RIP Rafael Romero Marchent

Madrid filmmaker Rafael Romero Marchent, pioneer in westerns dies

The actor, director, screenwriter and dubber was 94 years old

PlayCine

2/13/2020

The actor, director, screenwriter and dubber from Madrid Rafael Romero

Marchent (1926), a pioneer with his brother Joaquín in shooting Westerns in Spain, has died at 94 years of age, the Film Academy reported Thursday.

Son and brother of filmmakers and directors -two brothers montadora- sister, and married to actress and vedette Maruja Tamayo , which became a widower for many years, the multifaceted Madrid filmmaker began his career in the 1940s with small roles that eventually pushing him away from the medical career he had undertaken.

He stated that he had participated in more than 300 films, although his career as an actor is recorded from "El traje de luces" (1947), by Edgar Neville , which was followed by about 40 more titles such as "La Lola se va a los puertos”, “Sister Angelica”, “ Passion Under the Sun”, “The Shadow of Zorro”, “Alone With You” and “To the Limit”.

He also triumphed in the theater in the companies of Tina Gascó , Amparo Rivelles or Lolita Villaespesa , among others, and in the world of dubbing (it was the voice of Antonio Molina ) but he considered himself above all film director, encouraged by his older brother with whom he pioneered the realization of European Westerns.

His first feature film as a director was "Hand of a Gunman" (1965). Then he wrote and directed up to 30 more titles of different genres, two with Lina Morgan ("Impossible for a Spinster" and "A Day with Sergio") and television series such as the popular "Cañas y mud" and, along with his brother Joaquin , "Curro Jiménez", which later led to the cinema.

Other films of his were the passionate stories "Tu Dios y mi inferno" and "La noche de los cien pájaros", the comedy "La boda o la vida", the musical "Ranch of the Ruthless" or the mystery tapes "Santo contra el doctor Muerte”, “Cazar un gato negro”, “Disco rojo” and “Un par de zapatos del 32”.

In the last stage of his life Rafael Romero Marchent taught young filmmakers. His last appearances as an actor were in “Tiovivo c. 1950” (2004), by José Luis Garci and in the series”Cuéntame cómo pasó”.

MARCHENT, Rafael Romero

Born: 5/3/1926, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Died: 2/13/2020, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Rafael Romero Marchant’s westerns – production assistant, director, assistant director, writer, actor:

The Shadow of Zorro – 1962 [assistant director]

The Terrible Sheriff – 1962 [production assistant]

Zorro the Avenger – 1962 (Juan Aguilar) [writer]

Sign of the Coyote – 1963 [assistant director]

Hour of Death – 1964 [assistant director]

Gunfight at High Noon – 1965 [assistant director]

Hands of a Gunfighter – 1965 (townsman) [director, writer]

Seven Hours of Gunfire – 1965 (townsman) [assistant director]

Ranch of the Ruthless – 1966 [director]

Two Crosses at Danger Pass – 1967 [director]

Dead Men Don’t Count – 1968 [director]

One by One – 1968 [director]

Ringo the Lone Rider – 1968 [director]

Dead Are Countless – 1969 [director]

Zorro the Lawman – 1970 [director]

Awkward Hands – 1970 [director]

Sartana Kills Them All – 1970 [director]

The Prey of Vultures – 1972 [director, writer]

The Black Wolf – 1981 [director, writer]

Revenge of the Black Wolf – 1981 [director, writer]