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- Soledad Miranda was a Spanish actress who appeared in many films in the 1960s. Her remarkable beauty and her tragic untimely death make her story the stuff of legend. She was born on July 9, 1943 in Seville, Spain. She started her career when only eight years old as a flamenco dancer and singer. She made her film debut at age sixteen as a dancer. During the following years, the fragile beauty appeared in numerous comedies, dramas, B-movies, and horror films, mostly in Spain (over thirty films altogether from 1960 to 1970). Her biggest break came from legendary director Jess Franco, who cast Soledad in such cult classics as Count Dracula and Vampyros Lesbos. Soledad is generally regarded as Franco's greatest discovery. On August 18, 1970 Soledad was in a car accident on a highway in Portugal. She died hours later, survived by her husband (a former race-car driver) and young son. Shortly before this tragic accident, a German film producer had offered her a contract which would have made her a great star. Soledad was destined to become a legend. Not until the years after her death has she become a cult starlet with fans all over the world now discovering the beautiful, doomed actress.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Born in Figueira da Foz, a cosmopolitan beach resort, moved to Lisbon at the age of 15. In 1963 studies cinema at London School of Technique and starts his first movie at 1965 only concluded five years later. "Silvestre" from Portuguese short stories was presented at Venice Film Festival, where he returns with "Souvenirs from the Yellow House - Recordações da Casa Amarela" and wins the Silver Lion. Again in Venice with "God's Comedy" and another prize (Il Gran Premio Speciale della Giuria da Mostra). Known as provocative, performs in all his film usually as the main character.- Stunts
- Actor
- Cinematographer
Carlos Lopez was born on 26 June 1989 in North Carolina, USA. He was an actor and cinematographer, known for John Wick (2014), The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) and Olympus Has Fallen (2013). He died on 2 October 2014 in Lisbon, Portugal.- Brian Hankins was born on 8 June 1931 in Hereford, Herefordshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Lorna Doone (1963), The Scarlet and the Black (1965) and Escape (1957). He died on 12 June 1978 in Lisbon, Portugal.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Director
Nicolau Breyner was born on 30 July 1940 in Serpa, Portugal. He was an actor and director, known for A Teia de Gelo (2012), Meu Amor (2009) and Os Imortais (2003). He was married to Mafalda Bessa, Sofia Sá da Bandeira, Mafalda Maria de Alpoim Vieira Barbosa and Cláudia Ramos. He died on 14 March 2016 in Lisbon, Portugal.- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Additional Crew
Among the foremost technical innovators in his field, a charter member of the American Society of Cinematographers, English-born Charles Rosher had initially aimed for a diplomatic career. Fortunately, he chose a different career option and attended lessons in photography at the London Polytechnic in Regent Street. He must have been a keen student, for he found himself apprenticed to noted portrait photographers David Blount and Howard Farmer, soon afterward becoming assistant to Richard Neville Speaight (1875-1938), the official Royal photographer. Having learned the art of still photography, Rosher departed England for the United States sometime in late 1908, equipped with a Williamson camera.
In 1910, Rosher found his first job in the fledgling film industry through a connection forged with an English compatriot, the pioneer producer David Horsley: as principal cameraman for Horsley's East Coast-based Centaur Film Company (which made Rosher Hollywood's first ever full-time cinematographer). Centaur was renamed Nestor Studios upon its permanent relocation to California in 1911, setting up at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street. Essentially all of Rosher's early work consisted of one and two reelers, invariably made for Nestor's chief director, Al Christie. Some were comedies, many were 'quota quickie' westerns, such as The Indian Raiders (1912), for which Nestor imported genuine Indians from New Mexico.
In 1913, Rosher accompanied directors Raoul Walsh and Christy Cabanne on his famous expedition to Mexico to shoot the feature film The Life of General Villa (1914). The rebel leader Pancho Villa had agreed to grant exclusive rights to filming of his battles against the Federales by the Mutual Film Corporation, in exchange for a fee of $25,000 and 20% of all revenues from the picture. There were a number of hazards experienced by Rosher during this adventure, including capture by enemy forces, and at times coercive interference from Villa, who fancied himself as a filmmaker.
Upon his return to the other side of the border, Rosher had a brief spell with Universal (which had absorbed Nestor), followed by two years with the Lasky Feature Play Company (which later became Paramount). He then worked at United Artists from 1919 to 1928, becoming the favourite cinematographer of the company's biggest asset, Mary Pickford, lighting her in such a way that her true age never interfered with the image of the ingénue she persisted in portraying on screen. During this period, Rosher also developed his own unique visual style, which married artistry with technical know-how. He was much acclaimed for the sharpness and clarity of his photography, for the effects he achieved by combining natural and artificial light, photographing people against reflecting surfaces (glass, water), double exposure effects, split screen techniques, and so on. Rosher also patented several inventions, including a system for developing black & white film, ABC Pyro (A=pyro,B=sulfite,C=carbonate).
In 1929 Rosher became co-recipient (with Karl Struss) of the first-ever Oscar for cinematography bestowed by the Academy, for a film made at Fox: Sunrise (1927) - still regarded today as one of the finest examples of 1920's filmmaking. With its many scenes bathed in light or twilight, it has also been likened to a cinematic French impressionism. Rosher himself recalled this as one of the most difficult assignments of his career, particularly in terms of lighting such tricky scenes as the moonlit, fog-bound swamp, necessitating a very mobile camera. "Sunrise", inevitably, ended up winning the top award for 'unique and artistic production'. Two years later, after a falling out with Pickford during filming of Coquette (1929) , Rosher went his own way. He was never out of a job for long, working variously for RKO (1932-33), MGM (1930,1934) and Warner Brothers (1937-41).
Though he had made his reputation with black & white photography, Rosher easily adapted to the medium of colour. He enjoyed a major resurgence in the second half of his career, shooting some of the most sumptuous technicolor musicals (Ziegfeld Follies (1945), Show Boat (1951)) and dramas (The Yearling (1946),Scaramouche (1952)) during his tenure at MGM, which lasted from 1942 to 1954. He won his second Oscar for "Yearling" and became the only ever recipient of a fellowship by the Society of Motion Picture Engineers. Rosher retired in 1955, except for occasional lectures and guest appearances at film festivals. He settled down on a 1,600-acre plantation he had acquired at Port Antonio on Jamaica, formerly owned by Errol Flynn. He died in 1974 in Portugal, after a fall, at the respectable age of 88.- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Music Department
Amália Rodrigues was born in Lisbon, Portugal July 23rd, 1920 to a poor and numerous family. Since her childhood she showed a talent for singing although she debuted formally in 1939 at 19 years old, becoming a great popular success. During World War II she carried out long tours for Spain and Brazil and she obtained in 1945 her first great musical success with the song "Ai Mouraria". In 1947 she debuted as an actress in the Portuguese movie "Capas Negras" (with Alberto Ribeiro) and it became the best movie of the year in Portugal and Amália became a great international celebrity and the most admired and loved star of Portugal. During the 50 and 60's Amália become the maximum exponent of Portugal's popular music and so, their main ambassador for her very successful movies (including "Sangue Toureiro", by the way, the first Portuguese movie filmed in color) as well as for her LPs. Among her well-known songs are: "Lisboa Antiga", "Foi Deus", "Coimbra" (also known as "April in Portugal"), "Barco Negro", "Canção do Mar", "Nem as Paredes Confesso", "Lisboa, Não Sejas Francesa", "Arranjuez, mon amour" (French version of "Concierto de Aranjuez" of Joaquín Rodrigo), "Vou Dar de Beber à Dor" and "Com que Voz", among many others. She also sang poems turned music of several Portuguese poets and, in fact, Variety's magazine chose her in 1959 as one of the four best female singers in history. When the "Revolução Dos Cravos" ("Carnation's Revolution") happened on April 25th, 1974 which finished 48 years of Fascist government in Portugal, rumors arose that Amália collaborated with the deposed government. Her fame was seriously affected and she decided to retire from show business for not entering in polemic (although soon, after its death, it was discovered that she collaborated privately with the Communist Party of Portugal) but one year after, she acted in the Coliseu Theater of Lisbon where 5,000 people applauded her on foot, demonstrating with this that her public never released her. After that, Amália continued her career as if nothing happened and in 1980 she debuted as composer. In April 19th, 1985 Amália presented her show in the Coliseu dos Recreios of Lisbon, being her first solo concert in Portugal after 10 years and she obtained a record of attendance. In 1989, for her 50 years of artistic career, the President of Portugal Mário Soares honored her and the Pope John Paul II in Rome, Italy received her in private audience. During her last years, Amália received countless tributes inside and outside of Portugal and suddenly died while she slept in her house of Lisbon on October 6th, 1999. She was buried in an impressive funeral ceremony with the massive attendance of her fans.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
António-Pedro Vasconcelos is a Portuguese professor, a chronicler, a television commentator with strong civic involvement. But António-Pedro Vasconcelos is, above all, one of the greatest filmmakers of Portugal, a founding figure of the new Portuguese cinema, he created characters, told stories, put everyday life in films, brought films closer to the Portuguese public. António directed some of the greatest Portuguese films of the last decades, such as Jaime (1999), Cats Don't Have Vertigo (2014), Amor Impossível (2015) and Parque Mayer (2018). Throughout his incomparable career he won 2 Cannes Film Festival Awards, in 7 nominations he ended up winning 2 Portuguese Golden Globes and won 3 Portuguese Academy Awards, including the Honorary Award.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Tony d'Algy was born in Angola, then a Portuguese colony, of a Spanish mother and Portuguese father. He played opposite Rudolph Valentino in Monsieur Beaucaire (1924) and A Sainted Devil (1924) in bit parts. Beginning in 1928, he worked in Spain (making such films as "La Mujer Soñada" and "Raza de Hidalgos"), France, and Belgium. In 1931, he hosted such visitors as Florencio Molina Campos (an Argentine cartoonist and painter), with Marcos Caplán (Argentine vaudeville producer), and Beatriz Costa (Portuguese actress and singer), among others, at Paramount Studios in Joinville, France (near Paris). D'Algy played the musical agent/lover of Amália Rodrigues in Fado, História d'uma Cantadeira (1947).- Dora Komar was born on 18 April 1914 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. She was an actress, known for Immer nur Du (1941), Karneval der Liebe (1943) and Young Girls of Vienna (1949). She was married to Hans Somborn. She died on 21 November 2006 in Lisbon, Portugal.
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Henry Fielding was born April 22nd 1707, the son of Edmund Fielding, an impoverished nobleman who spent most of his time in and out of various debtor's prisons. After the death of their mother, Henry and his seven siblings were taken in by their maternal grandmother. He was a wild and willful young man, and after a brief stint abroad in a Dutch college, he moved to London and began writing plays. Though his works were very successful, Henry had inherited his father's inability to handle money, and he remained perpetually in debt. In 1734, after a four year courtship, he convinced a young lady named Charlotte Craddock to marry him. Henry was madly in love with Charlotte, and they enjoyed ten happy years of marriage before her death in 1744 of a fever. Henry mourned her deeply, and Sophia Western, the heroine of his novel "Tom Jones", was modeled on Charlotte. In 1747 he married his wife's former maid, Mary Daniel, who was six months pregnant with their child at the time. Known as a brawler, a drunkard, and a womanizer, Henry was nonetheless a prolific and energetic author.
When his health failed in 1754, he sailed to Lisbon, Portugal, hoping a warmer climate would improve his constitution. Instead, he contracted jaundice there and died two months after his arrival on October 8th 1754.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Camilo de Oliveira was born on 11 August 1924 in Figueira da Foz, Portugal. He was an actor and writer, known for Camilo - O Presidente (2009), Camilo, o Pendura (2002) and O Ladrão de Quem se Fala (1969). He was married to Paula Marcelo, Io Appolloni and Maria Luísa Bettencourt. He died on 2 July 2016 in Lisbon, Portugal.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Vasco Santana was born on 28 January 1898 in Benfica, Lisbon, Portugal. He was an actor and writer, known for The Courtyard of the Ballads (1942), The Tyrant Father (1941) and A Canção de Lisboa (1933). He was married to Arminda Martins and Mirita Casimiro. He died on 13 June 1958 in Lisbon, Portugal.- João Ricardo was born on 27 May 1959 in Lisbon, Portugal. He was an actor, known for Laços de Sangue (2010), Dancin' Days (2012) and Equador (2008). He died on 23 November 2017 in Lisbon, Portugal.
- Director
- Editor
- Writer
Fernando Lopes was born on 28 December 1935 in Macas de D. Maria, Alvaiazere, Portugal. He was a director and editor, known for O Fio do Horizonte (1993), 98 Octanas (2006) and O Delfim (2002). He died on 2 May 2012 in Lisbon, Portugal.- Actor
- Writer
Nuno Melo was born on 8 February 1960 in Castelo Branco, Portugal. He was an actor and writer, known for O Barão (2011), Branco (2013) and Vingança (2007). He was married to Isabel Nogueira. He died on 9 June 2015 in Lisbon, Portugal.- Luís Pinhão was born on 18 March 1919 in Lisbon, Portugal. He was an actor, known for The House of the Spirits (1993), Operação Dinamite (1967) and O Amor Desceu em Pára-Quedas (1968). He died on 18 December 2004 in Lisbon, Portugal.
- Director
- Cinematographer
- Producer
Philippe Sr. was born in Toulon, France just about the time his father Jacques Cousteau was inventing the Aqualung (or scuba tank as it is more commonly known) that would allow human kind to explore the oceans freely for the first time. At the age of four years wearing a miniature aqualung he had entered the sea behind his father, following the bubbles to the bottom of rocky shallows, an experience that changed his life forever. The lessons Philippe learned at sea enriched those he learned at school spending each vacation aboard his father's famous ship, Calypso.
As a teenager Philippe dreamed of flying airplanes, pursuing new horizons in the sky as he had in the sea. At 16 he received his glider pilots license and then earned his pilot and commercial license.
At the age of 25 Philippe joined Jacques Cousteau" Precontinent III" where he and five "Aquanauts" lived in a specially designed house 330 feet below the surface of the sea. This was the first time any humans had attempted such a feat.
Philippe recorded the experience in writing as well as on film contributing to a National Geographic Television special that won such widespread acclaim that the public was soon clamoring for a series of films from the Cousteau's.
One year later, father and son were ready to meet the public's demand and delivered a series that changed the world. At 26 years old Philippe set off with his father on Calypso." All departures are exciting, Philippe commented, "but this one was more magnificent than any. A kind of miracle was about to happen. We would be reporting to millions of people, our goal was to serve as eyes for those who could not travel."
In the years to follow Philippe would join his father in making more than thirty films, taking his camera and with it, his viewers all over the world: from the Indian Ocean, to Truk Island in the Pacific, from the Yucatan Peninsula south to Patagonia, Argentina the Antarctic, on to Africa and north to the Arctic and more. Philippe was overall director of the television series, which won an astounding 10 Emmy Awards. The films were graced not just by Philippe's camerawork and editing but also by his aeronautical contributions: he operated the Calypso hang glider, a Raven S55A hot air balloon; a Hughes 300 C helicopter and the PBY Seaplane he proudly called his "Flying Calypso"
On June 28th 1979 however, tragedy struck, and Philippe was killed in an airplane accident in Portugal. He left behind his wife Jan Cousteau and 3 yr. old daughter Alexandra. His son Philippe Jr was born 6 months later.
While the entire world was stunned by his untimely departure the legacy Philippe left for his family - and his audience -is more than his films, books, ideas and discoveries...his legacy lives on as an inspiration to always seek a vision of a better world.- Actress
- Additional Crew
Carla Lupi was born on 3 September 1965 in Portugal. She was an actress, known for Terra Estrangeira (1995), Os Imortais (2003) and Médico de Família (1998). She was married to Vítor Norte. She died on 31 July 2012 in Lisbon, Portugal.- Conchita Cintrón was born in 1922 from a Puerto Rican father of Spanish ascent and a North American mother of Irish ascent. They soon moved to Lima, Perú. Little Conchita preferred to play with cardboard horses than with dolls. When she took the Communion and got a real one as present, she was the happiest of kids. She attended Ruy da Cámara's riding and bullfighting school, where she became rejoneadora (mounted bullfighter) and toreadora as well. Being a woman bullfighter was a sensation, and she became very popular. She was not the only one at the time. The Palmeño sisters, Juanita Cruz and Maria Cobian were other examples. Conchita and the last two made the documentary Mujeres que torean (1940).
She participated in many riding contests, but that was not to be her destiny. Aged seventeen she took her art to Mexico, later toured the neighboring countries. In 1943 she made her only picture, Marvels of the Bull Ring (1943). She traveled to Portugal as well, and in 1945 to Spain, where she continued to achieve great success at one of the most representative events, the Feria de Sevilla, and would tour many other rings afterwards. She had her photograph taken with the famous toreros of the time like Antono Bienvenida and Manolete. Yet, in Portugal she was banned for a while, and in Franco's old-fashioned Spain she was not permitted to kill the bull, considered a men's prerogative, except for charity corridas, which she did. But her art prevailed and her fame continued to grow.
In 1950 she retired, and one year later she married Francisco de Castelo Branco, nephew of her mentor. They would establish near Lisboa and had six children. In 1991 she introduced in Nimes another women bullfighter, Marie Sara. She would write a book on her bullfight career, with a prologue by Orson Welles. She died in 2009 at 86 years of age. She is considered one of the best woman matadoras. - Actress
- Writer
Eunice Muñoz was born on 30 July 1928 in Amareleja, Portugal. She was an actress and writer, known for Olga Drummond (2019), Mar de Paixão (2010) and Destinos Cruzados (2013). She was married to Antonio Barahona da Fonseca, Ernesto Borges and Rui Ângelo de Oliveira do Couto. She died on 15 April 2022 in Lisbon, Portugal.- Actress
Laura Soveral was born on 23 March 1933 in Benguela, Angola, Portugal [now Angola]. She was an actress, known for Tabu (2012), Angústia para o Jantar (1975) and Portugal S.A. (2004). She was married to Edmundo Gastão da Costa Ribeiro da Silva and José Maria de Barros Alves Caetano. She died on 12 July 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal.- Laura Alves and the Portuguese people: a love story that lasted for over three decades. A book has been devoted to her, a documentary has been made about her and there is even a street in Lisbon named after her. It must be said that her success was not usurped in any way: Laura's talents were indeed precocious (she started treading the boards as of age nine) and versatile (she could act, sing and dance to perfection). Her breakthrough appearance was in the 1941 operetta "Lisbon 1900". Her success was such that she was hired - and acclaimed - in many more operettas and revues. Which does not mean that she was not at ease in more serious dramas - not to say tragedies - by Tennessee Williams or William Shakespeare, to name only the most famous. Her career on the silver screen is more modest, only a dozen films, but she is remembered for having been António Silva's screen daughter three times, first in The Tyrant Father (1941), second as the foolish Celeste in The Courtyard of the Ballads (1942) and finally in Perdigão Queiroga's unusual social comedy Sonhar é Fácil (1951). Oddly enough, six years later, she found herself... married to her former 'father' in Perdeu-se um Marido (1957). Silva was 70 while she was only 35! Laura Alves decided to retired in 1982 and unfortunately passed away much too soon, at the age of 58.
- Estrela Novais was born on 13 March 1953 in Porto, Portugal. She was an actress, known for Filumena Marturano (1994), Um Chapéu de Palha de Itália (1989) and Deixa Que Te Leve (2009). She was married to Carlos Lacerda. She died on 8 March 2024 in Lisbon, Portugal.
- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Jorge Silva Melo was born on 7 August 1948 in Lisbon, Portugal. He was a director and writer, known for Ninguém Duas Vezes (1984), The Nothing Factory (2017) and Coitado do Jorge (1993). He died on 14 March 2022 in Lisbon, Portugal.