Raul Julia

Raúl Rafael Carlos Juliá y Arcelay (March 9, 1940 – October 24, 1994) was a Puerto Rican actor.

He was known for his intense and varied roles on stage and screen.

He started his career in the Public Theatre before transitioning to film.

He received numerous accolades including a Drama Desk Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and nominations for four Tony Awards.

Julia was born March 9, 1940, in Floral Park (Hato Rey), a suburb of San Juan, to Olga Arcelay and Raúl Juliá.

He was the oldest of four brothers, and sisters Maria Eugenia Juliá and Olga Maria Juliá.

His mother was a mezzo-soprano who sang in a church choir before marrying Julia's father, who was an electrical engineer graduated from Trine University.

Julia's brother, Rafa, died in a car accident when Julia was 19 years old.

Some relatives were also musicians, including his great aunt María González, whom he credited as the inspiration behind his artistic career.

The family was Catholic.

Raúl's father was the founder of La Cueva del Chicken Inn, a restaurant in San Juan.

The building was originally a gas station and body shop before being remodeled after a similar restaurant in Madrid, Spain, called Las Cuevas de Luis Candelas, which is intended to mimic the structure of a gypsum cave.

Julia's father claimed that he brought pizza to Puerto Rico, after he hired an Italian cook in New York City who could prepare pizza.

The restaurant is also supposed to be the first to distribute chicken-in-a-basket within the archipelago, which Miriam Fitts helped him think of.

Julia was enrolled in the Colegio Espíritu Santo in Hato Rey, a Catholic private school, where most of the personnel spoke exclusively English.

There, he participated in his first play in first grade, interpreting the devil, with his performance earning him participation in all subsequent school plays.

After witnessing Errol Flynn's performance in The Adventures of Robin Hood, he decided to pursue an acting career.

During his childhood, Julia's family followed a strict Jesuit practice, often taking homeless children into their household.

His mother received recognition from the Catholic University of Ponce for these efforts.

By the seventh grade, Julia was able to speak English fluently and had gained interest in the works of William Shakespeare.

Julia concluded his secondary education at Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola, where he would organize plays of Julius Caesar, Hamlet, King Lear, and The Tempest.

Seeking to please his parents, he continued his education with a year at Fordham University, the well known private Jesuit university in New York City, before returning home to enroll at the University of Puerto Rico, where he joined the Phi Sigma Alpha fraternity.

Julia continued acting in local plays and nightclubs as he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Julia eventually realized that he had no interest in pursuing the law career favored by his parents, choosing to act full-time despite having doubts that he could sustain himself working as an actor.

He also is known for his film roles in The Panic in Needle Park (1971), One from the Heart (1982), The Morning After (1986), Romero (1989) and Presumed Innocent (1990).

Two Gentlemen of Verona (1972), Where's Charley? (1975), The Threepenny Opera (1977), and Nine (1982).

In 1978, he famously starred alongside Meryl Streep in an electric revival of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew at the Delacorte Theater.

He went on to receive four Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical nominations for

Julia starred in the original Broadway production of Harold Pinter's Betrayal (1979).

He received Golden Globe Award nominations for Tempest (1982), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), and Moon Over Parador (1988).

He also starred in revivals of Design for Living (1984), Othello (1991), and his final Broadway role Man of La Mancha (1994).

Julia gained prominence for his role as Gomez Addams in two film adaptations of The Addams Family.

In 1994 Julia suffered several health afflictions, eventually dying after suffering a stroke.

For his work in The Burning Season he was posthumously awarded the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television Motion Picture.

In 2017, The Daily Telegraph named him one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination.

Born in San Juan, he took an interest in acting while still in school and pursued the career upon completion of his studies.

After performing locally for some time, he was convinced by actor and entertainment personality Orson Bean to move and work in New York City.

Julia, who had been bilingual since his childhood, soon gained interest in Broadway and Off-Broadway plays.

He performed in mobile projects, including the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater.

Julia was eventually noticed by producer Joseph Papp, who offered him work in the New York Shakespeare Festival.