View for person of id: 14979
Fortunio Bonanova
Born: 13th Jan 1895 Palma de Mallorca, Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain - Died 2nd Apr 1969
Dept: Acting
Fortunio Bonanova, pseudonym of Josep Lluís Moll, (13 January 1895 – 2 April 1969) was a Spanish baritone singer and a film, theater, and television actor. He occasionally worked as a producer and director.
According to Lluis Fàbregas Cuixart, the pseudonym Fortunio Bonanova referred to his desire to seek fortune, and his love of the Bonanova neighborhood in his native Palma.
As a young man, living under his birthname, he was a professional telegraph operator. He studied music with the Italian Giovachini. In 1921, he debuted as a singer in Tannhäuser, at the Teatre Principal in Palma. That year, along with a group of Majorcan intellectuals and Jorge Luis Borges (who was briefly living in Majorca with his parents and sister), he signed the Ultraist Manifesto, using the name Fortunio Bonanova.
Also in 1921, he appeared in a silent film of Don Juan Tenorio by the brothers Baños, which was shown the following year in New York City and Hollywood. He later directed his own Don Juan in 1924.
In 1927, he acted in Love of Sunya, directed by Albert Parker and starring Gloria Swanson. In 1932 he had small parts in Hollywood productions featuring Joan Bennett and Mary Astor. In the same period, he appeared in New York in several operas as well as the zarzuelas La Canción del Olvido ("The song of forgetting"), La Duquesa del Tabarín ("The Duchess of Tabarín"), Los Gavilanes, and La Montería. In 1934, he returned to Spain, where he had a major role in the film El Desaparecido ("The disappeared one") written and directed by Antonio Graciani. In 1935 he acted and sang in the film Poderoso Caballero ("A Big Guy"), directed by Màximo Nossik.
In 1936, with the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, he returned to the United States, where he played the role of Captain Bill in a film called Capitán Tormenta, directed by Jules Bernhardt. A sequence of increasingly larger acting and singing roles mostly in English-language films followed, especially after 1940. Among his roles were Signor Matiste, Susan Alexander Kane's opera coach in Citizen Kane (1941); General Sebastiano in Five Graves to Cairo (1943); Don Miguel in The Black Swan (1942); Fernando in For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943); Sam Garlopis in Double Indemnity (1944); and a singing Christopher Columbus in Where Do We Go From Here?. He continued for the next several decades in a miscellany of character roles.
[ToDo] Show list of extra photos here.
Film and Tv Credits
Total number of credits listed: 79
Film: 72 (91%)
Television: 7 (9%)
Remaining genres not in graph: History, Action & Adventure, TV Movie, Fantasy
Filmography
Original title: La muerte silba un blues
1964
A dead musician’s widow seeks revenge against the gun trafficker who betrayed them. ... view
Character:
Comisario Fenton
1964
Hector, the dog of an officer of the merchant navy, wanders during a stopover in Lisbon. Captured by smugglers, he is soon used as a mule in a case of ... view
Character:
Inspector
1963
An Englishman with a grudge against an insurance company for a disallowed claim fakes his own death and escapes to Spain, but is soon pursued by an in ... view
Character:
Spanish Bank Manager
1959
A band of Basque immigrants treks through the Old West toward California, where they hope to put down roots and open wineries. When the group's leader ... view
Character:
Fernando Christophe
Oct 1958 (first aired)
Stu Bailey and Jeff Spencer are the wisecracking, womanizing private-detective heroes of this Warner Brothers drama. They work out of an office locate ... view
Character:
Santos (1 ep.)
1958
Ex-army sergeant Jed Givens and his gang rob an army payroll shipment led by Lt. Hemp Brown. Givens kills a civilian woman and all the soldiers, leavi ... view
Character:
Serge Bolanos
1957
A couple falls in love and agrees to meet in six months at the Empire State Building - but will it happen? ... view
Character:
Courbet
Feb 1956 (first aired)
The Count of Monte Cristo was a 1956 ITC Entertainment/TPA television series adapted very loosely from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, adapted by Sidney ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (3 ep.)
1956
Oil explorers suspect a South American jungle boy of murder. ... view
Character:
Francisco Servente
1955
One evening, Hammer gives a ride to Christina, an attractive hitchhiker on a lonely country road, who has escaped from the nearby lunatic asylum. Thug ... view
Character:
Carmen Trivago
1955
Story follows the rise and subsequent fall of the notorious head of a New York crime family, who decides to testify against his pals in order to avoid ... view
Character:
Senor
Oct 1954 (first aired)
December Bride is an American sitcom that aired on the CBS television network from 1954 to 1959, adapted from the original CBS radio network series th ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (1 ep.)
Character:
Senor Corelli, Opera Singer
Original title: Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach
1953
A comedy of manners, the film centers on virtuous actress Patty O'Neill, who meets playboy architect Donald Gresham on the observation deck of the Emp ... view
Character:
TV host
1953
A cavalry officer tries to keep a lid on a volatile situation when Indian leader Cochise is being prodded into starting a war. ... view
Character:
Mexican Minister
1953
A prize-fighting boxer with a lethal right punch falls for a gangster's moll on the run in Mexico. ... view
Character:
Mandy, hotel owner
1953
Film biography of opera star Grace Moore, released in 1953. ... view
Character:
Dr. Marafioti
1953
Two aging playboys are both after the same attractive young woman, but she fends them off by claiming that she plans to remain a virgin until her wedd ... view
Character:
Television Performer
1953
Shrimpers and oilmen clash when an ambitious wildcatter begins constructing an off-shore oilrig. ... view
Character:
Sheriff Antoine Chighizola
Feb 1953 (first aired)
General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponso ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (1 ep.)
Dec 1952 (first aired)
Bud and Lou are unemployed actors living in Mr. Fields’ boarding house. Lou’s girlfriend Hillary lives across the hall. Many situations arise lead ... view
Character:
Uncle Bozzo (1 ep.)
Prof. Roberto (1 ep.)
Oct 1951 (first aired)
Cuban Bandleader Ricky Ricardo would be happy if his wife Lucy would just be a housewife. Instead she tries constantly to perform at the Tropicana whe ... view
Character:
Professor (1 ep.)
1951
Ambassador Rico DeMarco is in Washington trying to raise a five-million dollar loan for his country, Lower Salamia. Filbert Filmore and his domineerin ... view
Character:
Ambassador DeMarco
Jun 1951 (first aired)
Racket Squad is an American TV crime drama series starring Reed Hadley as Captain John Braddock, a fictional detective working for the San Francisco, ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (1 ep.)
1950
An industrialist and a pianist meet on a trip and fall in love. Through a quirk of fate, they are reported dead in a crash though they weren't on the ... view
Character:
Grazzi
1950
Mother and daughter compete over same singing role and, unbeknownst to each other, the same man. ... view
Character:
Ricardo Domingos
1950
The wife of a psychoanalyst falls prey to a devious quack hypnotist when he discovers she is an habitual shoplifter. Then one of his previous patients ... view
Character:
Feruccio di Ravallo
1949
A marshal goes up against a collection of vicious outlaws terrorizing his own. ... view
Character:
John Mingo
1948
Spanish Lothario Don Juan, the legendary lover and adventurer returns to Spain following a scandal and comes to the aid of his queen, who is under thr ... view
Character:
Don Serafino Lopez
1948
An expedition exploring the Amazon jungle comes across a jungle goddess who lives among the animals and fears none of them--and apparently has found t ... view
Character:
Sebastian Ortega
1948
Georgia Garrett is sent by jealous wife Elvira Kent on an ocean cruise to masquerade as herself while she secretly stays home to catch her husband che ... view
Character:
Plinio
1947
Angry because his father, Don Manuel Ortega, had arranged a marriage with a girl he has never met, Dolores de Garfias, Ramon Ortega, despite the threa ... view
Character:
Don Manuel Ortega
1947
Anti-Catholic and anti-cleric policies in the Mexican state of Tabasco lead the revolutionary government to persecute the state's last remaining pries ... view
Character:
The Governor's Cousin
Original title: La diosa arrodillada
1947
Antonio, a millionaire, gifts his wife a statue of a naked, kneeling woman for their wedding anniversary. ... view
Character:
1947
When a matador leaves town to focus on his music, his twin sister takes on his identity in the bullfighting ring. ... view
Character:
Antonio Morales
1946
A bumbling barber in the court of King Louis XV becomes engaged in political intrigue when he masquerades as a dashing nobleman engaged to the princes ... view
Character:
Don Carlos
1946
On March 22, four days after returning to his home in Andalusia, Luis de Vargas writes the first of his letters to his uncle and favorite professor at ... view
Character:
Don Pedro Vargas
1945
An unsophisticated farm girl pursues a career as an opera singer. ... view
Character:
Mario Alvini
Character:
Prof. Zorado
1945
Chan is faced with suspects in a stolen atomic bomb formula case, that are being killed with bullets that are not fired from a gun. ... view
Character:
Insp. Luis Carvero
1945
Major Joppolo and his men are assigned to restore order to the war-torn Italian town of Adano. He has to manage getting supplies into town without int ... view
Character:
Gargano - Chief of Police
1945
Socialist librarian gets mixed up in the family life of a spoiled rich girl and her screwball family. ... view
Character:
1945
Bill wants to join the Army, but he's 4F so he asks a wizard to help him, but the wizard has slight problems with his history knowlege, so he sends Bi ... view
Character:
Christopher Columbus
1944
Brazil is perhaps the best of the handful of US films made by singing sensation Tito Guizar. In typical screwball-comedy fashion, the plot is set in m ... view
Character:
Senor Renaldo Da Silva
1944
In this family saga, Mrs. Parkington recounts the story of her life, beginning as a hotel maid in frontier Nevada where she is swept off her feet by m ... view
Character:
Signor Cellini
1944
An insurance representative is seduced by a dissatisfied housewife into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colle ... view
Character:
Sam Garlopis
1944
A girl from a show-business family seeks a backer for her boyfriend's musical. ... view
Character:
Charlie
1944
Orphaned as a young child and adopted by a band of notorious thieves, now-grown Ali Baba sets out to avenge his father’s murder, reclaim the royal t ... view
Character:
Old Baba
1944
Youthful Father Chuck O'Malley led a colorful life of sports, song, and romance before joining the Roman Catholic clergy. After being appointed to a r ... view
Character:
Tomaso Bozanni
1943
A sultan's lovely daughter finds herself courted by a handsome American. ... view
Character:
Kuda
1943
Spain in the 1930s is the place to be for a man of action like Robert Jordan. There is a civil war going on and Jordan—who has joined up on the side ... view
Character:
Fernando
1943
A young songwriter leaves his Kentucky home to try to make it in New Orleans. Eventually he winds up in New York, where he sells his songs to a music ... view
Character:
Waiter
1943
During the 1942 North African campaign, a British straggler passes as a waiter at the hotel commandeered as Erwin Rommel's headquarters. He has though ... view
Character:
Gen. Sebastiano
1942
When notorious pirate Henry Morgan is made governor of Jamaica, he enlists the help of some of his former partners in ridding the Caribbean of buccane ... view
Character:
Don Miguel (uncredited)
1942
A South American in New York rents the apartment of a socialite who pretends to be his maid. ... view
Character:
Simon Cordoba
1942
Three ex-cons buy a luggage shop to tunnel into the bank vault next door. But despite all they can do, the shop prospers... ... view
Character:
Anton Copoulos
1942
A woman attempts to shelter a young girl from the publicity surrounding her socialite parents' divorce. ... view
Character:
Chef
1942
Karanina "Nina" Novak, is befriended by Nifty, the leader of a four-piece orchestra, and in return, secures an engagement for them at the Little Arega ... view
Character:
Mike - Nightclub Owner (uncredited)
1942
Married sleuths (Gracie Allen, William Post Jr.) find a corpse in their closet and round up suspects. ... view
Character:
Buano
1941
Joan Daley, a New York booking/press agent, attempts to recruit two local stand-ins, Jinx Terry and Lois Morgan, when the Cuban sister-act, Marianela ... view
Character:
Armando Rivero
1941
An American pilot impulsively joins His Majesty's Royal Air Force in Britain in an attempt to impress his ex-girlfriend. ... view
Character:
Louie - Headwaiter
1941
Starting with a cruel joke – a couple of callow men make a bet that one of them can seduce the woman sharing their train compartment – the film ch ... view
Character:
Impresario
1941
After losing nearly all of an inheritance to taxes, sisters Kay and Barbara Latimer, waitresses at a drive-in restaurant in Texas, scheme to find rich ... view
Character:
Mr. Pretto, the Hotel Manager
1941
Bullfighter Juan Gallardo falls for socialite Dona Sol, turning from the faithful Carmen who nevertheless stands by her man as he continues to face re ... view
Character:
Pedro Espinosa
1941
Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, ty ... view
Character:
Signor Matiste
1941
An entertainer in Rio impersonates a wealthy aristocrat. When the aristocrat's wife asks him to carry the impersonation further, complications ensue. ... view
Character:
Pereira, the Headwaiter
1940
In 1820 Spain, the son of a California nobleman comes home to find his native land under a villainous dictatorship. On one hand, he plays the useless ... view
Character:
Sentry (uncredited)
1940
The story—in which an American heiress on holiday in South America falls in love with an Argentine horse breeder against the wishes of their familie ... view
Character:
Hotel Manager
1940
Posing as the fabulously glamorous Countess Tanya Vronsky, a poor young ballet dancer and her two accomplices are really a team of skilled con artists ... view
Character:
Orchestra Leader
1938
Drummond has to leave for Morocco on his wedding day with his fiancee and trusted friends to rescue his friend Nielsen who is kidnapped by an internat ... view
Character:
African Police Corporal
1938
A screenwriter falls in love with a Mexican woman while searching for a story line south of the border. ... view
Character:
Barrera
1938
A baritone aids a young servant in making her dream of singing professionally come true. ... view
Character:
Tenor
1936
Spanish-language version of The Devil on Horseback (1936). ... view
Character:
1932
Henry Wilton is an elderly millionaire saddled with his selfish young second wife Emmy 'Sweetie' Wilton and a pair of spoiled grown children, Peggy an ... view
Character:
Pietro Rafaelo
1932
Innocent Sally Brown thinks men are only attracted to experienced women, so she poses as the wife of an unmarried businessman on a trip to Paris. ... view
Character:
Rodriguez
1929
Juan is summoned by Goldenberg to offer him a job in the cheap business. To get away from him, Pardo evades his proposals justifying himself by saying ... view
Character:
1928
Venezuelan adaptation of The Four Featehr by A.E.W. Mason. A story of courage and redemption set in the British Empire's colonial era. When Harry Feve ... view
Character:
1922
Don Juan Tenorio makes a bet with a friend as to which of them will commit more outrages in a year. He wins, killing twirty-two men and seducing seven ... view
Character:
Don Juan Tenorio