Paul Naschy(1934-2009)
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Paul Naschy reigns supreme as the true king of Spanish horror cinema.
He was born Jacinto Molina Alvarez on September 6, 1934, in Madrid,
Spain. His father ran a successful fur business. Naschy grew up during
the Spanish Civil War, and sought escape from the real-life horrors
around him in adventure comics and movie serials; he often cited seeing
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
in a theater at age 11 as a seminal inspirational experience (his later
movies would be filled with references to it). A talented athlete,
Naschy played soccer for the school team and was a weightlifter who
became the lightweight champion of Spain in 1958. Moreover, Paul penned
Western pulp novels under the pseudonym Jack Mills and worked as an
illustrator who did album cover art for a Spanish record label. Thanks
to his muscular build, Naschy was able to break into the motion picture
business in the early 1960s as an uncredited extra in such films as
"King of the
Vikings"--El príncipe encadenado (1960)--and
the biblical epic
King of Kings (1961).
In 1967 he wrote the script for
Frankenstein's Bloody Terror (1968).
He was forced, out of necessity, to play the lead role of tormented
werewolf Waldermar Daninsky after
Lon Chaney Jr. turned it down. He
reprised this character in over a dozen subsequent sequels. Naschy's
portrayals of the anguished and sympathetic werewolf Daninsky became
his signature part and consolidated his enduring cult status as a
bona-fide horror icon. Other significant horror figures Paul played
were the Mummy, Jack the Ripper, Dracula (his performance as the Prince
of Darkness in
Count Dracula's Great Love (1973)
was one of his personal favorites), the Hunchback, the Frankenstein
Monster, the Phantom of the Opera, and even the Devil. Naschy made his
directorial debut with
Inquisition (1977). The film "Howl of
the
Devil"--Howl of the Devil (1988)--was
one of Paul's most personal projects and finest artistic achievements.
Naschy had a major heart attack in 1991, but fully recovered and kept
soldiering on. He wrote his autobiography, "Memoirs of a Wolfman," in
1997. His career gained new momentum in the early 21st century. Paul
was especially memorable as the vicious title character in
School Killer (2001) and had an
excellent autobiographical leading role as bitter, washed-up veteran
horror actor Pablo Thevenet in
Rojo sangre (2004). Naschy was
inducted into the Fangoria Hall of Fame in 2000 and was the recipient
of the Gold Medal Award in Fine Arts in Spain in 2001. Moreover, he
also did interviews and commentaries for DVD releases of his movies.
Paul was still acting when he died of pancreatic cancer at age 75 on
November 30, 2009, in Madrid, Spain.
Although he's sadly no longer with us, Naschy's extremely rich, varied
and impressive horror cinema legacy will continue to scare, shock, and
delight audiences throughout the world for all eternity.
He was born Jacinto Molina Alvarez on September 6, 1934, in Madrid,
Spain. His father ran a successful fur business. Naschy grew up during
the Spanish Civil War, and sought escape from the real-life horrors
around him in adventure comics and movie serials; he often cited seeing
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
in a theater at age 11 as a seminal inspirational experience (his later
movies would be filled with references to it). A talented athlete,
Naschy played soccer for the school team and was a weightlifter who
became the lightweight champion of Spain in 1958. Moreover, Paul penned
Western pulp novels under the pseudonym Jack Mills and worked as an
illustrator who did album cover art for a Spanish record label. Thanks
to his muscular build, Naschy was able to break into the motion picture
business in the early 1960s as an uncredited extra in such films as
"King of the
Vikings"--El príncipe encadenado (1960)--and
the biblical epic
King of Kings (1961).
In 1967 he wrote the script for
Frankenstein's Bloody Terror (1968).
He was forced, out of necessity, to play the lead role of tormented
werewolf Waldermar Daninsky after
Lon Chaney Jr. turned it down. He
reprised this character in over a dozen subsequent sequels. Naschy's
portrayals of the anguished and sympathetic werewolf Daninsky became
his signature part and consolidated his enduring cult status as a
bona-fide horror icon. Other significant horror figures Paul played
were the Mummy, Jack the Ripper, Dracula (his performance as the Prince
of Darkness in
Count Dracula's Great Love (1973)
was one of his personal favorites), the Hunchback, the Frankenstein
Monster, the Phantom of the Opera, and even the Devil. Naschy made his
directorial debut with
Inquisition (1977). The film "Howl of
the
Devil"--Howl of the Devil (1988)--was
one of Paul's most personal projects and finest artistic achievements.
Naschy had a major heart attack in 1991, but fully recovered and kept
soldiering on. He wrote his autobiography, "Memoirs of a Wolfman," in
1997. His career gained new momentum in the early 21st century. Paul
was especially memorable as the vicious title character in
School Killer (2001) and had an
excellent autobiographical leading role as bitter, washed-up veteran
horror actor Pablo Thevenet in
Rojo sangre (2004). Naschy was
inducted into the Fangoria Hall of Fame in 2000 and was the recipient
of the Gold Medal Award in Fine Arts in Spain in 2001. Moreover, he
also did interviews and commentaries for DVD releases of his movies.
Paul was still acting when he died of pancreatic cancer at age 75 on
November 30, 2009, in Madrid, Spain.
Although he's sadly no longer with us, Naschy's extremely rich, varied
and impressive horror cinema legacy will continue to scare, shock, and
delight audiences throughout the world for all eternity.