Alberto Candeau was a famous Uruguayan actor and writer.
Biography
Candeau was born in the Ciudad Vieja neighborhood of Montevideo, spending his childhood and adolescence in the Reducto neighborhood. His beginnings as a theater actor were within the cast of Carlos Brussa. In 1947 he joined the founding group of the :es:Comedia Nacional|Comedia Nacional, and remained a cast member until the day of his death, being one of its most important actors and directors.
Acting & Directing
Candeau was also a celebrated theater actor, earning him multiple awards from the Circle of Critics, the Association of Theater Critics of Uruguay and the :es:Casa Del Teatros|Casa Del Teatros. In Uruguay and Buenos Aires, his interpretation of Galileo Galilei is still remembered. In the cinema he participated in the Uruguayan films The Little Hero of the Arroyo de Oro and Ladrón de Sueños and the Argentines El Candida and Bloody Pleasure. Candeau also had incursions into the radio theater and television. He was also a prolific theater director, staging seventeen shows between 1955 and 1985, of which sixteen were shown through the :es:Comedia Nacional|Comedia Nacional, and one to El Galpón. Of these works, the Villa de Gardel by Víctor Manuel Leites, Processed 1040 by Juan Carlos Patron and Awakens and sings by Clifford Odets stand out. He also chaired the Bertolt Brecht House in Montevideo, through which he disseminated Brecht's works in different rooms in Uruguay.
Books
In 1980 he wrote the novelEvery night is a premiere, co-authored with :es:Carlos Mendive|Carlos Mendive, about his experiences as an actor and theater director. He was also the author, in collaboration with :es:Juan Carlos Patrón|Juan Carlos Patrón, of two musical works: Do the street and Prontuariado with music by Eduardo Etchegoncelhay.
Political Activism
Between 1987 and 1989, Candeau joined the "National Commission Pro Referendum", constituted to revoke the "Expiry Law of the Punitive Pretension of the State", enacted in December 1986 to prevent the prosecution of crimes committed during the military dictatorship in his country.
