González, Agustín

(1930-2005)

   Agustín González very seldom had a starring part, but toward the end of his career he was one of the most established actors in Spanish cinema and television: since his debut as a child in 1934, he was featured in more than 200 films and TV dramas, and throughout five decades he was an effective ensemble player, who won the respect of the acting profession. From his Franco period, he is particularly remembered for his roles as the resentful son in Mi Calle (My Street, Edgar Neville, 1960), one of the bourgeois young men in Luis G. Berlanga's Plácido (1962), and brief appearances in such distinguished efforts as Carlos Saura's Llanto por un bandido (Tears for an Outlaw, 1964), Fernando Fernán Gómez's El mundo sigue (The World Goes Round, 1965), and Antxón Eceiza's De cuerpo presente (In the Presence of the Body, 1967).

   After the Transition, he continued to work, mostly in comedies. He was a regular in Pedro Masó's films of the period, including La miel (Honey, 1979), El divorcio que viene (The Coming Divorce, 1980), and Puente aéreo (Direct Flight, 1981), as well as in films by more progressive filmmakers like Pilar Miró (Gary Cooper que estás en los cielos [ Gary Cooper Who Art in Heaven ] 1980). At that time, he specialized in playing reactionaries, priests, army men, and police chiefs with fascist leanings. He cultivated this type in La escopeta nacional (National Shotgun, Luis G. Berlanga, 1978), El diputado (The Member of Parliament, Eloy de la Iglesia, 1979), El Nido (The Nest, Jaime de Armiñán, 1980), and Los santos inocentes (The Holy Innocents, Mario Camus, 1984), among others.

   In contrast, it was his humanistic, republican priest in Belle Epoque (Fernando Trueba, 1992) that was widely acknowledged as one of his best performances, and helped him land better roles in his latter years. He was extraordinary as a bum in Ventura Pons's Caricies (Caresses, 1998), very funny as a saint in Así en el cielo como en la tierra (In Heaven as in Earth, José Luis Cuerda, 1995), and a commanding authority in José Luis Garci's period dramas El abuelo (The Grandfather, 1998), Historia de un beso (Story of a Kiss, 2002), and Tiovivo c. 1950 (Merry Go Round c. 1950, 2004), his last part, typically, as part of an ensemble film.

   Historical Dictionary of Spanish Cinema by Alberto Mira