Remembering Frank Brana

Francisco Braña Pérez was born on February 24, 1934 in Pola de Allande, Asturias, Spain. As a young man he worked as a miner to support the family, and became ill with silicosis.

 
He began his career as an extra in the spaghetti westerns so fashionable in the 1960s, from which he suffered numerous injuries. “Golpe de mano” (“Surprise Attack”) (1970) was the most successful film of his career, appearing more than six months on the Gran Vía, has also acted in numerous television series and was certainly one of the greats of Spanish cinema, he worked with great actors like Fernando Rey, Francisco Rabal and Eduardo Fajardo, besides knowing a large number of internationally renowned artists such as Clint Eastwood, Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards, Oliver Reed, Terence Hill and Bud Spencer.
 
Brana appeared in over 60 Euro-westerns during his 50 year career from “Apachey Fury” in 1963 to “Tex and the Lord of the Deep” in 1985.
 
During his career he won several awards including the University of Navarra 's Best Actor Award for the short film : “The Old Man and the Sea” by screenwriter and director Enrique Rodriguez. One of the Spanish artists most demanded by American films, he acted for various American productions in more than 60 films since he was among the few Spanish actors speaking English. The actor was honored the Western Festival Western of Almeria in September 2011. Brana although weakened by his silicosis continued to work until the end of his life on February 13, 2012 in Madrid, Spain. He received the Award of Honor posthumously 8th Asturian Film Festival held in Oviedo -Oviedo in 2013.
 
Today we remember Frank Brana on what would have been his 80^th birthday.