Vicente Parra | |
---|---|
Born |
Oliva, Spain |
5 February 1931
Died | 2 March 1997 Madrid |
Occupation | Actor |
Vicente Parra (5 February 1931 – 2 March 1997) was a Spanish actor.
Born Vicente Parra Collado in Oliva, Valencia, in a lower-class family, he began his career at a young age in the theater. He formed part of a number of theatrical companies. He made his film debut at age eighteen with the film Rumbo (Heading) (1949) in a small role. He became famous with the thriller film El expreso de Andalucía (The Andalusian express) (1956) under the direction of Francisco Rovira Beleta. He then put his work in the theater in the background to concentrate in pursuing a career in films. He made two films directed by Mauel Mur Otis : Fedra (1956), an adaptation of the classical play, and the melodrama El batallón de las sombras (1957). The same year he starred in Rapsodia de sangre (1957) a film directed by Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.
Vicente Parra achieved his biggest success with the film ¿Dónde vas Alfonso XII? (Where Are You Going, Alfonso XII?) (1958), under the direction of Luis César Amadori, a film in which he played the eponymous king while the singer Paquita Rico played Queen Mercedes. Two years later, he reprised the role in the film's sequel ¿Dónde vas, triste de ti? (Where are you going sad man) ? (1960) in which the Mexican actress Marga López, took the role of Queen María Cristina, Archduchess of Austria. Both films, inspired by the "Empress Sissi" trilogy of films (fictional treatments of the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria), were highly sentimental and typecast him. His popularity declined afterwards.
In the following years Parra starred in the musical Nobleza baturra (Aragonese nobility) (1965) and he mixed his work in the theater, where he formed his own company, with edgier parts in films like: Varietés (Variety) (1971) under the direction of Juan Antonio Bardem. He left behind his image as a handsome leading man with two horror films for controversial director Eloy de la iglesia: La Semana del Asesino (The Cannibal Man) (1972) and Nadie oyó gritar (Nobody hear the Scream)(1973). In La Semana del asesino, he played a working class serial killer who put his victims through the grinder at a meat factory.