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Paul Naschy
Jacinto Molina Álvarez (September 6, 1934 – November 30, 2009) known by his stage name Paul Naschy, was a Spanish film actor, screenwriter, and director working primarily in horror films. His portrayals of numerous classic horror figures—The Wolfman, Frankenstein's monster, Count Dracula, Quasimodo, Fu Manchu and a mummy—earned him recognition as the Spanish Lon Chaney. Naschy also starred in dozens of action films, historical dramas, crime films, TV shows and documentaries. He also wrote the screenplays for most of his films and directed a number of them as well, signing many of them "Jacinto Molina". Naschy was bestowed Spain's Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts in 2001.
Naschy was born as Jacinto Molina Alvarez in Madrid in 1934, and grew up during the Spanish Civil War, a period of great turmoil in Spanish history. His father Enrique Molina (born in 1910) was a successful furrier, and Naschy grew up in very comfortable surroundings, at one point living in his parents' country mansion. Naschy went to college initially to become either a surveyor or an architect. After college, he started a career as a professional weightlifter, winning a number of prestigious awards, but soon gravitated to acting and filmmaking. His favorite film character from childhood was the Wolf Man, dating back to when he saw the classic Universal film Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) as a child. He attempted to design record album covers, write pulp western novels and draw comic books, but he did not meet with much success. In his 20s, Naschy moved back and forth between professional weightlifting and acting, but was unable to secure important roles, usually obtaining bit parts.
Naschy had an uncredited bit part in the classic 1961 Biblical epic King of Kings and the experience drew him further into filmmaking. Naschy also played uncredited bit parts in the following films: El príncipe encadenado / The Prince in Chains (1960, a.k.a. King of the Vikings, shaving his head to play a Mongol chieftain); Operation Plus Ultra (1966, playing a masked surgeon); Las Viudas / The Widows (1966, hired as an assistant director in the "Luna de Miel" segment only); and La Esclava del Paraiso / 1001 Nights (1968 film) (1968, playing a palace servant named Chantal). Naschy allegedly acted as the assistant director on two other films, Aventura en el Palacio Viejo (1967) and Cronica de Nueve Meses (1967)
In 1966, while appearing as an extra in an episode of the American TV show I Spy that was being filmed in a remote country site in Spain, Naschy met horror icon Boris Karloff on the set. (Karloff was in a very poor mood that day, noticeably depressed and in poor health.) This encounter led to a 2010 posthumously-produced biopic on Naschy being titled Paul Naschy: The Man Who Saw Frankenstein Cry
In 1968, at age 34, Naschy wrote a screenplay for a werewolf movie entitled The Mark of the Wolfman (about a Polish werewolf named Count Waldemar Daninsky) and managed to interest a Spanish film company called Maxper Producciones Cinematograficas into financing it. Naschy never intended to play "El Hombre Lobo" (as the doomed lycanthrope came to be called in Spain), but he wound up with the part when the producer could not find a suitable actor (they had tried to hire Lon Chaney Jr., but at age 62, the Hollywood horror star was unable to travel due to health issues).
The German distributors insisted he change his name from Jacinto Molina because it sounded too Spanish, which would have hurt the film's chances at the box offices in various countries outside of Spain. He created the name "Paul Naschy".... "Paul" after Pope Paul VI, and "Naschy" as a Germanic sounding version of "Imre Nagy", one of Naschy's weightlifting idols. Naschy later wrote and starred in eleven sequels featuring his Waldemar Daninsky werewolf character, and spun off a successful acting and screenwriting career in the process.
Naschy wrote the screenplays for most of the films he starred in, especially the horror movies. His most prolific year was 1972, during which time he wrote and starred in no less than seven movies.
During the 1970s, he worked for some of the best European horror film directors in the business, including León Klimovsky, Carlos Aured, Javier Aguirre, José Luis Madrid, Juan Piquer Simón, Francisco Lara Polop and José Luis Merino. Naschy's favorite director was León Klimovsky, with whom he made eight films. Naschy praised Klimovsky's professional workmanlike attitude, but he always felt that Klimovsky never allowed for enough retakes that might have improved some of their films. He also enjoyed working for director Carlos Aured, and was proud of the films they did together. Naschy also always praised Spanish actor Eduardo Fajardo as being supportive of Naschy when he was down and out. Naschy's favorite co-star (and co-producer) was Julia Saly, and he worked with her on fourteen of his films.
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Paul Naschy
Jacinto Molina Álvarez (September 6, 1934 – November 30, 2009) known by his stage name Paul Naschy, was a Spanish film actor, screenwriter, and director working primarily in horror films. His portrayals of numerous classic horror figures—The Wolfman, Frankenstein's monster, Count Dracula, Quasimodo, Fu Manchu and a mummy—earned him recognition as the Spanish Lon Chaney. Naschy also starred in dozens of action films, historical dramas, crime films, TV shows and documentaries. He also wrote the screenplays for most of his films and directed a number of them as well, signing many of them "Jacinto Molina". Naschy was bestowed Spain's Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts in 2001.
Naschy was born as Jacinto Molina Alvarez in Madrid in 1934, and grew up during the Spanish Civil War, a period of great turmoil in Spanish history. His father Enrique Molina (born in 1910) was a successful furrier, and Naschy grew up in very comfortable surroundings, at one point living in his parents' country mansion. Naschy went to college initially to become either a surveyor or an architect. After college, he started a career as a professional weightlifter, winning a number of prestigious awards, but soon gravitated to acting and filmmaking. His favorite film character from childhood was the Wolf Man, dating back to when he saw the classic Universal film Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) as a child. He attempted to design record album covers, write pulp western novels and draw comic books, but he did not meet with much success. In his 20s, Naschy moved back and forth between professional weightlifting and acting, but was unable to secure important roles, usually obtaining bit parts.
Naschy had an uncredited bit part in the classic 1961 Biblical epic King of Kings and the experience drew him further into filmmaking. Naschy also played uncredited bit parts in the following films: El príncipe encadenado / The Prince in Chains (1960, a.k.a. King of the Vikings, shaving his head to play a Mongol chieftain); Operation Plus Ultra (1966, playing a masked surgeon); Las Viudas / The Widows (1966, hired as an assistant director in the "Luna de Miel" segment only); and La Esclava del Paraiso / 1001 Nights (1968 film) (1968, playing a palace servant named Chantal). Naschy allegedly acted as the assistant director on two other films, Aventura en el Palacio Viejo (1967) and Cronica de Nueve Meses (1967)
In 1966, while appearing as an extra in an episode of the American TV show I Spy that was being filmed in a remote country site in Spain, Naschy met horror icon Boris Karloff on the set. (Karloff was in a very poor mood that day, noticeably depressed and in poor health.) This encounter led to a 2010 posthumously-produced biopic on Naschy being titled Paul Naschy: The Man Who Saw Frankenstein Cry
In 1968, at age 34, Naschy wrote a screenplay for a werewolf movie entitled The Mark of the Wolfman (about a Polish werewolf named Count Waldemar Daninsky) and managed to interest a Spanish film company called Maxper Producciones Cinematograficas into financing it. Naschy never intended to play "El Hombre Lobo" (as the doomed lycanthrope came to be called in Spain), but he wound up with the part when the producer could not find a suitable actor (they had tried to hire Lon Chaney Jr., but at age 62, the Hollywood horror star was unable to travel due to health issues).
The German distributors insisted he change his name from Jacinto Molina because it sounded too Spanish, which would have hurt the film's chances at the box offices in various countries outside of Spain. He created the name "Paul Naschy".... "Paul" after Pope Paul VI, and "Naschy" as a Germanic sounding version of "Imre Nagy", one of Naschy's weightlifting idols. Naschy later wrote and starred in eleven sequels featuring his Waldemar Daninsky werewolf character, and spun off a successful acting and screenwriting career in the process.
Naschy wrote the screenplays for most of the films he starred in, especially the horror movies. His most prolific year was 1972, during which time he wrote and starred in no less than seven movies.
During the 1970s, he worked for some of the best European horror film directors in the business, including León Klimovsky, Carlos Aured, Javier Aguirre, José Luis Madrid, Juan Piquer Simón, Francisco Lara Polop and José Luis Merino. Naschy's favorite director was León Klimovsky, with whom he made eight films. Naschy praised Klimovsky's professional workmanlike attitude, but he always felt that Klimovsky never allowed for enough retakes that might have improved some of their films. He also enjoyed working for director Carlos Aured, and was proud of the films they did together. Naschy also always praised Spanish actor Eduardo Fajardo as being supportive of Naschy when he was down and out. Naschy's favorite co-star (and co-producer) was Julia Saly, and he worked with her on fourteen of his films.