Raul Julia
Raul Julia was born as Raúl Rafael Juliá y Arcelay on March 9, 1940, in Floral Park, a subsection of San Juan, Puerto Rico, the oldest of four brothers and sisters to two restaurant owners.
Julia attended Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola where he became deeply involved with drama groups, performing in school plays and hosting a game show and a teen program.
After his graduation from the University of Puerto Rico he turned down his parents' wish - they wanted him as a lawyer - and went to New York to pursue his acting career.
He enrolled in acting classes with Wynn Handman while working in a series of odd jobs like selling fountain pens and serving as a telemarketer. He soon began to perform in off-Broadway plays and in open air performances in Central Park when became friend of Joseph Papp, founder and producer of the New York Shakespeare Festival.
His breakthrough was in 1971 in "Two Gentlemen of Verona," earning him a Tony Award nomination. He made his film debut with a small part in “Stiletto” (1969), followed by "Panic in Needle Park" (1971).
His first notable film role was in “The Organization” (1971), aside of a few TV appearances, like a stint on "Sesame Street," his career kept focused on stage performances, playing several classics and participating of the New York Shakespeare Festival several times.
Although he performed in the films "The Eyes of Laura Mars" (1978), Francis Ford Coppola's "One from the Heart" (1982) and Paul Mazursky's "The Tempest" (1982), he became a regular actor in films only in 1985 with "Kiss of the Spider Woman," followed by "Compromising Positions" (1985), "Moon Over Parador" (1988), "Romero" (1989) and "Presumed Innocent" (1990). Julia is best known for his role as Gomez Addams in "The Addams Family" (1991) and its sequel "Addams Family Values" (1993).
In 1991, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer but continued to perform and after “The Addams Family” he performed in “Street Fighter” based on the video game’s classic and in the TV production “The Burning Season” (1994). He also went back to the stages in 1992 for a revival of “Man of La Mancha.”
Raul Julia died on October 24, 1994, of complications after having a stroke. He posthumously won a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award for his performance in “The Burning Season.”
Raul Julia was married to Merel Poloway since 1976 and had two children, Raul Sigmund Julia and Benjamin Rafael Julia.