# Luis Alarcón

Luis Alfonso Alarcón Mansilla (23 October 1929 – 4 August 2023), popularly known as Lucho Alarcón, was a Chilean actor, theatre director, and activist with a distinguished film, television, and stage career.
In 1957, Alarcón began working as a stage actor participating in university theaters – University of Chile [es], Catholic [es], Concepción, State Technical [es] – and in independent companies. He later began his career as a cinematic actor, appearing in emblematic films such as Three Sad Tigers, Jackal of Nahueltoro, The Expropriation, Julio comienza en julio, Nadie dijo nada, Little White Dove, Caluga o menta, and The Shipwrecked.
In the 1980s he had roles in several telenovelas, but gained attention in the press only in 1983 when he played the evil Roberto Betancourt in La represa [es]. In 1993, he was instrumental in the creation of ChileActores, of which he would become the founding President. Alarcón was labeled the "Sabatini Star Actor", referring to his many appearances in the spectacular productions of Vicente Sabatini on television, which were very successful due to their social content. In 1999, he co-starred in the telenovela La fiera [es], starring actress Claudia di Girolamo, which became a praised and awarded soap opera. From 1995 to 2008 he was part of the stable cast of Sabatini. Through the producer's success, Alarcón continued to work with important figures in cinema, theater, and television.
Alarcón also appeared in television series such as Marta a las ocho [es], Estúpido Cupido, Romané, La noche del cobarde [es], Marrón Glacé [es], Puertas adentro [es], Pampa Ilusión, El circo de las Montini [es], and El Señor de la Querencia.
Alarcón was the creator of the Patagonia Film Festival, a gala developed in the Cueva del Milodón. Currently he is officially recognized as the actor with the longest career in Chilean cinema, occasionally collaborating with Raúl Ruiz, Helvio Soto, Miguel Littín, Emilio Gómez Muriel, and Silvio Caiozzi.

## Life and career

The grandson of actor and director Justo Alarcón, Luis loved the art of film from a very young age. In Puerto Natales, where he was born, he became friends with the daughter of the cinema administrator, and there he learned the trade. In addition, his father – who worked in a refrigerator – was an amateur documentary filmmaker.
There is no other performer in Chilean cinema who appeared, like Alarcón, in such a large number of films. His origins as an actor, however, were in the theater, an activity that officially began (he had previously acted in school functions) in 1951, and he subsequently acted in around 90 theatrical pieces. He related that his vocation was defined after attending an exhibition of Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller. He studied Corporal Expression and Pantomime with Alejandro Jodorowsky, and with Enrique Gajardo and Pedro de la Barra at the Dramatic Arts Center of the Pedagogical Institute of the University of Chile, among others.
His first foray onto the big screen was made in the 1957 film Tres miradas a la calle by Naum Kramarenco [es]. Pedro Chaskel, who worked as assistant director on the film, would some years later become the director of Experimental Cinema at the University of Chile.
Alarcón participated in Luis Cornejo [es]'s first film, La Universidad en la Antarctica (1962), which he narrated. Later, along with much of his theater company, he starred in Raúl Ruiz's first feature film El tango del viudo (1967). Rather than ending, the shoot led directly into the making of Three Sad Tigers (1968), considered one of the most important films of Chilean cinema.
That same year he was summoned to join the experimental film team of the University of Chile, which produced his first feature film project called Jackal of Nahueltoro, based on real events in the San Carlos region, where an illiterate murders a whole family and later, after being educated in prison, is condemned to death. Alarcón would initially play a journalist, but he then became involved in the production of the film with Luis Cornejo himself. Jackal of Nahueltoro broke public attendance records, only surpassed by the television hit adapted to the big screen, Germán Becker's Ayúdeme usted compadre.
Later, Luis Alarcón appeared in a large portion of Raúl Ruiz's films such as Nadie dijo nada (1970), The Penal Colony (1970), The Expropriation (1971), and Little White Dove (1973).
On television he has played emblematic characters on TVN's Dramatic Area series, such as Pedro Chamorro on La fiera, who at all costs wants to marry his eldest daughter, due to a promise made to his dying wife. He was also well known for his role as Roberto Betancourt on the television series La represa, a very evil and abusive landlord.
Alarcón was also known for his Indian character in advertising for the Firestone tire brand. For one such commercial, shot by director Silvio Caiozzi, Alarcón won a Golden Lion Award at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival.
In 2017, he received the Golden Spike Award from the Institute of Higher Communication Studies for his outstanding artistic career in Chilean cinema.
Luis Alarcón died on 4 August 2023, at the age of 93.

## Filmography

Films :
| Year | Title | Role | Director |
| 1957 | Tres miradas a la calle [es] | Offender | Naum Kramarenco [es] |
| 1961 | La Novia | | Ernesto Arancibia |
| 1962 | La Flor de Irupé | Roberto | Alberto Du Bois [es] |
| 1967 | Erase un niño, un guerrillero, un caballo | | Helvio Soto |
| 1967 | El tango del viudo | | Raúl Ruiz |
| 1968 | Three Sad Tigers | Luis Úbeda | Raúl Ruiz |
| 1969 | Jackal of Nahueltoro | Judge | Miguel Littín |
| 1970 | ¡Qué hacer! | Osvaldo Alarcón | Raúl Ruiz |
| 1970 | The Penal Colony | Head of State | Raúl Ruiz |
| 1970 | La Buscona | | Emilio Gómez Muriel |
| 1970 | Rosas blancas para mi hermana negra [es] | | Abel Salazar |
| 1970 | Flor de durazno | | Emilio Gómez Muriel |
| 1971 | Jesús, el niño Dios [es] | Voltigo | Miguel Zacarías |
| 1971 | Los testigos [es] | | Charles Elsesser |
| 1971 | Nadie dijo nada | Braulio "The Poet" | Raúl Ruiz |
| 1971 | Dos mujeres y un hombre | | Alfredo B. Crevenna |
| 1972 | Hoy he soñado con Dios | Octavio | Julián Soler |
| 1972 | Doña Macabra [es] | | Roberto Gavaldón |
| 1973 | Little White Dove | Stepfather of María | Raúl Ruiz |
| 1974 | A la sombra del Sol [es] | Carrillo | Silvio Caiozzi |
| 1974 | The Expropriation | Capataz Lucho | Raúl Ruiz |
| 1975 | Vías paralelas | | Cristián Sánchez |
| 1977 | Arrecife mortal | | John Randall |
| 1979 | El amor de mi vida | Gene Curtis | Joselito Rodríguez |
| 1979 | Julio comienza en julio | Alberto García del Castaño | Silvio Caiozzi |
| 1980 | El zapato chino [es] | Félix | Cristián Sánchez |
| 1987 | Sussi [es] | Mario | Gonzalo Justiniano |
| 1990 | Caluga o menta | Marcial | Gonzalo Justiniano |
| 1990 | Hay algo allá afuera | | Pepe Maldonado |
| 1992 | Los agentes de la KGB también se enamoran [es] | Don Pedro | Sebastián Alarcón |
| 1993 | Johnny 100 Pesos | Juez Gastón Mora | Gustavo Graef-Marino |
| 1993 | Derecho de asilo [es] | | Octavio Cortázar |
| 1994 | The Shipwrecked | Sebastián Mola | Miguel Littín |
| 1997 | La huella | | Juan Diego Garreton |
| 1998 | Aventureros del fin del mundo | Adventurer | Miguel Littín |
| 1999 | Cinco marineros y un ataúd verde | Hans | Miguel Littín |
| 1999 | El duelo | Don Faustino | Miguel Littín |
| 2000 | Tierra del Fuego | Alexis | Miguel Littín |
| 2000 | Chilean Gothic | | Ricardo Harrington |
| 2002 | Estación de invierno [es] | | Pamela Espinoza |
| 2003 | The Chosen One | Head of State | Nacho Argiró & Gabriel López |
| 2004 | La Isla | | Alex Leyton |
| 2006 | Kiltro | Farah | Ernesto Díaz |
| 2008 | Secretos [es] | | Valeria Sarmiento |
| 2009 | Mandrill | Don Mario | Ernesto Díaz |
| 2011 | Gente mala del norte | Abelardo de la Puente | Patricio Riquelme |
| 2013 | La gravedad del púgil | | Jorge Mella |
| 2014 | Mamá ya crecí | Clemente Correa | Gonzalo Badilla |
| 2014 | Maldito Amor | Señor Ossandón | Gonzalo Badilla |
| 2014 | La invención de la Patria | | Galut Alarcón |

## Television

TV series :
| Year | Series | Role | Channel |
| 1966 | Historia de los lunes | | Chilevisión |
| 1967 | Juani en Sociedad [es] |
| 1975 | J. J. Juez [es] | El Capataz | Canal 13 |
| 1981 | Casagrande [es] | Humberto Martínez | Canal 13 |
| 1982 | Anakena [es] | Mariano Balcarce | Canal 13 |
| 1982 | La señora [es] | Marcial | Canal 13 |
| 1983 | La noche del cobarde | Alamiro Villarrobles | Canal 13 |
| 1984 | La Represa | Roberto Betancourt | TVN |
| 1984 | La torre 10 [es] | Ramón Oyarce | TVN |
| 1985 | Marta a las ocho [es] | René Barrientos | TVN |
| 1985 | Morir de amor [es] | Emiliano Cardoso | TVN |
| 1986 | La dama del balcón [es] | Domínguez | TVN |
| 1986 | La villa [es] | Rafael López "El Coyote" | TVN |
| 1988 | Semidiós [es] | Albino Vega | Canal 13 |
| 1989 | La Intrusa [es] | Adolfo Tropero | Canal 13 |
| 1990 | El milagro de vivir [es] | Marcial Ríos | TVN |
| 1990 | Crónica de un hombre santo [es] | Monseñor Sergio Valech | Canal 13 |
| 1991 | Volver a empezar [es] | Gastón de la Force | TVN |
| 1992 | El palo al gato [es] | Jaime | Canal 13 |
| 1993 | Marrón Glacé [es] | Waldo | Canal 13 |
| 1994 | Champaña [es] | Camilo Zamudio | Canal 13 |
| 1994 | Rojo y miel [es] | Alcides Mainardi | TVN |
| 1995 | Estúpido Cupido | Octavio Dublé | TVN |
| 1996 | Sucupira | Ambrosio Campos | TVN |
| 1997 | La buhardilla [es] | José María | TVN |
| 1997 | Brigada Escorpión | Anselmo Marín | TVN |
| 1998 | Borrón y cuenta nueva [es] | Reynaldo Paz | TVN |
| 1998 | Mi abuelo, mi nana y yo [es] | Nicanor Barros Jarpa | TVN |
| 1998–1999 | Sucupira, la comedia [es] | Ambrosio Campos | TVN |
| 1999 | La fiera [es] | Pedro Chamorro "El Guata de Sandía" | TVN |
| 2000 | Romané | Baldomero Lillo / Spiro Antich | TVN |
| 2001 | Pampa Ilusión | Emilio Fuenzalida | TVN |
| 2002 | El circo de las Montini [es] | Juan Lorenzo "El Capitán" | TVN |
| 2003 | Puertas adentro [es] | Efraín Gallegos | TVN |
| 2004 | Los Pincheira | Padre Antonio Ortúzar | TVN |
| 2005 | Los Capo [es] | Giorgio Capo "El Nono" | TVN |
| 2006 | Disparejas [es] | Adolfo Duarte | TVN |
| 2007 | Corazón de María [es] | Pedro Lamarca | TVN |
| 2008 | Viuda Alegre | Edgardo Mansilla | TVN |
| 2008 | El Señor de la Querencia | Renato Echeñique | TVN |
| 2009 | El vuelo del poeta [es] | Vicente García-Huidobro | TVN |
| 2010 | Martin Rivas | Pedro San Luis | TVN |
| 2010 | La familia de al lado | Igor Mora | TVN |
| 2011 | Témpano [es] | Francisco Grau | TVN |
| 2013 | Somos los Carmona | Rosendo Carmona | TVN |
| 2014 | Caleta del sol | Nicasio Mardones "Don Lobo" | TVN |
| 2015 | Los años dorados [es] | Manuel | UCV Television |
| 2015 | El bosque de Karadima [es] | Arzobispo | Chilevisión |
| 2016 | El camionero | Emeterio Pérez | TVN |
| 2017 | Dime quién fue [es] | Humberto Rodríguez | TVN |

## Awards and recognitions

* Golden Lion of the Cannes Film Festival (1986)
* Recognition of the film industry at the 7th Viña del Mar International Film Festival (1994)
* Association of Entertainment Journalists [es] (APES) Award (1995) – Best Lead Actor for Estúpido Cupido
* APES Award (1999) – Best Lead Actor for La Fiera
* Altazor Award (2000) – Best Actor for La Fiera
* APES Award (2000) – Best Acting Career
* Relevant Contribution to National Cinema from the Ministry of Education of Chile (2001)
* Pablo Neruda Order of Artistic and Cultural Merit (2007)
* Honorific Medal of the Senate of the Republic of Chile (2008)
* Tribute for 50-year career by the Corporation of Actors of Chile (ChileActores)
* Pedro de la Barra Medal for his six decades of acting work, awarded by the University of Chile
* Honorary Acting Career Award of the Quilpué Film Festival (2010)
* Named Illustrious Son of Puerto Natales by the authorities of the city
* Pudú Prize for cinematic career at the Valdivia Film Festival
* Golden Spike Award from the Institute of Higher Communication Studies (2017)
* Lifetime Achievement Award at the Caleuche Awards (2018)