Raul Rafael Julia y Arcelay (1940-1994) was a Puerto Rican actor who gained fame through his performances on- and off-Broadway. Some moviegoers may recognize him from his role as Gomez Addams in the two film adaptations of
The Addams Family. Indie film lovers will probably know him as Valentine from
Kiss of the Spider Woman. He was posthumously given several awards for his performance as Chico Mendes in the
Made-for-TV Movie The Burning Season.
He was also the lead in
Overdrawn at the Memory Bank, but don't hold it against him - he wanted to help support public broadcasting.
On stage, he was a regular with the New York Shakespeare Festival, which produced the rock musical version of
Two Gentlemen of Verona in which he played Proteus. He also played Guido Contini in the original Broadway production
Nine, and starred in revivals of
Where's Charley?,
The Threepenny Opera and
Man of la Mancha.
His last big-screen role was in the
Street Fighter movie, where he played
Big Bad M. Bison with all the
hammy aplomb one would expect for a role like that one (
in a movie like that one!). While the movie itself isn't considered quality cinema by any means, many would agree that Julia's performance alone is enough to make the movie
So Bad It's Good instead of merely bad. His children were huge fans of the video games, so he selected that role in order to
give them a film they could enjoy, knowing that it would likely be the last one he would ever do before succumbing to stomach cancer.
"OF COURSE!"Roles of Note:
Tropes associated with Raul Julia
May he rest in peace.
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