Vintage postcard, no. 1051. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (M.G.M.).
Italian postcard by Vannina, Milano. Arlene Dahl and Fernando Lamas.
Dutch postcard by DRC, no. F 205. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (M.G.M.). Sent by mail in 1956.
Lana Turner's love interest
Lorenzo Lamas was born Fernando Álvaro Lamas y de Santos in 1915 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He studied drama at school in his native country and later enrolled in a law course at college. His strong leaning towards athletic pursuits prevailed, and he abandoned his studies to take up horse riding, winning trophies, fencing and boxing (middleweight amateur title) and becoming the South American Freestyle Swimming Champion of 1937.
While still in his teens, he appeared on stage, then on radio, and by the age of 24, in his first motion picture. His 14 Argentine films included Navidad de los pobres / Christmas with the Poor (Manuel Romero, 1947), El tango vuelve a París / The Tango Returns to Paris (Manuel Romero, 1948), and La historia del tango / The Story of the Tango (Manuel Romero, 1949).
For Republic, he appeared in a supporting role in the Swashbuckler The Avengers (John H. Auer, 1950) with John Carroll, shot on location in Argentina. Some scenes were filmed in the US, leading to Lamas going to Hollywood. In 1949, he was signed by MGM and went on to play 'Latin Lover' roles.
He had a star part as Lana Turner's love interest in the Technicolour musical The Merry Widow (Curtis Bernhardt, 1952), a solid hit. He romanced Elizabeth Taylor in The Girl Who Had Everything (Richard Thorpe, 1952), which was also successful. He charmed Esther Williams in another A-grade production, Dangerous When Wet (Charles Walters, 1953).
He also spent time 'on loan' to Paramount, who featured him in several Pine-Thomas B-movies, such as the 3-D Technicolour Sangaree (Edward Ludwig, 1953) and Jivaro / Lost Treasure of the Amazon (Edward Ludwig, 1954). His sole appearance on Broadway was in the 1957 play 'Happy Hunting'. There was considerable friction between him and co-star Ethel Merman, both on and off-stage. Lamas was nonetheless nominated for a Tony Award as Best Actor, but had the misfortune of coming up against Rex Harrison's Professor Higgins in 'My Fair Lady'.
Vintage postcard, no. 83. Fernando Lamas in The Avengers (John H. Auer, 1950).
Spanish postcard. Arlene Dahl and Fernando Lamas in Sangaree (Edward Ludwig, 1953). Sent by mail in 1954.
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 810. Photo: Paramount Pictures. Publicity still for Jivaro (Edward Ludwig, 1954).
German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag (FFV), no. FK 338. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).
First of the Red Hot Lamas
In real life, Fernando Lamas proudly lived up to his reputation as a ladies' man. His effortless charm and way with the ladies earned him the moniker 'First of the Red Hot Lamas'. With two ex-wives back in Argentina, actress Perla Mux and Lydia Barachi, he conducted well-publicised affairs with most of his female co-stars, including one with Lana Turner, which began while filming The Merry Widow (Curtis Bernhardt, 1952).
Actress Arlene Dahl, who appeared with him in Sangaree (Edward Ludwig, 1953) and The Diamond Queen (John Brahm, 1953), became his third wife from 1954 till 1960, and fellow swimming champion Esther Williams his fourth from 1969 till his death.
In Europe, he appeared in such films as Duello nella sila / Duel of Fire (Umberto Lenzi, 1962) with Liana Orfei. Lamas himself directed the Spanish film La fuente mágica / Magic fountain (Fernando Lamas, 1963), with himself and Esther Williams playing the lead roles. He also helped to write the Eurowestern Die Hölle von Manitoba / A Place Called Glory (Sheldon Reynolds, 1965), starring Lex Barker and Pierre Brice.
Lamas returned to Hollywood. From then on, he began to concentrate on television, alternating between acting in a recurring role as Playboy Ramon de Vega in Run for Your Life (1965) and directing episodes of shows like Mannix (1967), Alias Smith and Jones (1971), The Rookies (1972) and House Calls (1979). He directed another feature film, The Violent Ones (Fernando Lamas, 1967), with Aldo Ray and David Carradine.
Lamas was in Kill a Dragon (Michael D. Moore, 1967) with Jack Palance, and 100 Rifles (Tom Gries, 1969) with Jim Brown and Raquel Welch. His final film was The Cheap Detective (Robert Moore, 1978) with Peter Falk. Fernando Lamas died in 1982 in Los Angeles of pancreatic cancer. He was 67. He was the father of two daughters and of actor Lorenzo Lamas, best known for his roles in TV soaps like Falcon Crest (1981-1990) and The Bold and the Beautiful (2004-2006).
Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit., no. 2975. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (M.G.M.).
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 504. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1954.
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. D. 71. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. FK 339. Photo: MGM.
Sources: I.S. Mowis (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.
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