Joaquín Martínez(1930-2012)

Joaquin Martinez considers himself the luckiest man alive. A painfully shy medical student at Mexico City's University, he was forced by a teacher to join the school's drama group to get rid of his "inadequacy". There he not only discovered a new world but was rewarded with a scholarship to legendary Seki Sano's Drama Studio. Seki trained him and encouraged him to become a professional actor. After finishing his medical studies he broke into movies and PECIME distinguished him as best newcomer for his performance in Pedro Paramo (1967), the Mexican entry at the Cannes Film Festival. Then legendary Hollywood agent Paul Kohner called. Torn between a medical practice and an acting career, Joaquin decided to try Hollywood for two years before making up his mind. He is still there, and has appeared in such classic films as Jeremiah Johnson (1972), Joe Kidd (1972), Who'll Stop the Rain (1978), Revenge (1990), The Cowboy Way (1994), The Odd Couple II (1998), Die Another Day (2002) and Ulzana's Raid (1972) - where he plays the title role. He has shared the screen with the likes of Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, Anthony Quinn, Jack Lemmon, Robert Redford, Kevin Costner, Burt Lancaster, Walter Matthau, Jeremy Irons, Kiefer Sutherland, Woody Harrelson and Pierce Brosnan, among others, while behind the camera directors of the stature of Edward Dmytryk, John Sturges, Robert Aldrich, Karel Reisz, Sydney Pollack and Tony Scott have brought him into their productions. Bille August flew him to Europe to play Antonio Banderas' father in The House of the Spirits (1993) and Lee Tamahori brought him back to London to participate in the last James Bond opus, Die Another Day (2002). Joaquin plays The Postman in Castingx (2005), thus becoming the first Mexican actor featured in a Dutch film. Currently, he divides his time among Hollywood, Mexico and Europe in the development of 'Solitario - The Lonely One' - through his own company, Victoria Films International.