José Isbert
José Enrique Benito y Emeterio Ysbert Alvarruiz (3 March 1886 in Madrid – 28 November 1966 in Madrid), also known as José Isbert and/or Pepe Isbert, was a Spanish actor. Biography. Early life. In 1903 he worked at the Court of Accounts (Tribunal de Cuentas), but decided to give up working as a civil servant and that same year he made his stage debut at the Teatro Apolo in Madrid in the play "El iluso Cañizares", changing the spelling of his real name from Y to I. He moved to the Teatro Lara, where he was very successful. He  was married to Elvira Soriano and he was father of the actress María Isbert and grandfather of Tony Isbert and Carlos Ysbert (the second Spanish voice of Homer Simpson). Career. In 1912 he debuted in the short film "Asesinato y entierro de Don José Canalejas" (playing Pardiñas, the anarchist who killed José Canalejas). During the silent era he worked in theatre with supporting roles in cinema, but with the advent of sound, he made a big screen comeback in the comedy directed by Florián Rey, "La pura verdad" in (1931). In the 1930s he acted in half a dozen films  including: "¿Cuándo te suicidas?" (1931) directed by Manuel Romero (director), "La bien pagada" (1935) by Eusebio Fernández Ardavín or "El bailarín y el trabajador" (1935), directed by Luis Marquina and based on a play by Jacinto Benavente. In the 1940s he gained great popularity in films such as "Te quiero para mí" (1944) and "El testamento del virrey" (1944), both directed by Ladislao Vajda; "Ella, él y sus millones" (1944) by Juan de Orduña; "El fantasma y doña Juanita" (1945) by Rafael Gil and "Pacto de silencio" (1949), by Antonio Román. The films he is most remembered for are from  the 1950s and 1960s, in classics directed by Luis García Berlanga: "Welcome Mr. Marshall!" (1953), "Los jueves, milagro" (1957) and "El verdugo" (1963); and the dark comedy masterpiece "El cochecito" by Marco Ferreri, all written by Rafael Azcona. He was the grandfather in the Spanish classic "La gran familia" (1962), and its sequel "La gran familia... y uno más" (1965), these films earning him still greater popularity. Pepe Isbert died in Madrid due to a heart condition when he was 80 years old. He was buried at Tarazona de la Mancha cemetery in the province of Albacete. José Isbert José