Remembering Hugo Fregonese

Hugo Geronimo Fregonese was born on April 8, 1908 in Mendoza, Argentina. He was an Argentine film director who worked in both Hollywood and Argentina. A former sports journalist, he attended Columbia University in 1935, and then was hired to be a technical advisor for films with Latin American themes. By 1938, he was again living in Argentina. There he worked as an editor, assistant director and short film director. He made his directorial debut in 1943 and in 1949, he directed “Apenas un delincuente”. Most of Fregonese's American films were westerns and crime melodramas such as: “Man in the Attic” (1953) and “Black Tuesday” (1954). Fregonese produced and wrote one Euro-western: “Find a Place to Die” (1968). He also directed and wrote the South American western “Savage Pampas” (1966).

He had two children with his first wife, American actress Faith Domergue[1924-1999]. The couple were married in Buenos Aires, Argentina at the San America Hotel on June 16, 1947. The couple had a tumultuous relationship but it finally brought happiness when the first child Diana Maria on July 19, 1948 and the 2nd child John Anthony on May 14, 1950. The couple separated in 1957 and divorced on January 28, 1958. Hugo died in Villa Adelina, Buenos Aires, Argentina on January 11, 1987.

Today we remember Hugo Fregonese on what would have been his 105^th birthday.