Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 25, 1994 TAG: 9410250085
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder Newspapers
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
He could do historical: a martyred Brazilian rain forest activist in the 1994 HBO movie ``The Burning Season'' or Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis in a 1988 TV miniseries titled ``The Richest Man Alive.''
He could do hysterical: the black-clad, mustachioed patriarch of a most macabre family in the 1991 movie comedy ``The Addams Family'' and its 1993 sequel, ``Addams Family Values.''
Such a varied repertoire is remarkable for any actor. It was a special accomplishment for Julia, who came to America from Puerto Rico in 1964 and overcame the usual typecasting of Hispanics.
Julia died Monday in Manhasset, New York, of complications from a stroke two weeks ago. He was 54.
He gave theater lovers and moviegoers a wealth of presents. Julia belonged to an increasingly rare breed of ``working actors'' - performers who move effortlessly and without vanity from one project to the next, stage to screen, leading roles to character parts.
Consider the summer of 1972. That was when Julia, an increasingly commanding presence on the New York stage, stunned critics by rushing every night from the curtain call of a musical version of ``The Two Gentlemen of Verona,'' in which he played a leading role, to a Central Park production of ``Hamlet,'' in which he had a bit part in the last act.
His pace never let up, as reflected in his long list of credits. Over the past decade, his focus shifted to films, and he appeared in mainstream thrillers (``Presumed Innocent'') and quirky novelties (``Mack the Knife''). Some of his movies were terrific (``Kiss of the Spider Woman'') while others were not (``Havana'').
Julia himself was almost always great.
He was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and was raised in that area, where his father worked as a restaurateur. Julia's first role came in a first-grade production at the Catholic school he attended; he played the devil. Villainy thereafter remained one of his strongest suits, as he would prove in such plays as ``Dracula'' and such movies as ``Tequila Sunrise'' and ``The Morning After.''
His parents wanted him to study law, but he wanted only to act. After graduating from the University of Puerto Rico, he pursued parts in San Juan.
In 1964, he moved to New York City. Two years later, he began a long relationship with producer-director Joseph Papp, who ran the New York Shakespeare Festival and cast Julia in play after play through the 1970s.
Julia, who will be given a state funeral in Puerto Rico, is survived by his wife, dancer Merel Poloway; two sons, Raul Sigmund and Benjamin Rafael; his mother, Olga Arcelay of Puerto Rico; and two sisters.
by CNB