The actor Adolfo Fernández died on Friday at the age of 67 at his home in Perales de Tajuña, in the Community of Madrid, as a result of a cancer he had been suffering from for years.
The news was confirmed by El País and later by the Film Academy, which highlighted his extensive and committed artistic career. As he had stated during his lifetime, there will be no funeral or memorial service.
A silent fight against cancer
Fernández was diagnosed with cancer more than a decade ago, an illness that forced him to temporarily step away from acting.
During this period she opted for silence and discretion, keeping her private life out of the media spotlight. After overcoming the disease, she returned to the stage in the middle of the pandemic, at a particularly delicate moment for the cultural sector.
A career built on commitment
Born in Seville in 1958 and raised in Bilbao from an early age, Adolfo Fernández forged a career marked by constancy and professional seriousness. His prestige was based on work, on the choice of complex characters and on a way of interpreting linked to texts with social and political weight.
These days, the Film Academy remembered his work in films such as Yoyes, Entre las piernas, El arte de morir and Todo es silencio, in addition to his active involvement with the institution.
The stage as a place of belonging
Although television gave him a great popular projection, theater was always the territory where he felt freer. In 2018 he won the Max Award for best adaptation for En la orilla, based on the novel by Rafael Chirbes, a recognition he shared with Ángel Solo.
At the end of the eighties he also began directing, first from the Sestao Theater School and, later, with the creation in 2002 of K Producciones, the company he founded in Bilbao to develop contemporary projects with a clear critical vocation.
On the stage, he left highly recognized works, both as a performer and as a director, in productions such as Testigo de cargo, Vida y muerte de Pier Paolo Pasolini, A Electra le sienta bien el luto, Frankie & Johnny or Martes de Carnaval, in addition to signing proposals such as Ejecución hipotecaria or La flaqueza del bolchevique.
A recognizable face in television and movies
The general public identified him, above all, for his roles in successful series. He starred in Policías, en el corazón de la calle, Los 80, tal como éramos and B&B, and in recent years he participated in productions such as La noche más larga or Machos Alfa, already in the platform environment.
In cinema he worked with some of the most relevant directors of the Spanish film scene, among them José Luis Cuerda, Pedro Almodóvar, Iciar Bollaín, Mario Gas, Mariano Barroso, Daniel Monzón or Manuel Gómez Pereira. A wide and varied filmography that reflects the respect he aroused within the profession.
Farewell to a discreet and essential actor
The Bergidum Theater and other cultural institutions have remembered Fernández as an actor “rigorous, committed and deeply in love with theater”.
His death leaves a notable void in the Spanish scene, especially among those who valued a way of interpreting based on craft, coherence and artistic honesty.
