Armando Calvo (25 December 1919 – 6 July 1996) was a Puerto Rican actor. His father was Juan Calvo Domenech, a Spanish actor and his mother was Minerva Lespier, a Puerto Rican. Calvo worked in Spain, Italy, and Mexico appearing in ninety films between 1939 and 1984. By the end of his career, there were over a hundred film credits in his resume. He died in Mexico on 6 July 1996 from renal and digestive issues.
Calvo was born in San Juan to actors Minerva Lespier and Juan Calvo, who had met during an operetta held in the island. At two months, he was introduced to the public in a play held at Mayagüez. When he was seven months old, the same was done in a enactment of Lecciones de Buen Amor in Spain, where they continued touring. Calvo was one of two siblings. He was instructed by his mother, since the couple lacked the money to enrol their sons in a formal school. Despite this, Calvo would learn seven different languages. At the age of five, the family moved to Alicante, where Calvo formally began his acting career. By the age of 12, he had become one of the best paid young actors in Madrid. Calvo joined the Infant Isabel initiative. Afterwards, he spent three seasons performing in classical theatre and began his involvement in cinema. He would frequent local cafés (one named after Puerto Rico) in search of opportunities. His debut took place in 1939's El Genio Alegre, along his father. The following year Calvo performed in Amore di Ussaro. In 1941, he appeared in Tierra y Cielo and L Ispecttore Vargas. The following year Calvo appeared in Correo de Indias and Pedro Alarcón's award-winning Goyescas. Calvo's performance in 1943's El Escándalo heightened his acting profile, and was responsible for him being cast for La Mujer de Todos.
Calvo's performance in 1945's Los ÃÂltimos de Filipinas earned him the Best Actor award from the CÃÂrculo de Escritores Cinematográficos. He next appeared in Bel Ami (1947), which went on to win three Ariel awards. During this time, Calvo also appeared in La Dama del Velo. Calvo starred in 1952's Doña Francisquita, which won the grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Five years later, he reappeared in El último cuplé. Calvo received the Fotogramas de Plata "Best Actor" award for his performance in La Muralla (1958). The following year, he was critical of the state of Spanish cinema, noting prevalent individuals and commercialization.
Calvo debuted in Hollywood in 1962's Call me Bad. Calvo also appeared in a number of spaghetti westerns, including 1963's Il Segno di Zorro and 1965's Una Bara per lo sceriffo. Other Italian projects included Criminal (1966), Grande notte di Ringo, La italian (1967), Agente Sigma 3: Missione Goldwather (1967).<ef name="Rivera39"/> He returned to Hollywood in 1968's The Witch's Mirror. In 1979, Calvo appeared in the Hollywood film Guyana: Cult of the Damned.
During the second half of the 1980s and into the mid 1990s, Calvo participated in telenovelasRosa Salvaje, Colorina, Monte Calvario and Marimar. Parallel to this he appeared in theatre, where he won the "Best Actor" award in Mexico for his performance in Crónica de una suegra in 1987.
Calvo was married twice and had nine children with his wife Ursula. Besides acting, Calvo had an interest in poesy. In 1989, Calvo published a book titled Para ti, futuro actor. Calvo was involved in the founding of Televicentro (WAPA-TV) along the main partners (Jorge Negrette, Arturo de Córdova). Calvo was involved in founding the Asociación Nacional de Actores de México and its subsequent separation from the Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Industria Mexicana and it joining STPC. Calvo died of a heart attack on July 6, 1996.
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