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Raul Julia 1940 - 1994

Raul Julia of New York, New York United States was born on March 9, 1940 in San Juan, El Cinco County, San Juan Puerto Rico to Raul Julia and Olga Arcelay. Raul Julia died at age 54 years old on October 24, 1994 in Manhasset, New York United States, and was buried on October 25, 1994 at Buxeda Memorial Park Rio Piedras, San Juan Municipality, Puerto Rico, USA in Puerto Rico. USA.

Raul Julia

New York, New York United States

March 9, 1940

San Juan, El Cinco County, San Juan, Puerto Rico

October 24, 1994

Manhasset, New York, United States

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Raul Julia Raul Julia (1940 - 1994)

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Raul Julia's History: 1940 - 1994

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Introduction

Raul Julia Born March 9, 1940 in San Juan, Puerto Rico Died October 24, 1994 in Manhasset, New York, USA (complications from a stroke) Birth Name Raul Rafael Carlos Julia y Arcelay Height 6' 2" (1.88 m) Raul Julia was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Olga Arcelay, a mezzo-soprano singer, and Raúl Juliá, an electrical engineer. He graduated from Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola High School in San Juan. Here he studied the rigorous classical curriculum of the Jesuits and was always active in student dramatics. Julia was discovered while performing in a nightclub in San Juan by actor Orson Bean who inspired him to move to the mainland to pursue other projects. Julia moved to Manhattan, New York City in 1964 and quickly found work by acting in small and supporting roles in off-Broadway shows. In 1966, Julia began appearing in Shakespearean roles, creating a deliciously conniving Edmund in "King Lear" in 1973 and a smoldering Othello in 1979. Julia also made his mark on the musical stage playing one of the "Two Gentlemen of Verona" during its run in 1971, and a chilling role of Mack the Knife in "The Threepenny Opera" in 1976 and as a Felliniesque film director in "Nine" in 1982. The stage successes led to his movie works where he is better known. One of his best movie roles is a passionate political prisoner in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985). Julia also appeared as dramatic heroes and memorable villains in a number of films and made-for-TV-movies. His later roles included the crazy macabre Gomez Addams in two Addams Family movies. With his health declining from 1993 onward after he underwent a surgical operation for stomach cancer, Julia kept on acting, where he traveled to Mexico during the winter of 1993-1994 to play the Brazilian Amazon forest activist Chico Mendes in The Burning Season: The Chico Mendes Story (1994), for which he posthumously won a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award. His last theatrical movie was filmed shortly after The Burning Season: The Chico Mendes Story (1994) when he traveled to Australia to shoot all of his scenes for Street Fighter (1994), based on the popular video game where he played the villainous General M. Bison. His last role was a supporting part in another made-for-TV movie titled Down Came a Blackbird (1995). On October 16, 1994, the weakened and gaunt Raul Julia suffered a stroke in New York City where he fell into a coma a few days later and was put on life support. He was transferred to a hospice in nearby Manhasset, Long Island where his weakened body finally gave up the struggle on October 24, at age 54. His body was flown back to Puerto Rico for burial where thousands turned out for his state funeral to remember him. Two honoring ceremonies were held at Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola High School, and at the Headquarters of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture prior to his burial. Spouse (2) Merel Poloway (28 June 1976 - 24 October 1994) ( his death) ( 2 children) Magda Vasallo (1965 - 1969) ( divorced) Trivia (15) Was nominated for four Best Actor (Musical) Tony Awards: in 1972, for "Two Gentlemen of Verona", in 1975 for a revival of "Where's Charley?", in 1977, for playing Macheath in a revival of "The Threepenny Opera", and in 1982 for "Nine". He never won. Died while in a coma just days before his last theatrical movie, Street Fighter (1994), was finished. The film is dedicated to his memory. He accepted the role of M. Bison because his children were fans of the video games. Buried at Buxeda Cemetery (Cemeterio Buxeda) in Cupey, Puerto Rico. Earned a B.A. in drama from University of Puerto Rico. Godfather of writer Mylo Carbia. He was a passionate supporter of The Hunger Project, a foundation devoted to the elimination of world hunger. For 17 years, he served as the Project's spokesman. His father was the pioneer who brought pizza to Puerto Rico when he added it to the menu of his already popular fried chicken. Member of the Phi Sigma Alpha fraternity in Puerto Rico He is one of a few artists to be given a state funeral in his native Puerto Rico. He is the only man to win the Emmy Award and the Golden Globe posthumously. Originally cast for the role of Bucho in Desperado (1995), but he got sick during filming and had to be replaced. He passed away shortly after. Was originally supposed to play Don Diego De la Vega in The Mask of Zorro (1998), but died before he could take the role. In an interview, he once stated that being recognized as Gomez Addams by children always brought a smile to his face. His family later said that this meant a lot to him during the final months of his life. Father of two sons with Poloway, Raul and Benjamin. Friends with Edward James Olmos, and Barry Primus,. Personal Quotes (3) What's behind me is not important! I knew there was something special about the theatre for me. Something beyond the regular reality, something that I could get into and transcend and become something other than myself.
03/9

1940

Birthday

March 9, 1940

Birthdate

San Juan, El Cinco County, San Juan Puerto Rico

Birthplace

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Ethnicity & Family History

Puerto Rican. His mother was an opera singer and his father was an engineer,
Nationality & Locations

Lived in San Juan. Lived in New York. Died in New York. Buried in Buxeda Memorial Park. Rio Piedras, San Juan Municipality, Puerto Rico, USA
Early Life & Education

He graduated from Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola High School in San Juan. (Educated by Jesuits.)
Religious Beliefs

Catholic.
Professional Career

Famous award winning actor. He was discovered by actor Orson Bean in Puerto Rico who convinced him to move to New York and pursue an acting career there.
Personal Life & Family

He won acting awards for theater, films and television.
10/24

1994

Death

October 24, 1994

Death date

Stomach Cancer leading to a stroke.

Cause of death

Manhasset, New York United States
Death location

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10/25

1994

Gravesite & Burial

October 25, 1994

Funeral date
Buxeda Memorial Park Rio Piedras, San Juan Municipality, Puerto Rico, USA in Puerto Rico. USA
Burial location
Obituary

Raul Julia, Broadway and Hollywood Actor, Is Dead at 54 By Mel Gussow Oct. 25, 1994 Raul Julia, an actor who distinguished himself in classics on Broadway and off and also became a success in Hollywood movies, died yesterday at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y. He was 54 and lived in Manhattan. The cause was complications of a stroke on Oct. 16, said Alice Siegel, a hospital spokeswoman. A versatile and fearless performer, Mr. Julia could be dashingly romantic, authoritative or broadly comic with equal facility. Although he was known to millions of moviegoers as Gomez, the father in the ghoulish comedy "The Addams Family" and its sequel, "Addams Family Values," that role was preceded by a long, rewarding career in the theater. For several decades he was a leading actor with the New York Shakespeare Festival. In 1971, he won his first fame as the love-struck Proteus in the modern musical version of "Two Gentlemen of Verona." Subsequently he played the title role in "Othello," as well as comic characters like Petruchio in "The Taming of the Shrew" (opposite Meryl Streep). Repeatedly he shattered typecasting, acting in plays by George Bernard Shaw, Noel Coward, Jean-Paul Sartre and Harold Pinter, while also having a major career in Broadway musicals. Mr. Julia delivered one of his most acclaimed performances in Hector Babenco's 1985 film "The Kiss of the Spider Woman." He played Valentin, the political prisoner, opposite William Hurt. A man of strong humanistic convictions, he was active in political and social causes like the Hunger Project. He sometimes chose roles for their political content, as in "Romero," a film about Oscar Arnulfo Romero, the liberal archbishop of El Salvador who was assassinated in 1980. His most recent appearance was as Chico Mendes, the Brazilian labor-union martyr, in "The Burning Season." Raul Rafael Carlos Julia y Arcelay was born in San Juan, P.R., on March 9, 1940. After graduating from the University of Puerto Rico, he worked as an actor while also performing in a nightclub act. In 1964, he moved to New York, making his debut Off Broadway in a Spanish-language production of Calderon's "Life Is a Dream." Until he met Joseph Papp, Mr. Julia found it difficult to find roles. His first for the New York Shakespeare Festival under Mr. Papp was Macduff in a Mobile Theater production of "Macbeth." Several years later, still stymied in the advancement of his career, he pleaded with Mr. Papp for work and was hired as a house manager. He then edged his way back into acting. A major turning point was his performance in the musical of "Two Gentlemen of Verona," which opened at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park and then moved to Broadway. Nightly in the summer, after finishing his role in that show, he would hurry to Central Park to play the fop Osric in the last act of "Hamlet." Later, he played Orlando in "As You Like It," Edmund the B****** to James Earl Jones's King Lear (the first time Mr. Julia had played such an unsympathetic character) and on to Othello, in 1979. His Othello was a man of passion as well as a man of action. He also portrayed Prospero in "The Tempest" and the title role in "Macbeth." One of his most challenging roles was Mack the Knife in Richard Foreman's experimental version of "The Threepenny Opera" at Lincoln Center in 1976. Speaking about that performance, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award, he said he acted with "a constant nervous energy, like a bomb about to explode." In a quick change of pace, he followed that musical with "The Cherry Orchard" for Andrei Serban, playing the boorish landowner Lopakhin. He worked with ease in musicals and drama, on Broadway and in Shakespeare in the park. On Broadway he starred in the musicals "Where's Charley?" and "Nine," in which he played a film director (a variation on Federico Fellini) besieged by the women in his life. He also had the distinction, such as it was, of playing a heroic garbage man in outer space in "Via Galactica," a Galt MacDermot musical that lasted one night on Broadway. Years later, he led a Broadway revival of "Man of La Mancha." Mr. Julia took over the title role in the Edward Gorey version of "Dracula," revealing a macabre side later put to good advantage in the "Addams Family" films. In 1980, he co-starred with Blythe Danner and Roy Scheider on Broadway in Harold Pinter's "Betrayal," and five years later he played Sergius in Shaw's "Arms and the Man," with Kevin Kline and Glenne Headly, at Circle in the Square. Frequently he took time away from his stage career to act in movies. His films included "The Eyes of Laura Mars," "The Escape Artist," Francis Ford Coppola's "One From the Heart," Paul Mazursky's version of "The Tempest," "Compromising Positions," "The Rookie" and "Havana." And in the 1988 television mini-series "Onassis: The Richest Man in the World," he stretched credibility as a tall, handsome Aristotle Onassis. In the 1990 film "Presumed Innocent," he played Sandy Stern, the lawyer who defended the character played by Harrison Ford. Once, speaking about acting, he admitted that he did not always know what worked for him. "Sometimes it's an instinct," he said, "sometimes it's an intellectual idea, and you have to be willing to make a fool of yourself." When asked to do something difficult, his response was to plunge in. He would say "I'll do it" and "find out later if I could do it," he added. In reflecting on his career, he always credited Mr. Papp as mentor for giving him "the opportunity to play all those great roles." His first marriage ended in divorce. He is survived by his wife, Merel Poloway; two sons, Raul Sigmund and Benjamin Rafael; his mother, Olga Arcelay of Puerto Rico; and two sisters, Maria Eugenia Julia of Mexico City and Olga Maria Julia of Valencia, Spain.

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