León Klimovsky facts for kids

León Klimovsky Dulfán (born October 16, 1906 – died April 8, 1996) was a talented film director, writer, and producer from Argentina. He is best known for his many movies made in Spain during the 1960s and 1970s.

Early Life

León Klimovsky was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His parents were Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire. His brother, Gregorio Klimovsky, became a famous mathematician and philosopher.

Klimovsky first studied to be a dentist. However, his true passion was always movies. He helped start a cultural movement in Argentina called "cineclub" or film club. He even helped pay for the first movie theater in Argentina that showed art films. He also started Argentina's first film club in 1929.

Career

León Klimovsky began his film career by helping write and direct the movie Se abre el abismo in 1944. His first movie as a director was The Player, based on a book by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. He also directed movies based on famous books like Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo and Ernesto Sabato's The Tunnel.

During the 1950s, Klimovsky moved to Spain. There, he became a full-time professional director. He directed many different types of movies, including Spaghetti Westerns (Westerns made in Europe) and adventure films. He filmed movies in places like Mexico, Italy, Spain, and Egypt.

Horror Films

Horror movie fans especially remember Klimovsky for his work in Spanish horror films. He helped start the Spanish horror film boom of the 1970s with his movie La Noche de Walpurgis (Walpurgis Night).

Klimovsky directed the famous Spanish horror actor Paul Naschy in nine films during the 1970s. He also directed other classic horror movies like The Strange Love of the Vampires and The Dracula Saga. Paul Naschy admired Klimovsky's hard work and energy. However, Naschy felt that Klimovsky often rushed their projects and did not allow enough time for retakes.

León Klimovsky always dreamed of making big, mainstream movies. But he often ended up making commercial genre films. He didn't regret this, though, because making movies was his life's calling. He stopped directing in 1979 when he was 73 years old.

In 1995, at age 89, he received an "Honor Award" from the Spanish Film Directors Association. He passed away the next year in Madrid from a heart attack.

Selected Filmography

Here are some of the many films León Klimovsky worked on:

Director

• El jugador (1947)
• El túnel (1952)
• El conde de Montecristo (1953)
• La noche de Walpurgis (Walpurgis Night, 1971)
• La saga de los Drácula (The Dracula Saga, 1973)
• El extraño amor de los vampiros (The Strange Love of the Vampires, 1977)
• La barraca (TV series, 1979)

Screenwriter

• Se abre el abismo (1945)
• El túnel (1952)
• El conde de Montecristo (1953)

Producer

• Rodríguez supernumerario (1948)

Assistant director

• Se abre el abismo (1944)