Fernando Lamas

Argentine-born actor, director, and singer

• Born: January 9, 1915
• Birthplace: Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Died: October 8, 1982
• Place of death: Los Angeles, California

Lamas was a distinguished Argentinian film star who immigrated to the United States to become a celebrity playing numerous “Latin lover” roles. He often was paired with Hollywood’s most glamorous women on-screen and off.

Early Life

Fernando Álvaro Lamas y de Santos (LAH-muhs) was born on January 9, 1915, to Emelio and Maria Lamas. Lamas’s parents originally were from Spain, but they emigrated to and settled in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Lamas’s father, an electrical engineer, died when he was one year old; his mother died three years later. Lamas was raised by his paternal grandmother, Carmen, and maternal grandmother, Generosa, who encouraged him to swim competitively. At twenty-five, he represented Argentina at the Pan American Games in Buenos Aires and was ranked as one of the five fastest male swimmers in the world.

Lamas married Perla Mux in 1940 and had a daughter, Cristina, but the couple divorced over his political opposition to Nazism. He married Lydia Babacci, a Uruguayan heiress, in 1946. They had a daughter, Alexandra, and moved to Beverly Hills in 1950 after Lamas signed a contract with film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). He and Lydia divorced in 1952.

Life’s Work

By the 1940’s, Argentina had developed the most successful film industry in South America, and during World War II, Lamas became a star. He appeared in numerous films in the 1940’s, including Stella (1943), Villa rica del Espiritu Santo (1945), The Poor People’s Christmas (1947), The Story of a Bad Woman (1948), La rubia Mireya (1948), The Unknown Father (1949), and Vidalita (1949). In the United States, Lamas played Andre LeBlanc in The Avengers (1950) and had his first major film credit in Rich, Young and Pretty (1951). The Merry Widow established Lamas’s star power, and he struck up a romance with costar Lana Turner.

In 1953, Lamas starred in The Girl Who Had Everything, Sangaree, and Dangerous When Wet. He left Turner for actor Arlene Dahl, whom he married in 1954. They had a son, Lorenzo, before divorcing in 1960. Lamas met his future fourth wife, swimmer and actor Esther Williams, when they costarred in Dangerous When Wet. For this film, Williams had Lamas’s role rewritten to enlarge his part, as he wanted to act only in “important pictures” and was extremely careful about his strong, masculine image. Their attraction was immediate and mutual, but Williams remained married to Ben Gage until 1959, after which she and Lamas began a relationship.

Lamas was truly an international star who spoke five languages: Spanish, English, Italian, French, and Portuguese. He could convincingly play European, Mediterranean, and Latino characters in various film genres. He was in constant demand to play suave, handsome leading men in films such as The Diamond Queen (1953), Jivaro (1954), Rose Marie (1955), and The Girl Rush (1955). In the late 1950’s, he began to take on roles outside the film industry, appearing on television in The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1958) and on Broadway in 1957-1958 in Happy Hunting with Ethel Merman. For the latter role, Lamas was nominated for a Tony award for Best Actor in a Musical.

In the early 1960’s, Lamas starred in the films The Lost World (1960), Duel of Fire (1962), and Revenge of the Musketeers (1963). He also appeared in a television special, Esther Williams at Cypress Gardens (1960), in which they swam together and their spark was rekindled. He took Williams on a trip to Spain while she was filming The Big Show (1961) in Germany.

Lamas, as an American film star, was lavished with attention from European dignitaries, especially in Madrid, Spain, where he and Williams were entertained by General Francisco Franco and Prince Juan Carlos and his wife, Sophia. On one occasion, he and Williams were co-guests of honor with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Lamas often entertained by singing popular tango songs by Carlos Gardel of Argentina, reciting poetry, performing flamenco dancing, or telling stories. Lamas could sing by heart all the parts in the operas Rigoletto, Tosca, La Traviata, Aida, and La Boheme in his well-trained baritone voice.

In 1961, Lamas played the lead in The Magic Fountain opposite Williams, who insisted he direct the film as well. Lamas was a success as a director, always meeting deadlines and budget. They returned from Rome in the fall of 1962 to live in Bel-Air, California, in a home of his own design, and Lamas began directing for television series. He directed episodes of Run for Your Life, The Rookies, Mannix, Starsky and Hutch, and Alias Smith and Jones. He would later direct episodes of Falcon Crest, starring his son, Lorenzo.

Lamas starred in The Violent Ones (1967) and Kill a Dragon (1967), then returned to Spain in 1968 to film 100 Rifles (1969) with Burt Reynolds, Raquel Welch, and Jim Brown. He married Williams on December 31, 1969, and they remained married until his death from lymphoma and pancreatic cancer in 1982. His ashes were scattered off the California coast.

Significance

Lamas was an excellent character actor and, as a director, opened doors in the American film industry to Latinos, allowing them to move into prominent positions behind the camera. He was known for his sex appeal and his forceful, competent intelligence.

Bibliography

Berg, Charles Ramírez. Latino Images in Film: Stereotypes, Subversion, and Resistance. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2002. Includes a historical discussion of the “Latin lover” character as a stereotype that eventually was challenged by a new generation of Latino filmmakers.

Reyes, Luis, and Peter Rubie. Hispanics in Hollywood: A Celebration of One Hundred Years in Film and Television. Hollywood, Calif.: Lone Eagle, 2000. Describes the history of Spanish-language filmmaking in Hollywood and the rise of Hispanic actors, including Lamas.

Williams, Esther. The Million Dollar Mermaid. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999. Lamas’s life story is related in Williams’s autobiography.