Claudio Brook

Claudio Brook
Brook in Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer (1956)
Born	Claude Sydney Brook Marnat (1927-08-28)August 28, 1927 Mexico City, Mexico
Died	October 18, 1995(1995-10-18) (aged 68) Mexico City, Mexico
Occupation	Actor
Awards	Ariel Award for Best Actor 1986 Memoriales perdidos Ariel Award for Best Supporting Actor 1989 Esperanza

Claude Sydney Brook Marnat (28 August 1927 – 18 October 1995), known as Claudio Brook, was a Mexican actor. Active in film, stage, and television over a career spanning nearly 40-years, he was one of the stars of the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema, and was a noted collaborator of director Luis Buñuel. For his work in motion pictures, Brook received two Ariel Awards, and was inducted into the Paseo de las Luminarias.

Early life

Brook was born Claude Sydney Brook Marnat in Mexico City, to a British father and a Mexican mother of French Basque descent. Raised fluent in Spanish, English, and French, he worked in the British embassy as a clerk while playing semi-pro association football for Atlante F.C.

Career

Making him film debut in 1955, Brook appeared in over 100 film and television productions. He also worked in the theatre, playing the lead role in the Mexican premiere of Man of La Mancha in Mexico City in 1969

One of his most fruitful collaborations was with director Luis Buñuel, he appeared in five of the directors films over the course of nine years - The Young One (1960), Viridiana (1961), The Exterminating Angel (1962) Simon of the Desert (1965), and The Milky Way (1969).

He won two Ariel Awards - Best Actor for Memoriales perdidos (1985) and Best Supporting Actor for Esperanza (1988).

Brook also appeared in several international productions; notably as a British RAF pilot in French director Gérard Oury's war comedy La Grande Vadrouille (1966), secret agent Francis Coplan in Coplan Saves His Skin (1968), a banker in the James Bond film Licence to Kill (1989), and Barone in Tony Scott's Revenge (1990).

His distinctive voice and precise elocution found him plenty of voiceover work throughout his career, initially as a dubber. He was the official Spanish-language spokesperson of Chrysler Motors from 1984 to 1992. He also recorded bumpers and sign-ons for Chilean radio.

One of his final roles was as the villain Dieter de la Guardia in Guillermo del Toro's directorial debut Cronos (1992).

Personal life

Brook was married three times, to Spanish-born Mercedes Pascual; to Eugenia Avendaño; and finally to Alicia Bonet. He had four children, including actress Simone Brook (born 1969). His daughter Claudia died of cancer in 1997, and his son Gabriel died in a car accident in 2004.

Death

Brook died of stomach cancer on 18 October 1995, at the age of 68. He posthumously starred on the telenovela Retrato de familia, which premiered a week after his death.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1956	Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer	James Boone
1958	El Último rebelde		aka The Last Rebel (USA)
	Los Hijos del divorcio	Fiscal
1959	El Derecho a la vida	Cura
	Vagabundo y millonario	Sr. Procurador
	Las Señoritas Vivanco	William
	The Wonderful Country	Ruelle	Uncredited
1960	El Gran pillo	Hermano de Arturo
	El Último mexicano
	La joven	Rev. Fleetwood	aka The Young One
	Cuando ¡Viva Villa..! es la muerte	Sr. Licenciado	Uncredited
	¡Yo sabia demasiado!
	Neutrón el enmascarado negro	Professor Walker
1961	Viridiana		Uncredited
	Las Cosas prohibidas
	Rosa blanca	Mexican consul
1962	Geronimo	Mr. Henry
	The Exterminating Angel	Julio, Mayordomo; Steward	aka El Ángel exterminador
	Los Autómatas de la muerte	Professor Walker
1963	Cuando los hijos se pierden	Sr. Carlos de los Rios, padre de Silvia
	Neutrón contra el Dr. Caronte	Professor Walker
	Santo en el museo de la cera	Dr. Karol
	Immediate Delivery	Alex	aka Agente XU 777 and Entrega immediata (Mexico)
1965	Guadalajara en verano	Professor Fernando Luna
	The Glory Guys	Rev. Poole
	Un Hombre peligroso	El 22
	Simón del desierto	Simón	aka Simon of the Desert
	Viva Maria!	The Great Rodolfo
	El dinamitero
1966	Du rififi à Paname	Mike Coppolano
	La Mano que aprieta	Professor Davenport
	La Grande Vadrouille	Peter Cunningham
1967	Your Turn to Die	Robert Foster
	The Blonde from Peking	Marc Garland / Gandler
1968	Coplan Saves His Skin	Francis Coplan
1969	The Milky Way	L'évêque / Bishop
	House of Pleasure	Baron von Ambras
	The Scarlet Lady	John Bert
1971	Jesús, nuestro Señor	Jesús
	The Garden of Aunt Isabel	Gonzalo de Medina
1972	The Assassination of Trotsky	Roberto
	Triangulo	Doctor Pedro Millan
1973	Jory	Ethan Walden
	Interval	Armando Vertiz	aka Intervalo (Mexico)
	The Countess Died of Laughter	Baron von Ambras
	El Castillo de la Pureza	Gabriel Lima	aka Castle of Purity (USA)
	The Mansion of Madness	Dr. Maillard / Raoul Fragonard
1974	El Muro del silencio	Señor Olmedo
	Cinco mil dolares de recompensa	Baker
	El Santo oficio	Alonso de Peralta	aka The Holy Office
	La Quema de Judas
	Algo es algo dijo el diablo
1975	Crónica de un subversivo latinoamericano	Colonel Robert Ernest Whitney	Portrays the real life experience of an American Colonel kidnapped by the FALN guerrilla in Venezuela. aka Chronicle of a Latin American Subversive (International: English title).
	The Devil's Rain	Preacher
	La Bestia acorralada	Heinrich Werner / Conrad Krauss
1976	Foxtrot	Paul	aka The Other Side of Paradise USA: reissue title
	The Return of a Man Called Horse	Chemin De Fer	as Claudio Brooke
1977	Alucarda, la hija de las tinieblas	Dr. Oszek/Hunchbacked Gypsy	aka Alucarda (USA: video title)
	El Mar
	El Pez que fuma		aka The Smoking Fish International: English title
1978	Flores de papel	Héctor Trejo	aka Paper Flowers International: English title
	The Bees	Dr. Miller	aka Abejas asesinas (Mexico)
1979	Matar por matar
	Eagle's Wing	Sanchez
	Only Once in a Lifetime	Jimenez
1981	Max Dominio
	Pedro Páramo
	Complot Petróleo: La cabeza de la hidra		aka The Oil Conspiracy International: English title
1983	Frida, naturaleza viva	Guillermo Kahlo
1985	Memoriales perdidos	Padre de Aída	Ariel Award for Best Actor
	Deveras me atrapaste
1986	Murieron a la mitad del rio	Mr. Robinson
	La Vida de nuestro señor Jesucristo	Jesucristo (Jesus Christ)	aka The Life of Jesus Christ USA
1988	Esperanza	Dr. Greene	Ariel Award for Best Actor in a Minor Role
1989	Licence to Kill	Montelongo
	Romero	Bishop Flores
1990	Revenge	Barone
1992	Death and the Compass	TV Announcer
1993	Fray Bartolomé de las Casas		aka La Leyenda negra (Mexico)
	Miroslava	Alex Fimman
	Cronos	De la Guardia
	Se equivoco la cigueña
1995	Perdóname todo
	Una Papa sin catsup

External links

• Claudio Brook at IMDb