Happy 75th Birthday Frank Braña

Born Francisco Braña Perez on February 24, 1934 in Pola de Allende, Asturias, Spain, Francisco first became a stuntman and then an actor. He was one of the mainstays in the Italian/Spanish co-productions of the 1960s and 1970s. Appearing under such pseudonyms as Frank Blank, Frank Branya, Francisco Braña, and Paco Braña he became one of the most recognized faces in the Spaghetti western genre. Appearing in Leone’s “Dollar Trilogy”, we soon recognized his graying hair and dark eyebrows which were unmistakable when we saw him in later films. Braña and Aldo Sambrell share the same agent, Aldo’s wife, so they appeared together regularly during the heyday of the Spaghetti Westerns. Braña has appeared in over 200 films and over 50 westerns. Still active today he recently received an award for Best Actor by the University of Navarre for his performance in “El viejo y el mar” (The Old Man and the Sea). An interview with this great character actor can be found in issue #73 of Westerns…All’Italiana. Happy 75th birthday Frank Braña.