Remembering Fernando Sancho

Fernando Sancho Les was born on January 7, 1916 in Zaragoza, Spain. Fernando began his film career as a double for leading men and appeared in his first film “Orosia” in 1944 directed by Ignacio Iquino. He’s known primarily for his many roles as a charismatic Mexican bandit in dozens of Spaghetti Westerns such as “A Pistol for Ringo, “The Return of Ringo”, “Minnesota Clay”, “The Big Gundown”, “Django Shoots First”, “Sartana” “$10,000 for a Massacre” and scores of others. His personal life was a bit peculiar. He loved bullfighting and would often introduce American and other European actors he was filming with to the sport. He loved a good cigar and would often walk through a town handing out autographed photos of himself and to the many eating establishments he would dine in. Sancho did appear in some large international productions such as “King of Kings” (1961), “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962) and “55 Days at Peking” (1963). He also appeared in three Karl May films but none were westerns. When the western genre began to end Sancho began to show up in crime and horror films such as “Attack of the Blind Dead” by Amando de Ossorio and “The Black Death” (1989) with Mario Adorf. Sancho was the brother of actor Emilio Sancho and was married to actress Maite Pardo. He is the father of composer Fernando Sancho Jr. [1959- ]. Sancho was good friends with Eduardo Fajardo who was the president of the Spanish Actors Union, therefore they often took the best roles offered to Spanish actors and both specialized in villainous roles. Fernando died the day after an operation to remove a cancerous tumor on July 31, 1990 in Madrid, Spain. Today we remember Fernando Sancho on what would have been his 95th birthday.

YouTube Fernando Sancho tribute link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3nvuxcuvW8