Fernando Lamas

Fernando Álvaro Lamas (January 9, 1915 – October 8, 1982) was an Argentina-born American actor and director, and the father of actor Lorenzo Lamas.

Early life and career

Lamas was born Fernando Álvaro Lamas y de Santos^[1] in Buenos Aires, Argentina. By 1942, he was an established movie star in Argentina. In 1951, he signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and went to the United States to play "Latin Lover" roles.

Lamas directed for the first time in 1963. It was a Spanish movie titled Magic Fountain starring his wife Esther Williams. He directed another feature film, The Violent Ones, which was released in 1967 and co-starred Aldo Ray and David Carradine. He was most active directing on television, doing episodes that included Mannix, Alias Smith and Jones, Starsky and Hutch and Falcon Crest. The latter show co-starred his son, Lorenzo.

Personal life

Lamas was married four times, to Perla Mux (married 1940, divorced 1944), Lydia Barachi (married 1946, divorced 1952), actress Arlene Dahl (married 1954, divorced 1960), and swimmer and actress Esther Williams (married 1969 until his death in 1982). He had a daughter with Mux and another with Barachi, and a son, actor Lorenzo Lamas (b. January 20, 1958), with Dahl.

Fernando Lamas died of pancreatic cancer in Los Angeles, California at the age of 67.

Quotes

"When a person has an accent, it means he can speak one more language than you" — when Johnny Carson teased him about his accent during an appearance on The Tonight Show

In popular culture

After his death, Lamas's image lived on in popular culture via the "Fernando" character developed by Billy Crystal on Saturday Night Live in the mid-1980s. The character was outlandish and exaggerated but reportedly inspired by a remark Crystal heard Lamas utter on The Tonight Show; "It is better to look good than to feel good." This was one of the Fernando character's two catchphrases along with the better-remembered "You look marvelous!" (usually spelled "mahvelous" in this context).^{[2] [3]}

Filmography

• On the Last Floor (1942)
• Stella (1943)
• Southern Border (1943)
• Villa rica del Espíritu Santo (1945)
• Evasion (1947)
• The Poor People's Christmas (1947)
• Tango Returns to Paris (1948)
• The Story of a Bad Woman (1948)
• La Rubia Mireya (1948)
• La Otra y yo (1949)
• The Story of the Tango (1949)
• The Unknown Father (1949)
• Vidalita (1949)
• Corrientes, calle de ensueños (1949)
• What's My Line? (195? tv show)
• The Avengers (1950)
• Rich, Young and Pretty (1951)
• The Law and the Lady (1951)
• The Merry Widow (1952)
• The Girl Who Had Everything (1953)
• Sangaree (1953)
• Dangerous When Wet (1953)
• The Diamond Queen (1953)
• Jivaro (1954)
• Rose Marie (1954)
• The Girl Rush (1955)
• Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1958 tv show)
• The Lost World (1960)
• Duel of Fire (1962)
• Revenge of the Musketeers (1963)
• Magic Fountain (1963)
• A Place Called Glory (1965)
• The Violent Ones (1967)
• Kill a Dragon (1967)
• 100 Rifles (1969)
• Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
• The Cheap Detective (1978)

References

External links

• Fernando Lamas at the Internet Movie Database
• Fernando Lamas at cinenacional.com