Fortunio Bonanova

Fortunio Bonanova, born Josep Lluís Moll on 13 January 1895 in Palma, Mallorca, Spain, was a baritone singer and actor who worked across film, theater, and television, and at times served as a producer and director. The pseudonym he adopted combined an aspiration toward fortune with an affection for the Bonanova neighborhood of his native Palma, according to writer Lluis Fàbregas Cuixart. Before pursuing the arts, Bonanova worked as a professional telegraph operator. He studied music under the Italian instructor Giovachini and made his singing debut in 1921 in a production of Tannhäuser at the Teatre Principal in Palma.

That same year, 1921, Bonanova signed the Ultraist Manifesto alongside a group of Mallorcan intellectuals and Jorge Luis Borges, who was then briefly residing in Mallorca. He also appeared in a silent film adaptation of Don Juan Tenorio directed by the brothers Baños, a production that was screened in New York City and Hollywood the following year. In 1924, he directed his own version of Don Juan. His early screen work continued in 1927 when he appeared in Love of Sunya, directed by Albert Parker and starring Gloria Swanson.

During the early 1930s, Bonanova was active in New York both on stage and in opera. He performed in several operas as well as in the zarzuelas La Canción del Olvido, La Duquesa del Tabarín, Los Gavilanes, and La Montería. His Broadway appearances took place between 1930 and 1931, when he appeared in two plays: The Silent Witness and Dishonored Lady. In 1932, he took small parts in Hollywood productions featuring Joan Bennett and Mary Astor.

In 1934, Bonanova returned to Spain, where he took a major role in El Desaparecido, written and directed by Antonio Graciani. The following year he acted and sang in Poderoso Caballero, directed by Màximo Nossik. The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 brought him back to the United States, where he played Captain Bill in Capitán Tormenta, directed by Jules Bernhardt. He also produced and appeared in the Spanish-language film La Inmaculada in 1939, and served as an uncredited technical consultant on Blood and Sand in 1941.

Bonanova's profile in American cinema rose considerably after 1940. Among his most recognized roles was Signor Matiste, the opera coach of Susan Alexander Kane, in Orson Welles's Citizen Kane in 1941. Further notable credits included Don Miguel in The Black Swan in 1942, General Sebastiano in Five Graves to Cairo in 1943, Fernando in For Whom the Bell Tolls in 1943, Sam Garlopis in Double Indemnity in 1944, and a singing portrayal of Christopher Columbus in Where Do We Go From Here. In 1947, he played the father of twins portrayed by Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalbán in Fiesta. He continued working in character roles across the following decades.

On television, Bonanova appeared in an episode of I Love Lucy as a fraudulent psychic whose stage equipment creates the illusion that Lucy can speak Spanish to her mother-in-law. In 1952, he played Italian opera singer Anthony Branchetti in the fourth episode of My Little Margie, and in 1953 he portrayed Lou Costello's Uncle Bozzo in an episode of the Abbott and Costello television series. In 1955, he appeared as an opera star in an episode of the situation comedy Willy. In 1949, he collaborated with Ambrose Barker on a musical titled Glamour is the Gimmick, which received poor reviews.

Bonanova died on 2 April 1969 in Woodland Hills, California, of a cerebral hemorrhage. He is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.