Fernán Gómez, Fernando

Fernando Fernández Gómez (28 August 1921 – 21 November 2007), better known as Fernando Fernán Gómez, was a Spanish actor, screenwriter, film director, theater director, novelist, and playwright. Prolific in all these fields, he was elected member of the Royal Spanish Academy in 1998. He was born in Lima, Peru while his mother, Spanish actress Carola Fernán-Gómez, was making a tour in Latin America. He would later use her surname for his stage name when he moved to Spain in 1924. Fernán Gómez was regarded as one of Spain's most beloved and respected entertainers, winning two Silver Bears for Best Actor at the Berlin International Film Festival for his roles in The Anchorite in 1977 and Stico in 1985. He was also the recipient of the Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts, the National Theater Award, the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts, the Gold Medal of the Spanish Film Academy, and six Goya Awards. He starred in 200 films between 1943 and 2006, working with directors including Carlos Saura (Ana and the Wolves, Mama Turns 100), Víctor Erice (The Spirit of the Beehive), Fernando Trueba (Belle Époque), José Luis Garci (The Grandfather), José Luis Cuerda (Butterfly's Tongue) and Pedro Almodóvar (All About My Mother). He directed over 25 films, among them El extraño viaje (1964), and Life Goes On (1965), both great classics of the Spanish cinema that were very limited distribution due to Franco's censorship and made him a cursed filmmaker in his country. His film Voyage to Nowhere (1986), which is based on his own novel, earned critical acclaim and became the most awarded Spanish film at the 1st Goya Awards ceremony.