Raul Julia was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Olga
Arcelay, a mezzo-soprano singer, and Raúl Juliá, an electrical
engineer. He graduated from Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola High School
in San Juan. Here he studied the rigorous classical curriculum of the
Jesuits and was always active in student dramatics. Julia was
discovered while performing in a nightclub in San Juan by actor
Orson Bean who inspired him to move to the
mainland to pursue other projects. Julia moved to Manhattan, New York
City in 1964 and quickly found work by acting in small and supporting
roles in off-Broadway shows. In 1966, Julia began appearing in
Shakespearean roles, creating a deliciously conniving Edmund in "King
Lear" in 1973 and a smoldering Othello in 1979. Julia also made his
mark on the musical stage playing one of the "Two Gentlemen of Verona"
during its run in 1971, and a chilling role of Mack the Knife in "The
Threepenny Opera" in 1976 and as a Felliniesque film director in "Nine"
in 1982. The stage successes led to his movie works where he is better
known.
One of his best movie roles is a passionate political prisoner in
Kuß der Spinnenfrau (1985).
Julia also appeared as dramatic heroes and memorable villains in a
number of films and made-for-TV-movies. His later roles included the
crazy macabre Gomez Addams in two Addams Family movies. With his health
declining from 1993 onward after he underwent a surgical operation for
stomach cancer, Julia kept on acting, where he traveled to Mexico
during the winter of 1993-1994 to play the Brazilian Amazon forest
activist Chico Mendes in
Flammen des Widerstandes (1994),
for which he posthumously won a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award. His
last theatrical movie was filmed shortly after Flammen des Widerstandes (1994) when
he traveled to Australia to shoot all of his scenes for
Streetfighter - Die entscheidende Schlacht (1994), based on
the popular video game where he played the villainous General M. Bison.
His last role was a supporting part in another made-for-TV movie titled
Der Tod hinter der Maske (1995).
On October 16, 1994, the weakened and gaunt Raul Julia suffered a
stroke in New York City where he fell into a coma a few days later and
was put on life support. He was transferred to a hospice in nearby
Manhasset, Long Island where his weakened body finally gave up the
struggle on October 24, at age 54. His body was flown back to Puerto
Rico for burial where thousands turned out for his state funeral to
remember him. Two honoring ceremonies were held at Colegio San Ignacio
de Loyola High School, and at the Headquarters of the Institute of
Puerto Rican Culture prior to his burial.
