Francisco "Paco" Rabal Valera (8 March 1926 – 29 August 2001) was a Spanish theatre and cinema actor. He was always called Paco Rabal (not to be confused with fashion designer Paco Rabanne) by his acquaintances but is generally known to cinephiles as Francisco Rabal.
He commenced as a theatre actor already in 1940's. Then in early 1950's he also started to be involved in cinema. First he was an extra but soon arrived to fame as his collaboration with Luis Buñuel began. He starred first in Nazarin then in Viridiana. Then in 1962 he famously worked with Michelangelo Antonioni in L'eclisse. Later he had one collaboration with Jacques Rivette at La Religieuse. Finally in 1967 he once again returned to Bunuel at Belle de Jour.
In 70's Rabal wasted his chance to play in the future huge hit The French Connection by William Friedkin. The director hired his Spanish peer Fernando Rey instead as he simply confused two actors who both worked with the grand maestro Bunuel. In 1977, Rabal still played in a film by Friedkin, however Sorcerer was much less successful than the one which he missed.
Later he went on working in the Spanish cinema and the film Los santos inocentes, in which he played the bird-loving mentally handicapped brother of the film's main protagonist, was a big success nationwide in 1984 and is considered one of his finest roles. In the late 80's he also collaborated with Pedro Almodóvar at Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! and in the 90's he appeared in the Spanish smash hit comedy Airbag as the main villain. His last role was the horror film Dagon, adapted from H. P. Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth, released three months after his death.
Also, he would voice many of his roles in foreign productions and even national films (as many Spanish films did not use live sound). He lent his raspy voice to Draco in the Spanish dub of Dragonheart, truly a very stark contrast with Sean Connery's booming voice.
Filmography
- Viridiana
- L'eclisse
- Belle de Jour
- Sorcerer
- Dragonheart (Spanish dub, voice of Draco)
- Dagon
