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Tyrone Power was one of the great romantic swashbuckling stars of the mid-twentieth century, and the third Tyrone Power of four in a famed acting dynasty reaching back to the eighteenth century. His great-grandfather was the first Tyrone Power (1795-1841), a famed Irish comedian. His father, known to historians as Tyrone Power Sr., but to his contemporaries as either Tyrone Power or Tyrone Power the Younger, was a huge star in the theater (and later in films) in both classical and modern roles. His mother, Helen Emma "Patia" (née Reaume), (Mrs. Tyrone Power), was also a Shakespearean actress as well as a respected dramatic coach.

Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr., (also called Tyrone Power III) was born at his mother's home of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1914. His ancestry included English, Irish, German, French Huguenot, and French-Canadian. A frail, sickly child, he was taken by his parents to the warmer climate of southern California. After his parents' divorce, he and his sister Anne Power returned to Cincinnati with their mother. There he attended school while developing an obsession with acting. Although raised by his mother, he corresponded with his father, who encouraged his acting dreams. He was a supernumerary in his father's stage production of 'The Merchant of Venice' in Chicago and held him as he died suddenly of a heart attack later that year.

Startlingly handsome, young Tyrone nevertheless struggled to find work in Hollywood. He appeared in a few small roles, then went east to do stage work. A screen test led to a contract at 20th Century Fox in 1936, and he quickly progressed to leading roles. Within a year or so, he was one of Fox's leading stars, playing in contemporary and period pieces with ease. Most of his roles were colorful without being deep, and his swordplay was more praised than his wordplay. He served in the Marine Corps in World War II as a transport pilot, and he saw action in the Pacific Theater of operations.

After the war, he got his best reviews for an atypical part as a downward-spiraling con-man in Nightmare Alley (1947). Although he remained a huge star, much of his postwar work was unremarkable. He continued to do notable stage work and also began producing films. Following a fine performance in Billy Wilder's Witness for the Prosecution (1957), Power began production on Solomon and Sheba (1959). Halfway through shooting, he suffered a heart attack during a dueling scene with George Sanders and died before reaching a hospital.

His three children, including his namesake, Tyrone William Power IV (known professionally as Tyrone Power Jr.), have all followed him in the family acting tradition.

Bing Crosby was born Harry Lillis Crosby, Jr. in Tacoma, Washington, the fourth of seven children of Catherine (Harrigan) and Harry Lincoln Crosby, a brewery bookkeeper. He was of English and Irish descent. Crosby studied law at Gonzaga University in Spokane but was more interested in playing the drums and singing with a local band. Bing and the band's piano player, Al Rinker, left Spokane for Los Angeles in 1925. In the early 1930s Bing's brother Everett sent a record of Bing singing "I Surrender, Dear" to the president of CBS. His live performances from New York were carried over the national radio network for 20 consecutive weeks in 1932. His radio success led Paramount Pictures to include him in The Big Broadcast (1932), a film featuring radio favorites. His songs about not needing a bundle of money to make life happy was the right message for the decade of the Great Depression. His relaxed, low-key style carried over into the series of "Road" comedies he made with pal Bob Hope. He won the best actor Oscar for playing an easygoing priest in Going My Way (1944). He showed that he was indeed an actor as well as a performer when he played an alcoholic actor down on his luck opposite Grace Kelly in The Country Girl (1954). Playing golf was what he liked to do best. He died at age 74 playing golf at a course outside Madrid, Spain, after completing a tour of England that had included a sold-out engagement at the London Palladium.

After his schooling in Edinburgh, the British character actor Roy Kinnear attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Following national service, Kinnear appeared on stage, radio, and television in Scotland before becoming a household name in Britain in the early 1960s as one of the original members of the television series That Was the Week That Was (1962). Around this time, he also established his film career, specializing in jovial, yet sometimes slightly sinister, characters, such as Finney, Moriarty's henchman, in The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975). Another characteristic role was that of Planchet in the Musketeer movies, a role that tragically led to his death from a riding accident during the filming of The Return of the Musketeers (1989).

Fernando Rey, the great Spanish movie actor primarily known in the United States for his role as "Frog One" in The French Connection (1971) and its sequel, was born Fernando Casado D'Arambillet on September 20 1917, in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain, the son of Colonel Casado Veiga. Originally, the young Fernando intended to become an architect. However, when the Spanish Civil War erupted in 1936, his architectural studies were interrupted, and he gained employment as a movie extra. He took the stage name "Fernando Rey" at the beginning of his career, equivalent, in English, to "Fernando King". Eight years after his movie debut, he was cast in his first major speaking role, as the Duke de Alba in José López Rubio's 1944 movie "Eugenia de Montijo".

Rey enjoyed a long and prosperous career as an actor in movies, the theater, radio, and television. He also was a major voice-over artist in Spain, narrating films and dubbing the voices of actors in foreign films. Rey's most fruitful collaboration was with the great director Luis Buñuel, which began during the 1960s and continued thought the 1970s. The films that Rey appeared in for Buñuel' made him an international star, the first produced by the Spanish cinema. By the early 1970s, Rey's career reached its high point, with his co-starring role in "The French Connection" (Best Picture Oscar Winner for 1971) and his starring role in Buñuel's The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) ("The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie", Best Foreign Language Film Oscar winner for 1972). Rey followed up these successes by appearing in The French Connection (1971) in 1974, and Buñuel's tandem That Obscure Object of Desire (1977) ("That Obscure Object of Desire"), an art-house hit that was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Ironically, in the film, Rey's voice was dubbed into French by Michel Piccoli. That same year, he won the Best Actor prize at Cannes for Carlos Saura' Elisa, My Life (1977).

Many honors came to Rey in the twilight of his career, during the 1980s and 1990s. He was awarded at San Sebastián and Cannes, and was presented with the gold medal of the Spanish Art and Movie Sciences Academy. He became the president of that Academy from 1992 till his death from cancer two years later.

Silvana Mangano was born on April 21, 1930 in Rome, Italy and was raised in poverty during World War II. She trained as a dancer for seven years and supported herself as a model. In 1946, at age 16, she won the Miss Rome beauty pageant and through this, she obtained role in a Maria Della Costa film. One year later, she was one of the girls in the Miss Italia contest. Lucia Bose became "The Queen", and nearby, on the stage of Stresa, were some other future stars of Italian cinema: Gina Lollobrigida, Eleonora Rossi Drago and Gianna Maria Canale.

Mangano's earlier connection with filmmaking occurred with her romantic relationship with actor Marcello Mastroianni. This led her to a film contract, though this would take some time for Mangano to ascend to international stardom with her role in Bitter Rice (1949). Thereatfer, she signed a contract with Lux Film, and later married Dino De Laurentiis, who was on the verge of becoming a known producer. Though she never scaled the heights of her contemporaries Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida, Mangano remained a favorite star of the 1950s and 1970s, appearing in Anna (1951), The Gold of Naples (1954), Mambo (1954), Teorema (1968), Death in Venice (1971) and The Scopone Game (1972).

Married to film producer Dino De Laurentiis from 1949, the couple had four children: Veronica, Raffaella, Francesca and Federico. Veronica's daughter Giada is the host of "Everyday Italian" and "Giada at Home" on the Food Network. Raffaella co-produced with her father on Mangano's penultimate film, the science fiction epic Dune (1984). In 1983, she separated from De Laurentiis and abandoned her career to live in Paris and Madrid, where she made tapestries. Following surgery on December 4, 1989 that left her in a coma, Silvana Mangano died at age 59 of lung cancer in Madrid, Spain during the early morning hours of December 16, 1989.

Marisa Paredes was born on 3 April 1946 in Madrid, Madrid, Spain. She was an actress, known for All About My Mother (1999), The Skin I Live In (2011) and High Heels (1991). She was married to Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi. She died on 17 December 2024 in Madrid, Spain.

Spanish director, writer, producer (2 films) and actor (2 films). His interest in cinema started when he was very young. His mother, who was a pianist, instilled in him the liking for music, and his brother, Antonio, who was a painter, the passion for art. When he was an teenager he started to practice photography, and in 1950 he made his first illustrated feature films with a 16 mm camera. Carlos Saura is an excellent photographer, an activity that he shares in a sporadic way with the making of films.

He then moved to Madrid to continue his Industrial Engineering career, but his vocation for photography, cinema and journalism made him leave his studies and matriculate at the Instituto de Investigaciones y Estudios Cinematográficos (Cinematographic Study and Research Institute). Sporadically, he combined his cinematographic studies with the courses at the Escuela de Periodismo (Journalism School). In 1957 he finished studying and got the director diploma. At the same time, he finished his end-of-career short film La tarde del domingo (1957). He continued as a professor until 1963. In that year he was removed from the school for strictly political reasons (Franco's censorship).

In 1959 he filmed The Delinquents (1960). In this film he tried to create a sort of Spanish Neo-Realism by tackling the juvenile delinquency in the Madrid's poor quarters from a sociological point of view. In his first stage as director he tried to take a position in favour of outcast people, and he got to make a both lyric and documentary-style cinema.

Saura is a well accepted director both nationally and internationally, and in proof of it he won many awards among which there are the following ones: Silver Bear in the Berlin Festival for The Hunt (1966), in 1965, and for Peppermint Frappé (1967), in 1967. Special Jury Awards in Cannes for Cousin Angelica (1974), in 1973, and for Cría Cuervos (1976), in 1975. Also, the film Mama Turns 100 (1979) got an Oscar nomination in 1979 as the best foreign film, and it also won the Special Jury Award at the San Sebastian Festival. In 1990, he won two Goya awards as best adapted screenplay writer and best 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.

Sara Montiel was born in the village of Campo de Criptana, province of Ciudad Real, in the region of Castille-La Mancha, Spain. Her parents were Isidoro Abad, a peasant, and Maria Vicenta Fernández, a door-to-door beautician. The future star was christened Maria Antonia Alejandra Abad Fernández. Barely in her teens, she won a beauty and talent contest held by Cifesa, the most influential Spanish film studio of that era. She was promptly signed to a movie contract and in 1944 made her debut playing a teenager in Te quiero para mí (1944), credited in the cast as "Maria Alejandra". By the end of 1944 she was given the starring role in Empezó en boda (1944), which introduced her with a more adult image and a new name: Sara Montiel.

In the next four years she appeared in 14 films, including her first international success Madness of Love (1948), which led to a long term-contract in Mexico. She quickly established herself as one of the most popular film actors of the decade. starring in over a dozen films between 1950 and 1954. Hollywood came calling and she was formally introduced to American moviegoers in Vera Cruz (1954), playing Gary Cooper's love interest. Later she worked at Warner Bros. in Serenade (1956) with Mario Lanza, directed by Anthony Mann, who became her first husband. After starring in Samuel Fuller's Run of the Arrow (1957) with Rod Steiger, Sarita shot El último cuplé (1957) ("The Last Song") in Spain, a musical production that turned out to be the biggest box-office success in Spain's film history. It played for over a year in the same theaters in which it opened. A similar reaction followed in Western Europe and Latin America. Sarita Montiel had become the most popular actress-singer of 1957 and a national treasure for Spain.

The unprecedented success of "El Último Cuplé" threw a wrench into her Hollywood career, as she was offered a multimillion-dollar contract to star in four films in Europe. Her next vehicle, La violetera (1958) ("The Violet Peddler"), confirmed Sara's popularity and broke the box-office records set by the previous movie. The theme song from "La Violetera" became Montiel's signature song. The soundtrack albums from both films reportedly outsold Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra in the world market. From then on, Sarita would combine the making of films with the recording of highly successful albums and live concerts in four continents. By 1962 she had become a legend to millions of fans worldwide, reaching markets that had previously been uncharted territory for Spanish cinema. Among her many blockbusters of the 1960s were Mi último tango (1960), Pecado de amor (1961), La bella Lola (1962), La reina del Chantecler (1962) and Esa mujer (1969).

However, by the 1970s her interest in films diminished, due largely to the almost pornographic turn of Spanish films in the late-Francisco Franco era when censorship was abolished and she retired from films in 1974. Her activities turned mainly to recording and stage work, and she achieved uncontested successes with her stage shows "Sara en Persona" (1970-73), "Saritísima" (1974-75), "Increible Sara" (1977-78), "Super Sara Show"(1979-80), "Doña Sara de La Mancha" (1981-82), "Taxi Vamos Al Victoria" (1983-84), "Nostalgia" (1985-86), "Sara, Siempre Sara" (1987-88) and others.

In the 1990s Sara surprised everyone by branching out into television: Sara y punto (1990), a mini-series of seven one-hour episodes, included a serialized biography of the star, many popular guests (including Luciano Pavarotti and Charles Aznavour, among others) and Miss Montiel singing her greatest hits in addition to new songs written especially for her. Next came Ven al Paralelo (1992), taped in a Barcelona theater where Montiel hosted,sang and acted in comedy sketches in front of a live audience.

It is quite impossible to cover here all the awards Sara Montiel has won in her long successful career but we must mention the "Premio del Sindicato" (at that time Spain's equivalent of the Oscar) for best actress, won two years in a row for her performances in "El Último Cuplé" and "La Violetera". In 1972 she was proclaimed an honorary citizen of Los Angeles by Mayor Sam Yorty and was given the gold key to the city. Similarly she has been awarded the gold keys of New York, Miami and Chicago. In 1981 she received Israel's most prestigious honor, the Ben Guiron Award and in 1983 she was awarded France's Legion of Honor medal, after a retrospective of her career ran at the Autumn Film Festival in Paris. In 1986 "Nosotros", a Hollywood-based Hispanic actors advocacy organization founded by Ricardo Montalban, gave her its Golden Eagle Award for life achievement. The trophy was presented to Sarita by her "Vera Cruz" costar-producer Burt Lancaster in an emotional reunion that triggered a standing ovation from all their Hollywood peers witnessing the event. In 1997 she was awarded the "Gold Medal", also a life achievement recognition, given--rarely0--by Spain's Academy of Arts and Sciences. The two-hour ceremony was beamed live by national television. In 2008 Sara returned to her hometown to unveil a sculpture with her image at the new Sara Montiel Park. A nearby avenue was also named after her and there was at the same time a dedication ceremony of her newly renovated museum, located inside a 16th-century windmill. In addition, the government placed a commemorative plaque on the house where she was born.

Sara Montiel's private life has also been a large part of her legend. After divorcing Anthony Mann in 1963, she married three more times (Vicente Ramirez Olalla 1964-1978; Jose Tous 1979-1992; Antonio Hernandez 2002-2004). Before, during and after these marriages she had countless affairs, among them Nobel prize-winning scientist Severo Ochoa and Italian actor Giancarlo Del Duca. Unable to have children, she adopted two during her marriage to Jose Tous: Thais (born in 1979) and Zeus (born 1983). In 2000 she published her autobiography, which became a best seller. Undaunted by the passage of time and ignoring critics who accused her of mishandling her legendary image, Sara Montiel continued living and working at a hectic pace. She kept touring with her one woman show and making guests appearances on television. In 2009 she won a new generation of fans when she recorded "Absolutamente," an outrageous duet with Fangoria's vocalist Alaska. Both the record and the promotional video reached the top of the popularity charts and remained there for weeks.

Next Sara recorded some love duets with baritone José Antonio Román Marcos and traveled to the United States for a short tour sponsored by New York's Cervantes Institute and the universities of Chicago and Cincinnati. In every city she charmed the audiences with her charismatic presence and sense of humor. Back in Spain she continued her activities which now included supporting the singing career of her son Zeus. She appeared in his 2011 "Sex Dance" video and caused quite a stir.

In February 2013 Sara Montiel became the subject of a made-for-TV documentary titled "Sara's Dream" which aired in Spain to high ratings and great reviews. It was a fitting celebration of her fantastic life and career which came at the right time. A couple of months later, the star who had seemed eternal, passed away suddenly and quietly in her Madrid penthouse. By her family's request, funeral services were private but the funeral procession, organized by the city of Madrid, was a very moving event attended by thousands who showed up at Plaza Callao to bid farewell to their beloved Sara. She was buried in the San Justo cemetery family plot.

Vicente Aranda was born on 9 November 1926 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. He was a director and writer, known for Lovers: A True Story (1991), El Lute: Run for Your Life (1987) and The Maidens' Conspiracy (2006). He was married to Teresa Font. He died on 26 May 2015 in Madrid, Spain.

Rocío Durcal, was born María de los Angeles de las Heras Ortíz, in Madrid, Spain on October 4th, 1945. At the age of 10, she took part in the radio show, 'Conozca a sus Vecinos' ('Meet Your Neighbours'). In these shows, Marietta (her familiar nickname, pronounced Mar-ee-etta) charmed the audience with her clear and melodic voice that also made her a winner in many other radio contests that she participated in those years.

In 1960, when she not yet 15, she appeared in the TV show 'Primer Aplauso' ('First Applause') where a Spanish movie producer discovered her. She took the stage name Rocío Durcal (Rocío is a popular girls' name in Spain, after the place of pilgrimage where 'La Romeria' - an annual festival of worship to the Virgin Mary - is held, and Durcal is a town in the province of Andalucia in southern Spain). Her first movie was 'Canción de Juventud' ('Song of Youth') in 1961, the first of many musical comedies she was to star in and that would gain her fame in Spain, Portugal, France and Latin America.

At this time many other young singer-actors in Spanish films were popular, including Raphael, Marisol, Ana Belén, Joselito, the Dúo Dinámico, Miguel Ríos, and the twin sisters, Pili and Mili. Other films included 'Rocío de La Mancha', 'La Chica del Trébol', 'Tengo 17 Años', 'Más Bonita que Ninguna', 'Acompáñame', 'Amor en el Aire', 'Cristina Guzmán', 'Las Leandras' and 'La Novicia Rebelde'.

In 1970, Rocío married the Philippine singer and composer, Antonio Morales , better known as Júnior, a former member of the pop group, Los Brincos (considered at the time as the Spanish version of The Beatles). Their marriage proved one of the more solid marriages in the world of show business and they had three children: Carmen María (born in 1971), Antonio (born in 1974) and Shaila (born in 1980), and one grandson, Christian (born in 1997, the son of Carmen María).

In 1975, Rocío retired from movies to dedicate herself to her family but returned to show business two years later when she recorded the first of many records of material written by the Mexican singer-composer, Juan Gabriel. Backed by the Mexican band, Mariachi América, these resulted in unexpected hits, popularity and awards, not only in Spain and Mexico, but also in Latin America and in the Hispanic community of the United States.

Rocío Durcal (ironically, being Spanish) revitalised the Mexican music scene in the 1970s and 80s and became even better known as a singer of 'rancheras' (traditional Mexican song) in her later years than she had been as an actress at the start of her career.

With thousands of fans worldwide and records sales in their millions, this Madrid-born lady was, undoubtedly, one of the brightest stars of Spanish language show business.

In 2001, Rocio Durcal was diagnosed with cancer of the uterus that unfortunately was later found to have spread to her lung and brain. Despite extensive treatment, Rocio died on 25 March 2006 in Torrelodones, Madrid, Spain.

Lynn is a Music Supervisor working for feature films, documentaries, TV shows and commercials. She has worked as Music Supervisor and producer for over two hundred audiovisual works and runs a company specialized in Music Supervision and Rights Clearance for audiovisual productions, from Latin America, US, Europe, Jordan, Turkey, etc..

Lynn Fainchtein has taken her musical experience to an ample range of mediums, which include film, television, radio, journalism and recording. She has worked as producer and musical supervisor on numerous films. One of her long-standing contributions has been with the acclaimed Mexican Film Director Alejandro González Iñarritu on all his films: Biutiful (nominated for the Academy Award), Babel, 21 Grams, and Amores Perros (nominated for the Academy Award). More recently the worldwide acclaimed Birdman and The Revenant as well in ¨Limbo¨ Alejandro's new film.

Recently, she supervised music and stock footage for Alfonso Cuaron's Roma, which won the Golden Lion on the 75º Venice International Film Festival, and couple academy awards.

In addition, Lynn has collaborated with Lee Daniels on all his award winning films, Precious (Winner at The Sundance Film Festival), The Paperboy and the Butler. As well in his next film US VS BILLIE HOLIDAY about the life of Billie Holiday.

For Netflix, Lynn has undertaken the music supervision for several international projects, including Dark (Germany), The Rain (Denmark), Luis Miguel, Club de Cuervos and La Casa de las Flores (México), Élite (Spain), The Protector (Turkey), Tidelands (Australia), Coisa Mais Linda (Brazil) and Green Frontier (Colombia).

Lynn regularly collaborates with Canana Films, the production company founded by Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, where she has musically supervised all of their TV projects and films and, which include Abel, Déficit, Chavez and Mr.Pig.

Interesting projects like David France's The Life and Death of Marsha P. Johnson, Patricia Riggen's The 33, Luis Estrada's La Dictadura Perfecta, Jerry Jameson's Captive, Manolo Caro's Amor de Mis Amores, and Walter Salles' On the Road, which participated on the 2012 Cannes Film Festival are Lynn's curation.

Among other projects, Lynn helped in the Cirque du Soleil's new show Luzia. On the other hand, Lynn has done extensive work as a producer on films and documentaries among others El Santos VS la Tetona Mendoza in 2012, Hecho en México (2012) and 0.56% ¿Qué le pasó a México? Documentary about 2006 Mexican elections).

Strikingly comely brunette Patty Shepard was born in 1945 in Greenville, South Carolina. The daughter of a U.S. Air Force official, Patty moved to Spain when she was only 18 years old. After becoming popular as a model in a series of TV commercials, the lovely Ms. Shepard embarked on an acting career, making her film debut in a small part in La ciudad no es para mí (1966) (aka "The City is Not for Me"). She initially acted in paella westerns and thrillers before appearing in a handful of horror movies which include Assignment Terror (1970) (aka "Dracula vs. Frankenstein"), The Werewolf Versus the Vampire Woman (1971) (aka "The Werewolf vs. the Vampire Woman"), Crypt of the Living Dead (1973) (aka "Crypt of the Living Dead") and The Witches Mountain (1973) (aka "The Witches' Mountain") and Special Killers (1973) (aka "La Ragazza di Via Condotti"). Patty often acted alongside Spanish horror icon Paul Naschy in these films and projects a certain eerie otherworldly aura that's stunningly similar to Barbara Steele. Other films include the end-of-the-world science fiction feature Creation of the Damned (1974) (aka "Refuge of Fear") and the tongue-in-cheek spaghetti Western oddity The Stranger and the Gunfighter (1974) (aka "The Stranger and the Gunfighter"). After appearing in the horror movies Rest in Pieces (1987) (aka "Rest in Pieces") and Slugs (1988) (aka "Slugs"), Shepard retired from acting in the late 1980's. She died of a heart attack at her home in Madrid, Spain on January 3, 2013.

Born on October 6, 1930 in Seville, popular Spanish entertainer Carmen Sevilla is better regarded as a dancer and singer than for her output of films, most of them, especially her later ones, seldom testing her abilities. Starting very young, she made her movie debut in grand style with the musical Jalisco Sings In Seville (1948) and participated in other popular films of the 1950s including Andalousie (1951), Love and Desire (1952) Imperial Violets (1952), The Beautiful One of Cadiz (1953), Don Juan (1956) and as a fiery, chest-heaving Kate in The Taming of the Shrew (1956). Her rare work in Hollywood included the role of Mary Magdalene in the epic film King of Kings (1962). She also played Octavia in Charlton Heston's version of Antony and Cleopatra (1972). She married Vicente Patuel in 1985, long after her 1968 divorce to composer and orchestra conductor Augusto Algueró, by whom she had a son, Augusto Jr. Patuel died in 2000. The recipient of many awards over the years, she became a steady presence in a stream of Spanish TV series in the 1990s after her film career ended in the late 1970s.

Emma Cohen was born on 21 November 1946 in Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. She was an actress and writer, known for Novela (1963), The Other Side of the Mirror (1973) and Pierna creciente, falda menguante (1970). She was married to Fernando Fernán Gómez. She died on 11 July 2016 in Madrid, Spain.

Pilar Bardem was born on 14 March 1939 in Seville, Seville, Andalucía, Spain. She was an actress, known for Live Flesh (1997), Nobody Will Speak of Us When We're Dead (1995) and María querida (2004). She was married to José Carlos Encinas Doussinague. She died on 17 July 2021 in Madrid, Spain.

Spanish actor and director of cinema and theater. Son of the actress Carola Fernán Gómez. When he was three years old he returned to Spain from Argentina. He wrote comedies, novels and poetry, and played a wide repertoire of roles from comedy to drama. He was a prolific actor and director, and received numerous awards in various countries. Married twice, he had a son and a daughter.

Concha Velasco studied dancing and became an actress in a revue with Celia Gámez. In 1954 she made her film debut with roles in several minor films. At the end of the regime of dictator Francisco Franco she worked with director Pedro Olea, among others, in higher-quality films, such as Tormento (1974) and Pim, pam, pum... ¡fuego! (1975), which gave her a better reputation. One of her biggest successes was Teresa de Jesús (1984) in which she played Santa Teresa de Ávila.

Eva Lyberten was born on 20 December 1958 in Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. She was an actress, known for Samanka (1982), Street Warriors (1977) and The Dawn Rapists (1978). She died on 30 December 2024 in Madrid, Spain.

He was born in 1918, although there isn't a consensus as some books date his birth in 1925. He was one of the main directors of the Spanish horror boom in the 70s, specially for his quartet of films about the living dead templars which started with Tombs of the Blind Dead (1972).

Antonio Ozores was born on 24 August 1928 in Burjassot, València, Comunitat Valenciana, Spain. He was an actor and writer, known for Los caraduros (1983), Cristóbal Colón, de oficio... descubridor (1982) and The Crazy Story of the Three Musketeers (1983). He was married to Elisa Montés. He died on 12 May 2010 in Madrid, Madrid, Spain.

This Spanish actor began his career in theatre in 1939, when he was only 17, with the support of the director Modesto Higueras and the painter José Caballero. His first jobs were as actor, set decorator and costume designer in non-commercial amateur theatre plays, mainly at the Teatro de las Organizaciones Juveniles (TOI) and at the TEU. In cinema, he started as a costume designer in films mostly directed by José López Rubio and Rafael Gil and as an assistant director to Pío Ballesteros and Enrique Herreros.

His debut as a professional actor was in 1946 at the 'Teatro María Guerrero' theatre in Madrid, playing roles in plays like 'El Anticuario', 'El vergonzoso en palacio' or 'La dama boba'. Later he formed part of the companies owned by Conchita Montes and Alberto Closas. His debut as a cinema actor was also in 1946 with a little role in _María Fernanda la Jerezana (1946)_. In 1951, in the film _Esa pareja feliz (1951)_, he appeared in the credits together with two debutant key directors in Spanish cinema: Juan Antonio Bardem and Luis García Berlanga.

His first roles were comic roles in general; later ones increased in importance. In 1958 he started to have his first successes ('Una muchachita de Valladolid' in theatre together with 'Elisa Montes' and Alberto Closas, and The Little Apartment (1958) in cinema together with Mary Carrillo and Concha López Silva).

From that moment on, he acted in the best theatre companies and also became an almost indispensable figure in Spanish cinema in the following two decades. Some of his best films from this stage are El cochecito (1960), Placido (1961), Robbery at 3 O'clock (1962) and The Executioner (1963). He met film-makers like Marco Ferreri, Juan Antonio Bardem, José María Forqué and Luis García Berlanga, who were able to extract from his funniness amazing nuances like tenderness, dirtiness, meanness, absurdity and even nonsense. His popularity raised dramatically after he worked together with Gracita Morales in several films of less importance under the direction of Mariano Ozores and also performed the main role in the TV series "Tercero izquierda".

In the early 1970s he began to deliver dramatic performances in films including _Peppermint frappé (1967)_, The Garden of Delights (1970), _Bosque del lobo, El (1970)_ (Best Actor Award in the 1971 Chicago Film Festival), _Mi querida señorita (1971)_ (Best Actor Award in the 1972 Chicago Film Festival), La cabina (1972) (TV; winner of an Emmy Award), or Habla, mudita (1973). He made a great success with these films, which became even stronger after the international effects caused by his TV film 'La cabina' and his contribution to George Cukor's Travels with My Aunt (1972). This success defined the rest of his career, full of successful films both dramatic and comic (_Escopeta nacional, La (1978)_, _Verdad sobre el caso Savolta, La (1979)_, La colmena (1982), _Corte del faraón, La (1985)_, Mi general (1987), _Largo invierno, El (1991)_...

In 1985 he received the 'Medalla de Oro de las Bellas Artes' (Arts Gold Medal).

Mauro Muñiz was born on 16 September 1964 in Madrid, Madrid, Spain. He was an actor and composer, known for Jauría Nick (2014), Los hombres de Paco (2005) and Wrong Side of the Tracks (2021). He died on 16 April 2023 in Madrid, Madrid, Spain.

Juan Antonio Bardem was born on 2 June 1922 in Madrid, Spain. He was a writer and director, known for Main Street (1956), Vengeance (1958) and Los inocentes (1963). He was married to María Aguado Barbado. He died on 30 October 2002 in Madrid, Spain.

John Gilling was born on 29 May 1912 in London, England, UK. He was a director and writer, known for The Pirates of Blood River (1962), The Gamma People (1956) and Murder Will Out (1952). He died on 22 November 1984 in Madrid, Spain.