It is 100 years since the birth of the Aragonese artist
whose filmography includes, among others, some of the most important titles of
the spaghetti western genre.
Heraldo
2/28/2017
Aragón is a land of illustrious filmmakers who have
marked the history of the seventh art inside and outside Spain. And even though
the passage of time has covered those film lives with dust, the memory of the
spectators who saw some of their films always managed to sweep away that
forgetfulness.
One of the most important Aragonese figures in the
history of Spanish cinema is actor and theater director Roberto Camardiel, who
is commemorated this year on the centenary of his birth, and who was a native
of the town of Zaragoza Alagón, where he came to the world on November 29,
1917.
To preserve his memory, his family will give away about
300 photographs of his films as well as other personal objects of the actor to
the Alagón Town Hall, which already has in its auditorium a permanent space
dedicated to the artist in which various graphic material (heatrical posters,
film pictures, cinema posters etc.).
"He is an actor so important in Aragon and Aragon is
little touted and unknown to the general public; Although he was a humble
person and seldom appeared in social life, although he was very busy as can be
deduced from his immense work, "laments Roberto Gutiérrez, grand-nephew of
Camardiel, who is currently working on recovery and elaboration of a biography
about the actor.
The Aragonese artist was, during more than 3 decades, one
of the essential faces of national and international cinema. He shared posters
with actors such as Jean Paul Belmondo and Zsa Zsa Gabor, participated in
international co-productions such as “For a Few Dollars More” and “The Colossus of Rhodes” - both directed by
Sergio Leone -, 'A Escape Libre' or 'La Condesa Azul ', among other.
He worked in many Italian productions for over 11 years,
some of them shot in Cinecittà Studios, and for a time he actually settled in
Rome. Some of the Spaghetti westerns he worked on were 'The Falcon and the Prey', “Adiós, gringo”, “The Son of Jesse
James”, “Arizona Colt” and “A Train for Durango”.
He acted for directors such as Sergio Leone, Luis Garcia
Berlanga, Pio Caro Baroja, Tulio Demichelli, Alfonso Balcázar, Antonio Mercero,
Antonio del Amo, Edgar Neville, Juan Antonio Barbem, Jorge Grau, Mariano
Ozores, Juan de Orduña, Luis Lucía, Pedro Olea ...
He also starred in films with Miguel Ríos, Marisol, Joselito,
and Rocío Dúrcal, and participated in such well-known television series as ‘Curro
Jiménez’, ‘Verano Azul’ and ‘Goya’, in which he played the master Luzán, His
last appearance before the cameras.
From Alagón to
Zaragoza
As a child, the family of Roberto Camardiel was forced to
move to Zaragoza in order to find work and union pressures suffered by his
father, Blas Camardiel Díaz, chief engineer of the sugar mill Nuestra Senora de
las Mercedes de Alagón, to defend the rights from the workers.
His mother, Asunción Escudero Saldaña, his sister
Mercedes, his father and he settled in the Aragonese capital, fixing his residence
in the old Plaza del Carbón (today Plaza de Salamero).
At the age of 14, after leaving school, he began working
as an apprentice in the Portabella printing press, although he soon changed his
job and became a postal and telegraph courier. He began to take an interest in
the theater, inspired by his sister Mercedes, who then acted as a choir girl in
the company of Zarzuela of the parents of Plácido Domingo.
Jump to the cinema
When he became of age he was introduced to the theater
through the company Hersal representing the works of Jacinth Benavente, mainly.
During that stage he met the actor Ismael Merlo, with whom he made a great
friendship.
At the age of 24, Camardiel began playing leading roles
in theatrical comedies in the most important national companies, until in 1952
he made his film debut with his first film ' “Persecución en Madrid”. From that
moment, his career took off in an unstoppable way.
In 1962, the Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos
awarded him the Medal for Best Actor for his performance in “Ensayo general
para la muerte” and two years later he received the National Prize for Best
Male Performance for his roles in Isidro Labrador, Rafael J. Salviá, and in “Piedra
de toque”, by Julio Buchs.
Return to Zaragoza
Roberto Camardiel retired in 1983, after half a century
on the scene, and moved his residence from Madrid to Zaragoza, where he went to
live with his sister Mercedes and, although he interrupted his retirement two
years later to collaborate in the series 'Goya', he never acted again. During his
last years, he frequently visited old friends of the city, like Jose Otal, Ignacio
Moreno, Maria José Cabrera or Conchita Carrillo, among others.
The actor died within a few months of being diagnosed
with a serious bone disease, on June 15, 1989, at the Miguel Servet Hospital in
Zaragoza.
In 2007, on the proposal of the Association of Residents
of Kasan of the District of Acturr, the City of Zaragoza named a public park
after him which is located next to the building Kasan, a place where he had lived
since leaving Madrid.
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