Alfonso Arau

Alfonso Arau (born January 11, 1932) is a Mexican actor and director. Arau was born in Mexico City, the son of a doctor. He directed the films Zapata: The Dream of a Hero, Like Water for Chocolate (adapted from the novel written by his ex-wife Laura Esquivel), A Walk in the Clouds with Keanu Reeves and Anthony Quinn, and the Hallmark Hall of Fame production A Painted House, adapted from the John Grisham novel of the same name. Among others, he pl... more

Alfonso Arau (born January 11, 1932) is a Mexican actor and director. Arau was born in Mexico City, the son of a doctor. He directed the films Zapata: The Dream of a Hero, Like Water for Chocolate (adapted from the novel written by his ex-wife Laura Esquivel), A Walk in the Clouds with Keanu Reeves and Anthony Quinn, and the Hallmark Hall of Fame production A Painted House, adapted from the John Grisham novel of the same name. Among others, he played the role of antagonist "El Guapo" in Three Amigos (USA, 1986), a comedy with Martin Short, Steve Martin, and Chevy Chase. He also played Captain Herrera in Sam Peckinpah's 1969 western, The Wild Bunch and Juan the smuggler in Romancing the Stone. In 1973 Arau acted in and directed Calzónzin Inspector, a movie based on a Mexican comic called Los Supermachos, by the Mexican cartoonist Rius, although Rius disapproved of the movie. The movie is about two indigenous Mexicans who are mistakenly taken for government inspectors from the capital... less