page_title: Raul Julia
section_title: Broadway and television
hierarchical_section_title: Raul Julia / Acting career / Broadway and television
caption_attribution_description: English: Raul Julia being interviewed on opening night 1984 at cast party at Circle in the Square 1984 Noel Coward's "Design for Living"
context_page_description: Raúl Rafael Juliá y Arcelay was a Puerto Rican actor who received international recognition. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 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 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 took over the role of Orson in the Off-Broadway hit Your Own Thing, a rock musical updating of Twelfth Night. He performed in mobile projects, including the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater.
  Julia was eventually noticed by Joseph Papp, who offered him work in the New York Shakespeare Festival. After gaining visibility, he received roles in two television series, Love of Life and Sesame Street. In 1978 he famously starred alongside Meryl Streep in an electric revival of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew at the Delacorte Theater. In 1979, Julia starred in the original Broadway production of Harold Pinter's Betrayal alongside Roy Scheider and Blythe Danner.
context_section_description: In September 1968, after auditioning four times for the role, Julia debuted in his first Broadway play, performing as Chan in a staging of The Cuban Thing. The following year he was cast in a production of Arthur Kopit's Indians. During this timeframe, he divorced from Vasallo Molinelli. In 1970, Julia received the role of Paco Montoya in The Castro Complex, receiving favorable reviews for his performance. While rehearsing for an Off Broadway play, he met Merel Poloway, forming a relationship with her.
  As he gained prominence on Broadway, Julia was cast in two television series, Love of Life and Sesame Street. He disliked his role in Love of Life and only appeared on the show for a brief time. His Sesame Street characters, Rafael the Fix-It Man, was a recurring character during the show's third season. Rafael the Fix-It Man ran the Fix-It Shop with Emilio Delgado's character Luis, who debuted with Julia on the show. Between 1971 and 1972, Julia earned roles in The Organization, The Panic in Needle Park, and a film adaptation of Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me.
  While working on Sesame Street, Papp contacted him and offered the role of Proteus in Two Gentlemen of Verona. For his performance in this play, Julia received his first nomination for a Tony Award and won the 1972 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance. In 1973, he interpreted Edmund in King Lear. This was followed by the role of Orlando in As You Like It. Julia noted that he cherished the roles he played in these Shakespeare plays, particularly the rhythm, music, and poetry present in them. He also acted in Via Galactica's limited presentation on Broadway and, on television, played Dr. Greg Robinson, Jerry's brother, in the "Oh, Brother" episode of The Bob Newhart Show.
  In 1974, he was cast in the lead role of Where's Charley?, playing Charley Wykeham. Julia received his second Tony Award nomination for his performance in this comedy. He subsequently joined Erhard Seminars Training or "est", an organization that promotes self-motivation, by participating in its seminars. In 1976, Julia played Mack the Knife in The Threepenny Opera, interpreting the dialogue with a marked British accent. The performance earned him a third Tony Award nomination. He followed this performance with a turn as Italian car racer Franco Bertollini in The Gumball Rally.
  That same year Julia married Poloway in the Catskill Mountains. The ceremony was led by Swami Muktananda as part of a spiritual retreat. The couple had met the Swami through Werner Erhard, founder of "est". After this retreat, Erhard founded "The Hunger Project", claiming that after traveling to India, he felt motivated to found a non-profit organization to eliminate world hunger through philanthropic galas. Julia joined the initiative since its conception, establishing a personal goal of raising one million dollars for the organization. In 1978, he accepted the lead role in Dracula, receiving a good reception for his interpretation of the character.
  While performing as Dracula, Julia also played Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew. The interaction with co-star Meryl Streep was tense at first, before developing into a friendship as the production advanced. Julia then accepted a role in a film adaptation of The Tempest, spending several months in Italy while exploring its culture. While in the country, he received the script for Nine for which he would later receive his fourth Tony Award nomination. In preparation for his role in Betrayal, Julia moved to London temporarily, hiring a coach to adapt his accent to the English dialect. Julia would later use his English accent for most of his future films such as The Addams Family and Street Fighter.
caption: Julia at the cast party on the opening night of Design for Living
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