Antonio Prieto(1905-1965)

Antonio Prieto was an award-winning stage actor who also appeared in many Spanish and European films in character roles. He is best remembered as Don Miguel Benito Rojo in Sergio Leone's classic spaghetti western "A fistful of dollars" (1964) He was born Antonio Prieto Puerto on February 2, 1905 in the municipality of Aspe, Alicante, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain. His beginnings as a professional actor are obscure but there are records indicating that by 1926 he was established enough to play a major role in Jose Zorilla's Don Juan Tenorio at the Principal Theater in Alicante receiving great reviews for his performance. In 1928 he became a contract player for the Teresa Barrachina theater ensemble starring successfully in all dramas and comedies in the group's repertoire including " The Lady of the Camellias" by Alexander Dumas Jr. and "Marianela" by Benito Pérez Galdós. Soon Prieto became co-owner of the company with Miss Barrachina and together played in countless stage productions through the 1930s and early 1940s. By 1943 the partnership had been dissolved and he started an even more successful career in other theater companies with national standing. Among the plays in which he acted in the 1940s and 1950s were Robert Anderson's "Tea and Sympathy", Lillian Hellmann's "The Little Foxes" and Anton Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya", a testimonial of his versatility. In 1954 he was lulled by the film industry and proved that he was as effective in movies as in the theater. He never stopped acting on stage but combined it with spaced out appearances on the big screen. Mr. Prieto died quietly of heart failure in Madrid, Spain, at age 60, on April 2, 1965.