Who Are Those Guys? - Alfonso del Real

 

Alfonso Suárez del Real was born on the waters of the Atlantic Ocean on December 27, 1916, on the ship Alfonso XIII, when his parents were traveling to Havana, Cuba. He remained in that city until the age of thirteen, when he returned to Spain with his family and settled in Burgos. He began to work in the theatre as a meritorious in the early 1930s in the company of Antonio Vico and Carmen Carbonell, and later in that of Loreto Prado and Enrique Chicote. However, he did not make his stage debut until 1934 with the company led by Casimiro Ortas.

After the Spanish civil war, in which it is unknown where he worked or if he served, he began as a comic tenor of zarzuela, being part of Salvador Videgain's company in the early forties. At the end of that decade he began in a theatrical genre then in vogue in Spain, the revue, and participated, among other plays, in “La de los ojos en blanco” or “Que me la traigan”. In the following years, he continued to abound in the genre, which he combined with comedies (“My Fair Lady”, “Lend me a billioncito”, “Untitled Comedy”, by Federico García Lorca) or even zarzuela as a comic tenor “La Gran Vía” 

In the 1950s he tried to set up his own company, but the project failed, and Alfonso del Real was practically ruined. He then retired from show business and became the manager of the businesses of his friend, the actor Manolo Morán.

Back on the scene, he made his film debut in 1962 and soon became one of the most prominent faces in the comedy genre. His peculiar physique, his small stature, his tone of voice and his mannerisms made him the right actor to play in numerous comedies over four decades. During that time, he appeared in more than a hundred titles under the direction of filmmakers such as Fernando Fernán Gómez, Pedro Lazaga, José Luis Sáenz de Heredia, Vicente Escrivá, José María Forqué and on 23 occasions, with Mariano Ozores.

He also became a regular face on television, where he appeared in dozens of titles represented in spaces such as Estudio 1, as well as starring, together with Antonio Casal, in the series ‘Plinio’ (1971), presenting for a time the program ‘Gente joven’ (1977) and participating in the comedy ‘Sumarísimo’ (1978-1979), by Valerio Lazarov, as well as ‘Farmacia de guardia’.

He was married to the dancer and actress María Teresa for a time and they had two sons, Emilio and Alfonso. During the 1990s, when Álvarez del Manzano was the mayor of Madrid, he was called upon to embody the typical castizo, playing roles that the councilor saw in his youth, such as Don Hilarión, being the town crier of the Madrid festivals.

He died on January 16, 2002, in Palma de Mallorca, from respiratory failure. He was 85.

del REAL, Alfonso (Alfonso Suárez del Real) [12/27/1916, Cuba – 1/16/2002, Palma, Majorca, Balearic Islands, Spain (respiratory failure)] – theater, film, TV actor, restauranteur, politician, married to dancer, actress María Teresa (Maruja Tomás) [1912-1977] (195?-19??) father of Emilio Del Real, Alfonso Del Real.

Fall of the Mohicans - 1965 (Hagen)

The Black Wolf – 1980 (Marques)

Revenge of the Black Wolf - 1981 (Marques)