valiente . In the credits he sometimes appears as Carolos Villarias or Carlos Villar.

Villarias achieved international renown for his portrayal of the title role in the 1931 Hollywood film, Spanish version of the universal classic Dracula , directed by George Melford . At that time the American film industry had a strong market in the Spanish-speaking countries (especially in Latin America), but the dubbing technology was not yet available. That is why Universal Pictures produced, parallel to their American version of Dracula (with Bela Lugosi in the lead role), a Spanish version in which Villarias played the lead role in the same sets and with the same props . In professional circles, the quality of this Spanish version has long been preferred to the Lugosi original. Lupita Tovar , who played the lead female role, recalled in a television interview in the 1990s that Villarias and the film crew watched the Lugosi film making during the day in order to do better on their own shoot during the night.

The international breakthrough remained for Villarias but failed despite his great acting performances in Dracula . His film was only shown to a relatively small audience, while his American colleague Lugosi achieved world fame. In addition, this version was considered lost for decades and did not reappear until the 1990s.

Villarias ended his film career in 1956 but stayed in his adopted home America and died twenty years later at the age of 84.

Filmography (selection)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Villarias, Carlos
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Hispanic-American film actor
DATE OF BIRTH July 7, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Cordoba
DATE OF DEATH April 27, 1976
Place of death los Angeles