Frank Braña (born Francisco Braña Pérez; 24 February 1934 – 13 February 2012) was a Spanish character actor.

Frank Braña
Frank Brana as Sheriff Lewis Burton in Hai sbagliato... dovevi uccidermi subito! (1972)
Born
Francisco Braña Pérez

(1934-02-24)24 February 1934
Died13 February 2012(2012-02-13) (aged 77)
Madrid, Spain
Other namesPaco
OccupationActor

Biography edit

He was born Francisco Braña Pérez in Pola de Allande, Asturias, Spain on 24 February 1934.[1] Also credited as Frank Blank, Francisco Brana, Frank Brana, Frank Branya, Francisco Braña and Paco Braña, his career has been mostly based in Spanish and Italian movies of the spaghetti Western, horror and sword-and-sandal genres, having worked in more than 200 productions from the early 1960s, not always as a supporting actor.[1]

He appeared in the Dollars Trilogy by Sergio Leone: Per un pugno di dollari (1964),[2] he played Blackie in Per qualche dollaro in più (1965),[3] and Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo (1966).[4] He appeared in Sunscorched [de] (1965) along Vivien Dodds, Óscar Pellicer and Luis Induni.[5]

He appeared in And the Crows Will Dig Your Grave (1971) and Dallas (1972), by John Wood, Django Does Not Forgive (1967), by Julio Buchs, Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot! (1967), by Giulio Questi, If You Shoot... You Live!, by Javier Elorrieta, and Three Supermen of the West (1974), by Italo Martinenghi.[6] He played Dan Robinson in Kilma, Queen of the Amazons (1976).[7] He played Prince in Perseus Against the Monsters (1963) in a supporting role along Antonio Molino Rojo and Lorenzo Robledo,[8] in Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) along Benito Stefanelli, Antonio Molino Rojo, Fabio Testi and Spartaco Conversi,[9] federal agent Sam Puttnam in Light the Fuse... Sartana Is Coming (1970) along Massimo Serato, Nieves Navarro and José Jaspe,[10] and Battle of the Amazons (1973) along Alberto Dell'Acqua, Benito Stefanelli and his son Marco.[11]

One of his last film was Tiovivo c. 1950 (2004), by José Luis Garci, which received a nomination for Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.[12] He continued working in spite of suffering from silicosis.[13] In September 2007 he published the autobiography Morir con dignidad en el cine.[14] In September 2011 he was awarded at I Festival Internacional de Cine Western alongside Craig Hill and Teresa Gimpera, Eugenio Martin, Rafael Romero Marchent, Cándida López (widow of Aldo Sanbrell), Antonio Pica, Dan van Husen, Nicoletta Machiavelli, Saturno Cerra, Fabio Testi and Al Matthews.[15][16][17]

On 13 February 2012, 3:15 pm, Brana died from respiratory failure at a hospital in Madrid, Spain, he was 11 days away of his 78th birthday.[18]

Selected filmography edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b Lentz III, Harris M. (19 April 2013). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2012. McFarland Publishing. p. 39. ISBN 9781476603858.
  2. ^ Neibaur 2015, p. 7.
  3. ^ Neibaur 2015, p. 19.
  4. ^ Neibaur 2015, p. 31.
  5. ^ Prickette, James (20 January 2012). Actors of the Spaghetti Westerns. Xlibris Corporation. p. 433. ISBN 9781469144290.
  6. ^ Weisser, Thomas (11 March 2004). Spaghetti Westerns—the Good, the Bad and the Violent: A Comprehensive, Illustrated Filmography of 558 Eurowesterns and Their Personnel, 1961–1977. McFarland. p. 498. ISBN 9781476611693.
  7. ^ Easter, Alvin (2004). Lash!: The Hundred Great Scenes of Men Being Whipped in the Movies. Xlibris Corporation. p. 275. ISBN 9781413463132.
  8. ^ Hughes 2011, p. 21.
  9. ^ Hughes 2011, p. 158.
  10. ^ Hughes 2011, p. 160.
  11. ^ Hughes 2011, p. 285.
  12. ^ Amengual Colom, Antoni (2005). Hablando de física a la salida del cine. Universitat de les Illes Balears. p. 15. ISBN 9788476329382.
  13. ^ "FRANK BRAÑA, HISTÓRICO DEL CINE DE ACCIÓN FALLECE EN MADRID A LOS 77 AÑOS". Unión de Actores (in Spanish). 29 November 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  14. ^ G. Ubierna, Gadea (19 September 2007). "La historia del pistolero que murió más de cien veces". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  15. ^ "Frank Braña y Saturno Cerra, históricos del cine del oeste, participaron en el I Festival Internacional de Cine Western". Noticias de Almería (in Spanish). 23 April 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  16. ^ López, Juan Jesús (12 September 2011). "Clausura del Almería Western Film Festival". Almeria Clips (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  17. ^ "Almería Western Film Festival 2011". Almeria Western Film Festival (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  18. ^ "Fallece Frank Braña, actor en 170 películas de acción y del oeste". La Razón (in Spanish). Madrid. 13 February 2012. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2021.

Bibliography edit

External links edit