Born Fernando Casado Arambillet Veiga, September 20, 1917, in La Coruna, Spain; died of bladder cancer, March 9, 1994, in Madrid, Spain. Actor. Although Rey is widely remembered by American movie audiences for his role as the French drug kingpin in The French Connection and The French Connection II, he wasthe veteran of over one hundred-fifty other films. As a young man Rey fought,along with his father, for the republic during the Spanish Civil War; when the fascist army under General Francisco Franco defeated the republicans, Rey's family lost their privileged position in Spanish society. Rey then worked his way into the film industry by dubbing foreign movies into Spanish and by 1936 had debuted in the film Nuestra Natacha. Many movie roles followed and Rey eventually worked under such influential directors as Luis Bunuel, in Viridiana, Tristana, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, and That Obscure Object of Desire, and Orson Welles, in Chimes at Midnight. Rey also acted in several television productions broadcasted in the United States, including the mini-series Jesus of Nazareth and A.D. and the made-for-TV movie Black Arrow. Rey's last major American film role was that of Alejandro in 1988's Moon over Parador.
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