Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersSundance Film FestivalIndependent Spirit AwardsBlack History MonthSXSWSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Biography
  • Awards
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Raul Julia(1940-1994)

  • Actor
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeter
Top 5,000250
Raul Julia in Moon Over Parador (1988)
Home Video Trailer from Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Play trailer0:31
Street Fighter (1994)
14 Videos
81 Photos
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 Kiss of the Spider Woman (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 The Burning Season: The Chico Mendes Story (1994), for which he posthumously won a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award. His last theatrical movie was filmed shortly after The Burning Season: The Chico Mendes Story (1994) when he traveled to Australia to shoot all of his scenes for Street Fighter (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 Down Came a Blackbird (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.
BornMarch 9, 1940
DiedOctober 24, 1994(54)
BornMarch 9, 1940
DiedOctober 24, 1994(54)
IMDbProStarmeter
Top 5,000250
  • Won 1 Primetime Emmy

Photos81

Christina Ricci, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Anjelica Huston, Christopher Hart, Elizabeth Wilson, and Jimmy Workman in The Addams Family (1991)
Raul Julia in Portrait of a Dead Girl (1970)
Raul Julia and Sonia Braga in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
Raul Julia and Sonia Braga in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
Raul Julia in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
William Hurt and Raul Julia in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
William Hurt and Raul Julia in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
Raul Julia and Fernando Torres in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
Raul Julia and Sonia Braga in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
William Hurt and Raul Julia in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
Raul Julia in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
William Hurt and Raul Julia in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)

Known for

The Addams Family (1991)
The Addams Family
6.9
  • Gomez Addams
  • 1991
Jean-Claude Van Damme, Raul Julia, Kylie Minogue, Ming-Na Wen, Grand L. Bush, Andrew Bryniarski, Byron Mann, Wes Studi, Jay Tavare, and Peter Navy Tuiasosopo in Street Fighter (1994)
Street Fighter
4.0
  • Bison
  • 1994
Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
Kiss of the Spider Woman
7.3
  • Valentin Arregui
  • 1985
Christina Ricci, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Ian Abercrombie, Anjelica Huston, Carol Kane, Matthew Beebe, Chris Ellis, Christopher Hart, Ryan Holihan, Kaitlyn Hooper, Kristen Hooper, Dana Ivey, and Jimmy Workman in Addams Family Values (1993)
Addams Family Values
6.8
  • Gomez Addams
  • 1993

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actor

  • Jean-Claude Van Damme in Street Fighter: The Movie (1995)
    Street Fighter: The Movie
  • Laura Dern, Raul Julia, and Vanessa Redgrave in Down Came a Blackbird (1995)
    Down Came a Blackbird
  • Jean-Claude Van Damme, Raul Julia, Kylie Minogue, Ming-Na Wen, Grand L. Bush, Andrew Bryniarski, Byron Mann, Wes Studi, Jay Tavare, and Peter Navy Tuiasosopo in Street Fighter (1994)
    Street Fighter
  • The Burning Season: The Chico Mendes Story (1994)
    The Burning Season: The Chico Mendes Story
  • Christina Ricci, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Ian Abercrombie, Anjelica Huston, Carol Kane, Matthew Beebe, Chris Ellis, Christopher Hart, Ryan Holihan, Kaitlyn Hooper, Kristen Hooper, Dana Ivey, and Jimmy Workman in Addams Family Values (1993)
    Addams Family Values
  • Rabbit Ears: The Monkey People
  • The Plague (1992)
    The Plague
  • Christina Ricci, M.C. Hammer, and Jimmy Workman in Hammer: Addams Groove (1991)
    Hammer: Addams Groove
  • The Addams Family (1991)
    The Addams Family
  • Lena Olin and Robert Redford in Havana (1990)
    Havana
    • (uncredited)
  • Clint Eastwood and Charlie Sheen in The Rookie (1990)
    The Rookie
  • Frankenstein Unbound (1990)
    Frankenstein Unbound
  • Harrison Ford and Greta Scacchi in Presumed Innocent (1990)
    Presumed Innocent
  • Raul Julia and Julia Migenes in Mack the Knife (1989)
    Mack the Knife
  • Romero (1989)
    Romero

Soundtrack

  • Christina Ricci, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Ian Abercrombie, Anjelica Huston, Carol Kane, Matthew Beebe, Chris Ellis, Christopher Hart, Ryan Holihan, Kaitlyn Hooper, Kristen Hooper, Dana Ivey, and Jimmy Workman in Addams Family Values (1993)
    Addams Family Values
    • (uncredited)
  • The Addams Family (1991)
    The Addams Family
  • Raul Julia and Julia Migenes in Mack the Knife (1989)
    Mack the Knife
  • Mel Gibson, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Kurt Russell in Tequila Sunrise (1988)
    Tequila Sunrise
  • Tempest (1982)
    Tempest
  • One from the Heart (1981)
    One from the Heart
    • (uncredited)

Videos14

Trailer
Trailer 1:46
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 1:10
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:33
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:17
Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:45
Official Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 1:59
Official Trailer
The Gumball Rally
Trailer 2:23
The Gumball Rally
Tequila Sunrise
Trailer 1:27
Tequila Sunrise
Presumed Innocent
Trailer 1:34
Presumed Innocent
Street Fighter
Trailer 0:31
Street Fighter
The Rookie
Trailer 1:56
The Rookie
The Addams Family
Trailer 1:02
The Addams Family

Personal details

Edit
    • Official Site
    • March 9, 1940
    • San Juan, Puerto Rico
    • October 24, 1994
    • Manhasset, New York, USA(complications from a stroke)
    • Merel PolowayJune 28, 1976 - October 24, 1994 (his death, 2 children)
    • Maria Eugenia Juliá(Sibling)
  • Other works
    Stage: "Where's Charlie?", on Broadway, 1975. Nominated for a Tony award for Best Actor.
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Interview
    • 4 Articles
    • 1 Pictorial
    • 3 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    In an interview, he once stated that being recognized as Gomez Addams by children always brought a smile to his face. His family later said that this meant a lot to him during the final months of his life.
  • Quotes
    What's behind me is not important!

Related news

Contribute to this page

Suggest an edit or add missing content
  • Learn more about contributing
Edit page

More to explore

Recently viewed

Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
Get the IMDb App
  • Get the IMDb App
  • Help
  • Site Index
  • IMDbPro
  • Box Office Mojo
  • IMDb Developer
  • Press Room
  • Advertising
  • Jobs
  • Conditions of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Ads Privacy Choices
IMDb, an Amazon company

© 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.