Juan Ferrara
 | This article is actively undergoing a major edit for a little while. To help avoid edit conflicts, please do not edit this page while this message is displayed. This page was last edited at 11:57, 23 May 2005 (UTC) (19 years ago) – this estimate is cached, . Please remove this template if this page hasn't been edited for a significant time. If you are the editor who added this template, please be sure to remove it or replace it with {{Under construction}} between editing sessions. |
Juan Felix Gutierrez Guilmain (born November 8, 1943), much better known as Juan Ferrara, is a famous Mexican telenovela and film actor.
Biography
Ferrara grew used to living like a celebrity, since his mother was the also well known actress, Ofelia Guilmain.
Ferrara demonstrated an interest in acting since he was a young child. But it was not until he was 22 that he would get his first job as an actor. He changed his name to Juan Ferrara before playing a small role in the 1965 movie, "Tajimara". That year, he participated in three movies, the other two being Tirando a Gol (Trying to Score) and La Muerte es Puntual (Death is Always on Time).
In 1966, he got his first major movie role, as Sonny, in Los Angeles de Puebla (Puebla's Angels). Ferrara by then had graduated from Televisa's reknown acting school, and he was deemed as ready to star in a telenovela by that channel's directors, so he became a celebrity when his first telenovela, El Espejismo Brillaba (Noticeable Hipocrisy) became a major hit across Mexico and Latin America.
After that soap opera, Ferrara did not have any major screen characters in 1967. During 1968, however, he returned with a total of five movies and one telenovela. The movies were Esclava del Deseo (Slave of Desire), No hay Cruces en el Mar (There are no Crosses at Sea), Corona de Lagrimas, 5 de Chocolate y 1 de Fresa) (5 Chocolate ones and a Strawberry One), and El Club de los Suicidas (The Suicidal Ones Club). Corona de Lagrimas was released in the United States movie theaters as Crown of Tears. His only telenovela that year was Los Inconformes (The Unsatisfied Ones).
Ferrara finished the 1960s acting-wise by participating in three Spanish soap operas in 1969: Lo que no Fue (What Couldn't Be), Del Altar a la Tumba (From the Altar to the Tomb) and Concierto de Almas (Souls Concert0. Neither of those became a major success, but he would, in a stark contrast to the way he finished the 1960s, begin the 1970s decade with two 1970 telenovelas that became smashing hits in Spanish speaking countries and other parts of the world: Yesenia spanned a sequel, while La Gata (The Female Cat) is remembered by critics as one of Mexico's best done telenovelas ever. He also did two movies, that year, Los Problemas de Mama (Mom's Problems) and Mision Cumplida (Mission Accomplished).
Ferrara took another hiatus from the screens after 1970. He came back in 1973, with a feature film named La Montana Sagrada, which was also released in the United States, as The Holy Mountain. During 1974, he starred in El Manantial del Molagro (Miracle Falls), and, in 1975, he played Guillermo in Ven Conmigo (Come With Me).
From then and until 1978, Ferrara took another three years off acting. He returned to his profession in a movie called The General's Daughter, which in Mexico was released as De Todos Modos, Juan te Llamas! or Your Name is Still Juan!. Next for Ferrara was Viviana, another mega-hit telenovela. In Viviana. he played Julio Montesinos. This soap opera was followed by another one, named Ladronzuela (Little Female Thief), which, contrary to Viviana, was not very successful. During 1979, Ferrara only participated in one movie, Noche de Juerga (Party Night).
Ferrara made two movies in 1980: Misterio and Dos y Dos, Cinco (Two Plus Two:Five). In 1981, he played Carlos Valentin Velarde in a soap opera named El Hogar que yo Robe (The Home I Stole). [[1982 would see Ferrara participate in only one soap opera as well: Gabriel y Gabriela was seen by telenovela fans and critics alike with lukewarm eyes.
1983 proved to be an important career year for Ferrara, as he established himsel;f as an actor in Puerto Rico as well. Hired by Canal 2, he filmed Amanda Guzman, Culpable! (Amanda Guzman, Guilty!), a soap opera that became one of Puerto Rico's most seen television programs ever. Since the soap opera was a big success for Telemundo Puerto Rico, the network decided to bring Ferrara back in 1985, to film another telenovela, called Tanairi. Ferrara rstarred alongside Von Mari Mendez in this soap opera, which went on to become one of Puerto Rico's most critically acclaimed television shows of all time, as well as the most expensive telenovela to produce in Puerto Rican history.