Guillermo Álvarez Bianchi, was an actor of Spanish origin, who developed his entire artistic career in Mexico, working in theater, television, radio, film, and dubbing.
Biographical review
- A fundamental reference and recurring presence throughout forty years of Mexican cinema, Guillermo Álvarez Díaz was born in Mouriscados, municipality of Avion, in the province of Orense on November 16, 1915.
- Son of Maximino Álvarez and Carolina Díaz Nogueira, peasants, he had two brothers: José and Blanca. He spent his childhood in his hometown where he studied until the third year of primary school, a circumstance that did not curtail his desire to learn. Self-taught, he possessed a vast culture, with extensive knowledge in history and geography; and mastery of advanced mathematics, thanks to his impeccable logic.
- When she was very young, her father died of a heart attack and Doña Carolina found herself in need of sending her sons to find a life beyond the seas. José traveled to Venezuela and Guillermo to Mexico, by boat and without a return ticket due to lack of money, where he arrived on April 30, 1931 and settled in the country's capital. The beginning of his new life was not easy. To get ahead, he worked as a baker and door-to-door salesman, among other trades, until he was able to set up his own business, a photographic studio on San Juan de Letrán street, in the center of Mexico City.
- For the quality of his work he soon became famous. They knew him as "the photographer of the stars", because many actresses commissioned their publicity photos. Knowing that he was fluent in various instruments – bagpipes, flute, guitar and accordion - they suggested that he try his hand at acting. Without hesitation, Guillermo appeared at XEW as an accordionist and was hired to perform the background music for the Caricia soap advert presented by Germán Valdés, then announcer and later one of the most famous comedians in national cinema, better known like "Tin Tan".
- He did not go unnoticed and was invited to work in the cinema. At the beginning as an extra, but the day an actor was absent they gave him a better opportunity and he stayed in the cinema. Throughout four decades, his participation is consigned in more than two hundred films, although he claimed that he acted in 360.
- Although he never had roles that allowed him to widely demonstrate his abilities, some of his most notable works were: as the Spanish Don Eladio, owner of the El Paraíso hotel in the melodrama Cuarto de hotel (Adolfo Fernández Bustamante, 1952), with which he won the Ariel for Best Supporting Actor; in the role of Rico, a man of low moral character in the interesting melodrama Espaldas mojadas (Alejandro Galindo, 1953), with David Silva and Víctor Parra, about Mexicans who cross the border with the United States; as Jerónimo, the servant of the rich uncle Porfirio in the comedy Pensión de artistas (Adolfo Fernández Bustamante, 1956); playing the husband of the Marquise de Valdefuentes in the ambitious melodrama The Ivory Tower (Alfonso Corona Blake, 1957), with Marga López, Yolanda Varela and Ernesto Alonso; and as the evil foreign agent Guillermo Leblanc in the well-accomplished adventure film Neutrón contra el doctor Caronte (Federico Curiel, 1960), with Wolf Ruviskis and Julio Alemán, to name a few. Álvarez Bianchi was also nominated for the Ariel Award in the category of Actor in a Picture for his performance in the film El buen ladrón (Mauricio de la Serna, 1956).
- With ability for both drama and comedy, throughout his career he coincided with some of the most famous artists of the time: the Soler brothers, Elsa Aguirre, Germán Valdés "Tin Tan", Pedro Infante, Andrea Palma, Germán Robles, Sara García, María Félix, Mario Moreno “Cantinflas”, Jorge Negrete, Silvia Pinal, etc.; and worked for some of the most renowned directors, such as Alejandro Galindo, Luis Buñuel, Roberto Gavaldón, Ismael Rodríguez, Julio Bracho and Juan Bustillo Oro.
- In 1948 he met Hilda Isabel Estrada Furlán, a young Guatemalan who dreamed of reaching the United States by crossing Mexico by land, doing small jobs that would allow her to cover the expenses of the trip. One fine day she came to photography and Guillermo hired her as a receptionist; By the time her permit to stay in the country was about to expire, the young photographer had fallen in love with her and proposed to her. Hilda accepted, in 15 days they were married and the marriage that had two children, Rodrigo and Carolina, lasted a lifetime.
- He became a naturalized Mexican on July 6, 1950.
- Álvarez Bianchi also worked in theater and ventured into dubbing movies and television series. This skill became his main source of work, doing the voices in memorable animated series such as The Flintstones, Don Gato and his gang and The Jetsons; in animated films such as Charlotte's Web and Bernardo and Bianca; in the television series The Green Hornet, Batman, My beautiful genius, My Favorite Martian, Super Agent 86, The Great Chaparral, The Invaders, The Addams family and The Untouchables; and in films like Mogambo (John Ford, 1953), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953) Moby Dick (John Huston , 1956) and The Wild Gang (Sam Peckinpah, 1969), to mention a few.
- In his free time he enjoyed reading, playing the guitar or repairing some damage at home. A very hard-working man, dedicated to his family and a great friend. With a strong character and enormous sympathy, respected and loved by all who knew him, he died of a myocardial infarction in the early morning of August 26, 1982, leaving his image fixed in hundreds of thousands of celluloid pictures. His remains rest in the Mausoleos del Ángel pantheon in Mexico City.