Luis Fernando Romo

Updated Monday, April 1, 2024-21:28

  • Vidas José Luis López Vázquez: the stingy millionaire whose inheritance has disappeared

On one occasion, director

George Cukor

, creator of masterpieces such as

Luz que agoniza

(1944) or

My Fair Lady

(1964), called

José Luis López Vázquez

to apologize for having offered him such a brief role in

Viajes con mi aunt (Travels with my aunt

). 1972), where he worked with Maggie Smith (89) and Louis Gossett Jr, recently deceased at age 87.

His last partner, the always elegant

Carmen de la Maza,

who died in 2022 at the age of 81, confessed at the time to LOC: "When Cukor saw

My Dear Miss

, he phoned him

to apologize

since he was not aware that

he was a great actor." "

He had many temptations to go to Hollywood, but he liked to go

to Ciriaco's house to eat

and no one would take him away from there." Even

Charles Chaplin paid homage to him

by taking off his bowler hat when he told him that he was one of the best performers in the world.

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José Luis is one of the greatest stars of our national cinema with such renowned films as

Atraco a las 3

(1962) or

La gran familia

(1962) or the medium-length film

La Cabin

(1972), winner

of the International Emmy.

However, one of his

facets less known

to the general public was that of a

costume designer and collector

of works of art. On the occasion of the closing of the centenary of the interpreter's birth, the Serrería Belga Cultural Space offers until June the

José Luis before López Vázquez

exhibition

of his work as a

cartoonist

, designer, actor and collector of works.

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A disciple of Pepe Caballero and inspired by

Le Corbusier

and

Jean Cocteau

, the protagonist of

My Dear Young Lady

(1972)

alleviated the poverty of his childhood by drawing

the faces of the stars of world cinema and early sound films that used to appear on matchboxes. Pencils

and markers

were his best allies to combat the misery of the Civil War.

'Adam and Eve', one of the actor's drawings.

He did not know where

this gift

came from or who he had inherited it from, but as a teenager he thought that he could

make a good living

making costumes, sets and posters for films and theater performances. One of his first great works was as a costume designer in

Eugenia de Montijo

(1944), starring Amparo Rivelles and Fernando Rey. He also dared to create the figurines of

Don Juan Tenorio

,

The Duende Lady

or

The King's Postman

, as well as

sketches for the sets

of

The Dog in the Manger

or

Life is a Dream

. During his lifetime he always cherished his experience at the Teatro Español Universitario and the Teatro María Guerrero directed by Luis Escobar where

he met Salvador Dalí,

set designer for

Don Juan Tenorio

in 1949.

Work by Maruja Mallo that is part of the López Vázquez collection.

The passion he had for the genius of Figueras was such that

he treasured one of his works,

Cabeza de Gala

, which is exhibited at the

Belga Sawmill.

Visitors can also enjoy other works such as

Jazz

by

Antoni Tàpies

,

Ancestro 5

by

Antonio Saura

,

Quai de la Seine

by

Edgar Neville

and two

drawings by Federico García Lorca

from 1935.

He enjoyed drawing like a child. He even

dared to create book covers

and those closest to him fondly remember the

handmade

Christmas cards

. At the inauguration of the

José Luis López Vázquez exhibition, art on paper,

carried out by the Aisge Foundation in 2013, actress

Julia Gutiérrez Caba

(91) stated that "one year she told us that she could no longer send us any more. Since then, Christmas has They weren't the same."

He drew uninterruptedly for 18 years

until, starting in 1951, he began to act constantly and made 262 films. During her lifetime, Carmen de la Maza treasured almost

a hundred works

by López Vázquez that she later

donated to different institutions.

It is unknown if

his three children,

José Luis (62), the result of his relationship with the French actress Katty Magerus - his other daughter, Virginia, died in 1994 - and the

twins

Cayetana (42) and Camino (42), born from his Married to journalist Flor Aguilar (69),

they inherited some of his works.