Biography
Francisco Rabal, also known as Paco Rabal, was a Spanish actor. He was born on 8 March 1926 in Águilas, Murcia, and died on 29 August 2001 in Bordeaux, France. He appeared in more than 200 film and television roles between 1942 and 2001.
Rabal began working as an electrician at Chamartín Film Studios, where he was discovered and given small parts. He later trained in theatre and gained prominence through collaborations with Luis Buñuel in Nazarín (1959), Viridiana (1961) and Belle de Jour (1967). He also worked with directors including Carlos Saura, Pedro Almodóvar, Michelangelo Antonioni and William Friedkin.
Among his best-known performances are those in The Holy Innocents (1984), for which he shared the Cannes Film Festival Best Actor award, and Goya in Bordeaux (1999), for which he received a Goya Award for Best Actor. He was married to actress Asunción Balaguer.
