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Luis Miguel Dominguin 1926 - 1996

Luis Miguel Dominguin was born on November 9, 1926, and died at age 69 years old on May 8, 1996. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Luis Miguel Dominguin.

Luis Miguel Dominguin

November 9, 1926

May 8, 1996

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Luis Miguel Dominguin Luis Dominguin (1926 - 1996)

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Luis Miguel Dominguin's History: 1926 - 1996

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Luis Miguel González Lucas (November 9, 1926 – May 8, 1996) was a famous bullfighter from Spain, better known as Luis Miguel Dominguín. Luis Miguel Dominguín Born Luis Miguel González Lucas November 9, 1926 Madrid, Spain Died May 8, 1996 (aged 69) San Roque, Spain Nationality Spain Occupation Matador Spouse(s) Lucia Bosè (1955–1967; divorced) Rosario Primo de Rivera (1987–1996; his death) Children Miguel (b. 1956) Lucia (b. 1957) Paola (b. 1960) Luis Miguel González Lucas (November 9, 1926 – May 8, 1996) was a famous bullfighter from Spain, better known as Luis Miguel Dominguín. His father was the legendary Domingo Dominguín; he adopted his father's name to gain popularity. Early career Dominguín made his first public appearance in the ring at the age of eleven. He became a matador in 1941. He enjoyed wide popularity during the 1940s and 1950s in Spain, Portugal, Colombia and other countries. He was on the card in Linares, Spain on 28 August 1947 when another legend, his rival Manolete, was fatally gored.[1] Dominguín was also a socialite, having friends like Pablo Picasso and romances with the American actress Ava Gardner and the fashion model China Machado. In 1955, he married actress Lucia Bosé who gave birth to his son Miguel Bosé, a Grammy-award winning singer. He also occasionally appeared in films, predominantly playing himself in cameo roles, in movies such as Around the World in 80 Days (1956), Testament of Orpheus (1960), and The Picasso Summer (1969). In 1959, he and his brother-in-law, Antonio Ordóñez, engaged in a bullfighting rivalry that was chronicled by Ernest Hemingway in his book, The Dangerous Summer. Ordóñez won. In 1964 he was a mystery guest on the US TV show What's My Line?. Later career In 1971 at the age of 44 he returned to the bullring. That year he retired again, but returned to the ring in 1971, aged 45, when he attempted to fathom the sport's continuing allure. His comeback was at Las Palmas, the Canary Islands, when he wore the costume known as the "suit of lights," which had been designed for him by Picasso. He killed two bulls and won one ear, but was overshadowed by younger men - although the actress Deborah Kerr, who was in the crowd, insisted, "He is still the greatest bull-fighter." Marriages and relationships Miroslava Sternova In 1953 Luis Miguel Dominguín met Miroslava Sternova in Cuba. Dominguín was half a year younger than she, so far they parted as friends only until they met again in 1954, this time in the United States. She went on to work abroad in Spain to meet up with friends and Dominguín. After her return to Mexico Sternova was found dead from an overdose. In one hand she clutched three farewell notes; in the other, a photograph showing her with Dominguín and his mother. Rumor has it that she took her own life over the marriage of Dominguín and Bosè. Ava Gardner By 1954, Dominguín's friendship with Ava Gardner was being widely reported. He considered her the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, but liked her more, he said, for her humor and understanding; he confessed himself unsure what he looked for in women. "Men fall in love with a woman's faults rather than her qualities," he mused. Ava had been previously associated with other bullfighters, though still married at the time to Frank Sinatra. The most spirited of them all was, no doubt, Luis Miguel Dominguín. However, the relationship was so passionate and stormy, and the fights between him and the diva had people talking. But also they had their tender moments. It is said that in their first night of lovemaking, he got out of bed and she asked: "Where are you going?". "To go tell!" replied the bullfighter. Years later, he admitted to a friend he made up that anecdote. Subsequently Ava divorced Sinatra, and Luis Miguel saw his chance to establish a more stable relationship. He wanted to get married and have children, but this was not in the Hollywood actress' plans. The idyll ended in September 1954. Years later, he was recalling with affection: "She was the prettiest and the most fierce. I had a very fierce wolf in a cage." Lucia Bosé Italian actress and former Miss Italy, Lucia Bosé flew to Madrid to shoot the film Muerte de un ciclista ("Death of a Cyclist"). At the airport she met the producer, Manuel Goyanes, and Luis Miguel, who introduced him to the Italian actress. At first she thought he was just a blowhard bully, but in the end he inspired interest and won her over. They soon overcame the language barrier that separated them and the fact that she knew nothing about bullfighting. They still had not yet kissed when he asked her to marry him. They were married in Las Vegas on 1 March 1955. Lucia has confessed that their first year of marriage was not too idyllic: "It was a very hard experience. I did not speak Spanish and I do not know anything, he did not speak Italian. I think that's how the passion was born, because we did not understand each other. When I began to understand who he was and he who I was, the crisis began." But the matador knew well how to compensate: "It never ceased to amaze me the incalculable force of his sexual incontinence," said the actress. Shortly after marrying she became pregnant and was forced to marry through the church in order to quell the scandals. The ceremony took place on 19 October 1955. Luis Miguel returned to the bullfighting arenas abroad and their first son, Miguel Bosé, was born in Panama on 3 April 1956. Their second child, Lucia, born in 1957 and Paola, born in 1960. Lucia and Luis Miguel were married for years, but their differences were accentuated over time, especially her lack of interest for the bulls. She never became part of the "Dominguín" clan, and the Dominguines never liked her. On the other hand, the infidelities of the bullfighter also took their toll. "In a matter of horns, I was a gold medal," Lucia asserted. Rosario Primo de Rivera He divorced Bosé in 1968, and in 1987 married Rosario Primo de Rivera. In 1971 at the age of 44 he returned to the bullring, and retired for good in 1973. Death He died of heart failure at 69 in 1996. He is buried in the cemetery San Enrique de Guadiaro, near Sotogrande (Cádiz). Filmography Around the World in 80 Days (1956) - Bullfighter Testament of Orpheus (1960) - Un ami d'Orphée / Orphée's Friend (uncredited) Yo he visto a la muerte (1967) - Himself The Picasso Summer (1969) - Himself (final film role)
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1926

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November 9, 1926

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05/8

1996

Death

May 8, 1996

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Obituary

Dominguin, 69, Bullfighter In Hemingway Chronicle, Dies By THE NEW YORK TIMES MAY 9, 1996 Dominguin, a leading bullfighter in the 1940's and 50's who was a close friend of Picasso, a lover of Ava Gardner and a dueling matador featured by Ernest Hemingway in "The Dangerous Summer," died today at his home in Soto Grande, in San Roque, in Cadiz province. He was 69. The cause was heart failure, the state-run National Radio reported. Born Luis Miguel Gonzalez Lucas in Madrid, he adopted his father's bullfighting nickname, Dominguin. He had already achieved great renown before "The Dangerous Summer" of 1959, when he and his brother-in-law, Antonio Ordonez, fought the series of bullfights chronicled by Hemingway, a contest for popular acclaim as the world's top toreador. As Hemingway explained: "Bullfighting is worthless without rivalry. But with two great bullfighters, it becomes a deadly rivalry" that can force a matador to push beyond his abilities until he is injured or killed. The brother-in-law won. And indeed, later in the summer, Dominguin was gored during a routine pass. But in his heyday, Dominguin's fame opened other avenues of adventure. He carried on a highly publicized romance with Ava Gardner and was photographed with her in 1954, the same year he married an Italian actress, Lucia Bose, with whom he had three children. Picasso was the godfather of their youngest child, Paola, and the family regularly visited the artist at his home in France. The bullfighter's fame was credited for the fact that even though Picasso was considered an enemy of the state by the dictator Francisco Franco, Dominguin could make these visits and return to Spain without incident. Born on Dec. 9, 1926, Dominguin first appeared as a junior bullfighter at age 11 in Lisbon. He was rarely far from the ring for the next two decades. In 1941, in Bogota, Colombia, he became a full-fledged matador, permitting him to face the largest bulls, in a fight known in Spanish as the alternativa. But the test was considered invalid in Spain, where he had to repeat the process in 1942, when he was still in his mid-teens. At age 20, he was on the fight card on Aug. 28, 1947, in Linares, Spain, when the greatest bullfighter of the day, Manolete, was gored and died. Two years later, in the Madrid bullring, Dominguin thrust his right arm in the air and raised his right index finger, claiming the throne for himself as the new No. 1 bullfighter. The gesture set off sharp debate among aficionados. "He had a style of attracting attention like some actors on stage who captivate the audience even if they don't say a word," said Jose Carlos Arevalo, editor of 6 Toros 6, a weekly bullfighting magazine in Madrid. In Hemingway's words: "Luis Miguel was a charmer -- dark, tall, no hips, just a touch too long in the neck for a bullfighter, with a grave mocking face that went from professional disdain to easy laughter." Domiguin continued fighting regularly in Spain until the early 1950's. His career then shifted to Latin America, but he returned to the Spanish ring in the late 1950's, setting up the rivalry with Antonio Ordonez, a younger man who had married Dominguin's sister. Dominguin "would consider himself a bigger draw at the gate" because of his fame, Hemingway wrote in "The Dangerous Summer," which grew out of a reporting assignment for Life magazine. But Ordonez "would consider very strongly that he was a better matador," he added. Hemingway and most Spanish aficionados agreed with Ordonez, and Dominguin retired shortly thereafter. Hemingway wrote that he was unmoved by Dominguin's style of cape work in the ring. But he also expressed great respect for the matador: "He was proud without being arrogant, tranquil, at ease in the ring at all times and in full control of everything that went on. "It was a pleasure to see him direct the fight and to watch his intelligence at work. He had the complete and respectful concentration on his work which marks all great artists." Hemingway also praised Dominguin's "reflexes, his tremendous repertoire of passes and his encyclopedic knowledge of bulls." Unlike some bullfighters, Dominguin also regularly served as his own banderillero, the fighter who plunges sharp sticks into the bull's back before the matador steps into the ring with the red cape and sword for the final passes and the kill. Dominguin returned to the ring in 1971 at 44, quite old for a bullfighter. His last fight was on Sept. 12, 1973, in Barcelona. His first marriage ended in divorce in 1968. In 1987 he married Rosario Primo de Rivera, niece of the founder of the Spanish ultra-rightist Falange movement, which supported Franco. He is survived by his wife; by his son, Miguel Bose, whose successful career as an actor and pop singer prompted Dominguin to grumble in later years that he was simply known as "Miguel Bose's father"; by two daughters, and by his brother, Pepe.

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13 Memories, Stories & Photos about Luis

Amanda S. Stevenson

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05/01/2019

Luis Miguel Dominguin Family

A photo of Luis Miguel Dominguin and Lucia Bose with their kids.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

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Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

05/01/2019

Luis Miguel Dominguin

A photo of Luis Miguel Dominguin

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

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Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

05/01/2019

Luis Miguel Dominguin

A photo of Luis Miguel Dominguin

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

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Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

04/30/2019

Luis Miguel Dominguin and Ava Gardner

A photo of Luis Miguel Dominguin with Ava Gardner

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

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Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

04/30/2019

Luis Miguel Dominguin

A photo of Luis Miguel Dominguin

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

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Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

04/30/2019

Luis Miguel Dominguin

A photo of Luis Miguel Dominguin

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

Comments

Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

04/30/2019

Luis Miguel Dominguin

A photo of Luis Miguel Dominguin and Ava Gardner

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

Comments

Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

04/30/2019

Luis Miguel Dominguin

A photo of Luis Miguel Dominguin

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

Comments

Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

04/30/2019

Luis Miguel Dominguin

A photo of Luis Miguel Dominguin

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

Comments

Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

04/30/2019

Luis Miguel Dominguin

A photo of Luis Miguel Dominguin

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

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Luis Miguel Dominguin 1926 - 1996

Luis Miguel Dominguin's History: 1926 - 1996

Introduction

Birthday

Death

Obituary

13 Memories, Stories & Photos about Luis

Luis Dominguin's Family Tree & Friends

Luis Dominguin's Family Tree

Luis' Friends

Other Biographies