Rafael Sánchez Navarro
Rafael Sánchez Navarro (born 1958), is a famous Spanish-Mexican actor. He is the son of Manolo Fábregas, a famous actor from Spain who established himself in Mexico, who also acted in Puerto Rico and whose birthname is Ricardo Sánchez Navarro. Sanchez Navarro is also the cousin of Manuel Sánchez Navarro, who in turn is the son of Fábregas' sister, famous actress Viviana Fábregas, his aunt.
Biography
Living around so many famous people, Sanchez Navarro grew up used to the show business world things around it, including nights spent at the television and film studios, interviews, and seeing his relatives on television much of the time, among other things.
As with so many star's children, Sanchez Navarro decided from very early in his life that he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps. At the relatively young age of twenty two, Navarro found a job with Televisa for the first time, playing a small role in the Secretos de Confesion (Secrets to Confess) telenovela.
Sanchez Navarro struggled as a television actor early in his career: he did not work in telenovelas again until 1982's Por Amor (For love). In 1983, he found some success, as he participated in four telenovelas, Manana es Primavera, (Tomorrow it Will be Spring, Cuarteto Para el fin del Tiempo (A Quartet Until the End), Bodas de Odio (Hate Wedding), which is considered by many to be a classic among Mexican telenovelas, and where Sanchez Navarro was able to have a feature character for the first time, as he played Dimitrio, and Cazador de Demonios (Demon Hunter, where Sanchez Navarro played Jose Luis.
For the next three years, Sanchez Navarro would once again struggle, finding small characters in seven soap operas, including 1986's El Engano (The Lie). He would get his next feature character in 1988's El Pecado de Oyuki, which is also considered by the public and telenovela critics to be a Mexican classic. He played Orson in that telenovela.
Sanchez Navarro kept struggling after El Pecado de Oyuki was over, however. He participated in only one episode of 1989's Cita con la Muerte (Date with Death, and then he made small roles in three more soap operas, before playing Adolfo Degollado in 1991's, El Teatro del Horror (Horror Theatre). He followed that up by playing Rodolfo Olmedo in 1992's Lo Blanco y lo Negro (Black and White), and Renato in 1993s Valentina, another hit telenovela.
Sanchez Navarro reached celebrity status when he played Santiago Ugalde, a criminal millionaire and show business representant, in 1994's Volver a empezar. In Volver A Empezar, he participated alongside Yuri (who played Santiago's girlfriend), Chayanne, Eduardo Changerotti and Guillermo García Cantú, among others.
Volver A Empezar became such a major hit, that it even spawned a soundtrack CD, where Chayanne, Yuri and Changerotti sang. The soap opera gave Sanchez Navarro fame in places such as Argentina, Puerto Rico, the United States, Israel and Russia.
Suddenly a star, Sanchez Navarro was lured by an economical offer to move to Televisa's rival, buddying TV Azteca. He became one of that network's first bonafide celebrities when he signed a contract with the channel, and, towards the end of 1994, he recorded Peor es Nada, which was also seen in Hong Kong, with the name Better Than Nothing.
Sanchez Navarro has participated in about ten soap operas since then, although it can be argued that none have been as successful as Volver A Empezar. Nevertheless, he keeps busy as a television actor as of 2005.