Fernando Casado Arambillet was born on 20 September 1917 in A Coruña. Under the stage name Fernando Rey he connected Spanish cinema with European and American co-productions. 20 September 2026 marks 109 years since his birth. He died in Madrid on 9 March 1994.

He worked in theatre, television and more than 150 films. His collaboration with Luis Buñuel brought roles in Viridiana, Tristana, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and That Obscure Object of Desire. Elegance and ambiguity made him suited to cultivated, authoritarian or morally unsettling characters.

International audiences also knew him as Alain Charnier in The French Connection and its sequel. In 1977 he received the Cannes award for best actor for Elisa, vida mía, directed by Carlos Saura. Late in life he chaired the Spanish Film Academy, from 1992.

A retrospective should not reduce him to a single American part or a single festival. His career began in 1930s–1940s Spain and spanned half a century. Localised film titles should follow the publication’s catalogue, not improvisation.

A photograph of A Coruña’s city hall shows his birthplace, not a film still and not the Cannes red carpet. Rights in stills and posters remain with producers.

The anniversary belongs to an actor, not a fashion. Rey remains a link between Buñuel, Spanish cinema after the transition and Hollywood co-productions, without being turned into a single legend.

Image: Diego Delso / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. A Coruña city hall, 25 September 2015. Birthplace, not a portrait of the actor and not a still from Buñuel’s films. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Obituary: Fernando Rey | The Independent; Luis Buñuel | Encyclopaedia Britannica.