Luis Miguel Dominguín

Luis Miguel Dominguín

Born: December 9, 1926
Died: May 8, 1996
in Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Luis Miguel González Lucas (9 November 1926 – 8 May 1996), better known as Luis Miguel Dominguín, was a bullfighter from Spain and son of noteworthy bullfighter, Domingo Dominguín. Dominguín adopted his father's name to gain popularity.

Dominguín made his first public appearance in the ring at the age of eleven. He became a matador in 1941. He enjoyed popularity during the 1940s and 1950s in Spain, Portugal, Colombia and other countries. He was on the card in Linares, Spain on 28 August 1947 when another legend, his rival Manolete, was fatally gored.

Dominguín was also a socialite, having friends like Pablo Picasso and romances with the American actress Ava Gardner and the fashion model China Machado. In 1955, he married actress Lucia Bosé, who gave birth to his son Miguel Bosé, a Grammy-award winning singer. He also occasionally appeared in films, predominantly playing himself in cameo roles, in movies such as Around the World in 80 Days (1956), and Testament of Orpheus (1960). In 1959, he and his brother-in-law, Antonio Ordóñez, engaged in a bullfighting rivalry that was chronicled in Ernest Hemingway's posthumous book The Dangerous Summer,Ordóñez won.

In 1971, at the age of 44, he returned to the bullring. That year he retired again, but returned to the ring in 1971, aged 45, when he attempted to fathom the sport's continuing allure. His comeback was at Las Palmas, the Canary Islands, when he wore the costume known as the "suit of lights," which had been designed for him by Picasso. He killed two bulls and won one ear, but was overshadowed by younger men - although the actress Deborah Kerr, who was in the crowd, insisted, "He is still the greatest bull-fighter."

In 1953, Luis Miguel Dominguín met Miroslava Sternova in Cuba. Dominguín was half a year younger than she, so they parted as friends only until they met again in 1954, this time in the United States. She went on to work abroad in Spain to meet up with friends and Dominguín. After her return to Mexico, Sternova was found dead from an overdose. In one hand, she clutched three farewell notes; in the other, a photograph showing her with Dominguín and his mother. Rumor has it that she took her own life over the marriage of Dominguín and Bosè.

By 1954, Dominguín's friendship with Ava Gardner was being widely reported. He considered her the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, but liked her more, he said, for her humor and understanding; he confessed himself unsure what he looked for in women. "Men fall in love with a woman's faults rather than her qualities," he mused.

Ava had been previously associated with other bullfighters, though still married at the time to Frank Sinatra. The most spirited of them all was, no doubt, Luis Miguel Dominguín. However, the relationship was so passionate and stormy, and the fights between him and the diva had people talking. But also they had their tender moments. It is said that on their first night of lovemaking, he got out of bed and she asked: "Where are you going?". "To go tell!" replied the bullfighter. Years later, he admitted to a friend he made up that anecdote. ...

Source: Article "Luis Miguel Dominguín" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Movies for Luis Miguel Dominguín...

De Madrid a la Luna
Title: De Madrid a la Luna
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: October 24, 2006
Type: Movie
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Hemingway: Winner Take Nothing
Title: Hemingway: Winner Take Nothing
Character: Self
Released: November 17, 1998
Type: Movie
Supermodel and actress Margaux Hemingway travels to Europe to learn more about the life of her famous grandfather, Ernest Hemingway, and discovers parallels between his self-destructive nature and her own.
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The Picasso Summer
Title: The Picasso Summer
Character: Luis Miguel Dominguín
Released: August 8, 1969
Type: Movie
A San Francisco couple travels to France in search of Pablo Picasso.
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Yo he visto a la muerte
Title: Yo he visto a la muerte
Released: November 19, 1967
Type: Movie
Four real episodes told by their protagonists: Antonio Mejías "Bienvenida" tells the serious goring he suffered in the Plaza de Las Ventas and his recovery process. Álvaro Domecq Romero evokes the last days of the life of the mare "Splendid", the noble animal that was brave and sensitive companion of his father. Andrés Vázquez tells how the times of the "capeas" were in little villages. With him were many unknown kids, who found an anonymous and obscure death. Finally, Luis Miguel "Dominguín", who was with Manolete, in Linares, the afternoon in which he met his death, evokes that tragic afternoon and glosses the bullfighter's human virtues. The four protagonists have seen the death in one way or another and the four tell the indelible impression that remained on them.
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Around the World in Eighty Days
Title: Around the World in Eighty Days
Character: Bullfighter
Released: October 17, 1956
Type: Movie
Based on the famous book by Jules Verne the movie follows Phileas Fogg on his journey around the world. Which has to be completed within 80 days, a very short period for those days.
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Title: Cinépanorama
Character: Self
Released: February 4, 1956
Type: TV
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Bullfight
Title: Bullfight
Released: July 10, 1951
Type: Movie
The film evokes all the aspects of bullfighting - its history, the bulls, the toreros, the arena, the audience - and involves numerous matadors from the era.