Txema Blasco

José María Blasco Echeguren (13 July 1941 – 28 June 2024), better known as Txema Blasco, was a Spanish actor known mainly for his work in film and television.

Txema Blasco
Blasco in 2007
Born	José María Blasco Echeguren (1941-07-13)13 July 1941 Vitoria (now Vitoria-Gasteiz), Spain
Died	28 June 2024(2024-06-28) (aged 82) Condado de Treviño, Burgos, Spain
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1954–2021

Early life

Born in the early days of General Francisco Franco's dictatorship, Blasco went to primary school at the Samaniego and Jesús Obrero de Vitoria colleges. While studying at college, and for several years, he formed part of the clown duo of Hermanos Chetti ("Brothers Chetti") together with Tito Aldama, making a total of 4,316 appearances.^[1][2]

After his mother's death when Blasco was thirteen years old, he went out to work at the age of 14 at Aranzabal as a bellboy, combining it with his studies for a secondary-level diploma, and in psychology and business,^[3] years later becoming the company's accountant.^{[2][4][5][6][1]} At the same time he formed part of the theatrical groups La Farándula, Gasteiz or Arlequín.^[1]

Career

In 1966, Blasco took part in the Álava provincial government's Amateur Cinema Division,^[1] filming a great many short films, participating in the 1970s in El sacamantecas ("The Bogeyman"), directed by Jesús del Val, and in José Ramón Aguirrezabal's En el cura alavés ("In the Álava Clergyman").^[4]

In the 1980s, he took part in the film La fuga de Segovia ("The Segovia Prison Break" — based on an actual event in 1976), directed by Imanol Uribe, and in Montxo Armendáriz's film Tasio. After acting in Tasio, Blasco worked in three short films by the same director, Pello Varela, foremost among which was Coja usted el siguiente ("Take the Next One"), selected in the 1986 San Sebastián International Film Festival, until in 1991 he once again appeared in a feature-length film by Enrique Urbizu: Todo por la pasta (released in English under the title "Anything for Bread"). From this time forth, Blasco's career was heavily bound to the cinema, and he repeatedly worked with more than one director, Julio Medem, Pello Varela or Montxo Armendáriz.

In 1992, he gave up his accountant's job at Aranzabal to give himself over wholly to his acting career, taking part in this decade in Alas de mariposa ("Butterfly Wings"), Vacas ("Cows"),^[7][8] Los años oscuros ("The Dark Years"), La ardilla roja ("The Red Squirrel"), Cómo ser infeliz y disfrutarlo ("How to Be Unhappy and Enjoy It"), Sálvate si puedes ("Save Yourself If You Can"), Salto al vacío ("Jump into the Void") or Cuernos de mujer ("Woman's Horns").^[9]

Blasco alternated his cinematic appearances with television projects such as Del Miño al Bidasoa ("From the Minho to the Bidasoa"), El joven Picasso ("The Young Picasso"), Pepa y Pepe, Colegio Mayor ("Residential College"), Más que amigos ("More Than Friends"), Blasco Ibáñez, la novela de su vida ("Blasco Ibáñez, the Novel of His Life"), La virtud del asesino ("The Murderer's Virtue") and Médico de familia ("Family Doctor").

In the 2000s, Blasco appeared in the films Maestros, Leo, Aunque tú no lo sepas (literally "Although You Never Knew It", but entitled "What You Never Knew" in English) and Para que no me olvides (literally "So That You Don't Forget Me", but entitled "Something to Remember Me By" in English), and in various series such as Paraíso, Robles, investigador, Policías, en el corazón de la calle, Un lugar en el mundo, Hospital Central and TVE's Cuéntame cómo pasó, in which he spent three years.

In the 2010s, Blasco appeared in many television series, among which were Águila Roja, Los misterios de Laura, Gran Hotel, Aída, Con el culo al aire and Rabia. He also appeared on the big screen in films such as Vidas pequeñas ("Little Lives"), Que baje Dios y lo vea ("Let God Come Down and See It") and Lo nunca visto ("That Which is Never Seen").

Later years

In the 2020s, Blasco participated in fewer projects, retiring in 2021.^[9] In 2020, he received the Celedón de Oro, awarded by Vitoria-Gasteiz city council in recognition of the actor's extensive professional career.^[4] (Celedón is a modern legendary figure in Vitoria-Gasteiz). Throughout all his years as an actor, Blasco took part in 103 television series, 82 feature-length films and 167 short films,^[2][9] making him the Spanish actor who has appeared in the most short films.^[4] He also directed 28 works and two zarzuelas.

After having health problems in his later years, he went to live at the Sagrada Familia nursing home in Cucho, in the Province of Burgos.

Death

Blasco died in Condado de Treviño, Burgos on 28 June 2024, at the age of 82.^[10][11][12] He was divorced.^[2] Blasco had four children, Marta, Óscar, Yoset and Gaizka, and five grandchildren, Javier, Íñigo, Aimar, Uxue and Aiala.^[4]

Works

Filmography (incomplete list)

Year	Title	Character	Director	Notes
1979	El sacamantecas	–	Jesús del Val and Juan Carlos Ruiz de Gordoa	Feature-length
1981	La fuga de Segovia	Judge	Imanol Uribe
1986	Coja usted al siguiente	Juana Gorri	Pello Varela	Short
1987	A los cuatro vientos	Manolo	José A. Zorrilla	Feature-length
	Azpiko Gizona	Sergeant	Pello Varela	Short
	Aquel mundo de Jon	–	Aitor Mantxola
1988	Bi, marra berean		Pello Varela
1989	Eskorpion	Orbea	Ernesto Tellería	Feature-length
	Akixo	–	Juanma Bajo Ulloa	Short
1991	Todo por la pasta	Carajaula	Enrique Urbizu	Feature-length
	Alas de mariposa	Grandfather	Juanma Bajo Ulloa
1992	Vacas	Manuel	Julio Medem
	Los años oscuros	–	Arantxa Lazkano
1993	La ardilla roja	Chief of Neurology	Julio Medem
	Mirage	Víctor	Michael Aguiló	Short
	Y creó en el nombre del padre	–	Óscar del Caz
1994	Cómo ser infeliz y disfrutarlo	Maldonado	Enrique Urbizu	Feature-length
	La canción de Valhia	–	Óscar del Caz	Short
1995	Sálvate si puedes	Maître	Joaquín Trincado	Feature-length
	Salto al vacío	Judge 1	Daniel Calparsoro
	Cuernos de mujer	Lawyer	Enrique Urbizu
	Morirás en Chafarinas	Colonel	Pedro Olea
	Belmonte	Luis Rozalem	Juan Sebastián Bollaín
	Adiós Toby, adiós	Grandfather	Ramón Barea	Short
	Sirenas		Fernando León de Aranoa
	El disco	King	Juan Luis Jiménez de No and Miguel Marichalar Aranzadi
	Hotel y domicilio	Court policeman	Ernesto del Río	Feature-length
	...Que ciento volando	–	José García Hernández	Short
1996	Cachito	Don Cayetano	Enrique Urbizu	Feature-length
	Canela que tú me dieras	–	Gustavo Ferrada	Short
	Tierra	Tomás	Julio Medem	Feature-length
	Agurra	Grandfather	Iñaki Elizalde	Short
	El buscador	Clergyman	Damián Rubio
	Menos que cero	Goyo	Ernesto Tellería	Feature-length
	Ya no me acuerdo	Grandfather	Morrosko Vila San Juan	Short
	Sabor latino	Marcial	Pedro Carvajal	Feature-length
	Tabarka	Brother Casanovas	Domingo Rodes
	Adiós prisión	Cerebro	Michael Aguiló	Short
	Urgencia	Gentleman 1	José Luis Serrano
1997	Hazlo por mí	Antonio Robles	Ángel Fernández Santos	Feature-length
	Suerte	Father	Ernesto Tellería
	La fabulosa historia de Diego Marín	Grandfather	Fidel Cordero
	Planeta extraño	Don José	Pedro Pérez Jiménez	Short
	Cien maneras de hacer el pollo al txilindrón	Setero	Kepa Sojo
	Todos a tus pies	Don Eulogio	Gustavo Ferrada
	La gentileza de los desconocidos	Walberg	Luis M. Alonso
1998	Manos de seda	Antique dealer	César Martínez Herrada	Feature-length
	La vuelta de El Coyote	Official	Mario Camus
	Atilano, presidente	Esteve	Santiago Aguilar and Luis Guridi
	La hora de los valientes	Teacher's brother-in-law	Antonio Mercero
	Feliz Navidad	Wise Man	Óscar del Caz	Short
	María	Grandfather	Jesús Solera
1999	Rincones del paraíso	Client 2	Carlos Pérez Merinero	Feature-length
	Las huellas borradas	Eutimio	Enrique Gabriel
	Patesnak, un cuento de Navidad	Old man	Iñaki Elizalde	Short
	Lorca	Grandfather
	Cuando vuelvas a mi lado	Emilio	Gracia Querejeta	Feature-length
	Pídele cuentas al rey	Man with beret	José Antonio Quirós
	El beso de la tierra	José	Lucinda Torre	Short
	Ángel	–	Pablo Cantos
	Mi Rosita	Manolo	Ángeles Diemant-Hartz
	Elena	–	Jesús García-Soler
2000	Maestros		Óscar del Caz	Feature-length
	Leo	Don Miguel	José Luis Borau
	Aunque tú no lo sepas	Benito	Juan Vicente Córdoba
	El viaje de Arián	Arián's father	Eduardo Bosch
	La gran vida	–	Antonio Cuadri
	La escapada	Pepe	David Gallart	Short
	Anoche soñé que habías muerto	Vagabond	Javier Marmolejo
	Nada	–	David Abajo, David Fernández and Luis Santamaría Morales
	Viaje de ida y vuelta		Nuria Cabestany	Feature-length
	Roso		César Fernández Jiménez	Short
2001	Carne de gallina	Luisón	Javier Maqua	Feature-length
2002	El refugio del mal	Mr. Santos	Félix Cábez
2003	Pacto de brujas	Liceo	Javier Elorrieta
	Se buscan abrazos	Inocencio	Manuel García Serrano	Short
	El misterio Galíndez	Ricardo's uncle	Gerardo Herrero y Leigh Romero	Feature-length
	Niebla	Juan	Mónica Alonso	Short
	Crédito cero	–	Rubén Salazar	Feature-length
	Historia de un puñal	Priest	Joan Ayllón	Short
2004	Muertos comunes	Huete's neighbour	Norberto Ramos del Val	Feature-length
	Matar al ángel	Rabbi	Daniel Múgica
	Un héroe de acción	–	Gorka Losada	Short
2005	Para que no me olvides	Julián	Patricia Ferreira	Feature-length
	Obaba	Tomás	Montxo Armendáriz
	Somne	Marquina	Isidro Ortiz
	Mala sombra	Trainer Robles	Miguel Ángel Escudero	Short
	La doctora sonrisas	Inocencio, King	Manuel García Serrano
	Se vende	–	Carlos López Martínez
2006	El síndrome de Svensson	Little old man	Kepa Sojo	Feature-length
	Las locuras de Don Quijote	Don Quijote	Rafael Alcázar
	No me gustan los peces de colores	–		Short
2007	La mosquita muerta	Narrator	Imanol Rayo
	Shevernatze: Una epopeya marcha atrás	Penderling	Pablo Palazón	Feature-length
	2 rivales casi iguales	Don Jaime	Miguel Ángel Calvo Buttini
	Salomón	Eusebio	Ignacio Lasierra	Short
	Le protecteur	Paranoiac 3	Patxi Basabe
2008	Road Spain	–	Jordi Vidal	–
	Verde de otoño	Bruno	Eduardo H. Garza	Short
	Todos estamos invitados	Azcoaga	Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón	Feature-length
	Imaginario	Client	Pablo Cantos	Short
	Cenizas del cielo	Manolo	José Antonio Quirós	Feature-length
	El embaucador	Elderly man	Daniel Romero	Short
2009	Lo que dura la eternidad	Father	Toño Martín
	La culona	Román	Polo Menárguez
	Siempre hay tiempo	Héctor	Ana Rosa Diego	Feature-length
2010	Llueve sobremojado	Luis	Joan Álvarez	Short
	La vida fluye	Indigent	Toñi Martín
	Morir cada día	–	Aitor Echeverría
	Vidas pequeñas	Gumersindo	Enrique Gabriel	Feature-length
	Jaque	Miguel	Íker Franco	Vídeo
	Sólo palabras	Father	Yolanda Mulero	Short
	Bisarmes	Güelo	Francisco Martínez and Pablo A. Quiroga
2011	8	Grandfather	Raúl Cerezo
	Posturas	Casimiro	Álvaro Oliva
	Lección debida	Alejandro	Iván Ruiz Flores	Feature-length
	Jugando con la muerte	Grandfather Eusebio	Paul Urkijo Alijo	Short
	Área de descanso	Grandfather	Michael Aguiló	Feature-length
	Un cuento de pocas palabras	Emilio	Daniel Cortázar	Short
2012	Baztán	Don Gregorio	Iñaki Elizalde	Feature-length
	Chan Chan	Ramón	Pilar Palomero	Short
2013	Caminante	Santiago	Joaquín Calderón
2014	Objetos perdidos	Don Manuel	Álvaro Oliva
	Estado de bienestar	–	Jorge Calvo
	Agur	Grandfather	David Pérez Sañudo
2015	Broken Basket	–	Roberto Ruiz Céspedes
	El audífono	Fernando	Samuel Quiles Palop
	El bosque negro	–	Paul Urkijo Alijo
2016	Agustín	Manolo	Javier Celay
	Las mujeres de Cervantes	Cervantes	Rafael Alcázar	–
	El andar del borracho	Fidel	Pol Armengol	Short
	Cefalea	Marcelino	María Sánchez Testón
	249. La noche en que una becaria encontró a Emiliano Revilla	Emiliano Revilla	Luis María Ferrández	Feature-length
2017	Que baje Dios y lo vea	Father Huerto	Curro Velázquez
2018	Tournees	Radio manager	Israel González	Short
	Ola de crímenes	Andoni's father	Gracia Querejeta	Feature-length
2019	Lo nunca visto	Paco	Marina Seresesky
	Stalingrado	Iñaki	Amaia San Sebastián	Short
	El silencio de la ciudad blanca	Don Tiburcio	Daniel Calparsoro	Feature-length
2020	El frontón más largo del mundo	Maestro	Luis Alberto Cabezón	Short
2021	Polvo somos	–	Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren

Television (incomplete list)

Year	Title	Character	Channel	Notes
1990	Del Miño al Bidasoa	–	La 1	Miniseries. 1×04
1993	El joven Picasso		Canal Sur, ETB2, Canal Nou, TVG and TV3	Miniseries. 1×01 and 1×04
1994	Terranova	Castro	ETB2, TVG and TV3	Series
1995	Pepa y Pepe	Luis	La 1	Series. 2×05
1996	Colegio Mayor	Millán	ETB2, Canal Nou and La 1	Series. 2×03
1997	Más que amigos	Bea's father	Telecinco	Series. 1×07
1998, 2000–2001	Periodistas	Mario (1×08), Isidoro (5×08) and Florentino Iglesias (7×01)		Series
1998	Blasco Ibáñez, la novela de su vida	Campus judge	La 1	Miniseries. 1×01, parte 1
	La virtud del asesino	–	La 2	Series. 1×09
	Entre naranjos	Dr. Moreno	La 1	Miniseries. 1×01-1×02
	A las once en casa	–		Series. 1×21
	La vida en el aire	Luis	La 2	Series. 1×03
	Ni contigo ni sin ti	Dr. Garañón	La 1	Series. 1×10-1×11
	Entre dos fuegos	Marcial	ETB2	Series. 1×07
	Hermanas	–	Telecinco	Series. 2×07
1999	La casa de los líos	Braulio	Antena 3	Series. 4×11
1999, 2002 and 2008	El comisario	Kidnap victim (1×04), 4×10, Mr. Silva (5×09) and 12×11	Telecinco	Series
1999	Puerta con puerta	–	La 1	Series. 1×10
	Médico de familia		Telecinco	Series. 9×08
2000	Junts	Carlos	–	Made-for-TV film
2000–2001	Policías, en el corazón de la calle	Clergyman (1×08-1×09) and El Pelusa (4×01)	Antena 3	Series
2000	La habitación blanca	Doorman	RTVE	Made-for-TV film
	Paraíso	Don Anselmo	La 1	Series. 1×03
2001	Robles, investigador	–		Series. 1×12
2002, 2005 and 2011	Hospital Central	Manuel (3×05), Abraham (10×06) and Joaquín (19×18-19×19)	Telecinco	Series
2002	San Antonio de Padua	–		Made-for-TV film
	Clara	–	Canal Sur, ETB2, Telemadrid, Canal 9 and TVG
2003–2004	Un lugar en el mundo	Antón	Antena 3	Series. 1×01-1×13
2004–2005	Capital	Miguel	Telemadrid	Series
2005	Motivos personales	Guillermo del Valle	Telecinco	Series. 2×05-2×06
2005–2008, 2015	Cuéntame cómo pasó	Alfredo Jiménez Arroyo	La 1	Series. 7×07-7×09, 7×16; 8×01-8×02, 8×04, 8×07-8×11, 8×13-8×15; 9×02, 9×05, 9×08-9×10, 9×12-9×14, 9×20, 9×22; 10×03, 10×12, 10×16; 16×11
2008	Los Serrano	Uncle Eusebio	Telecinco	Series. 7×09
2011	La duquesa II	Majordomo		Miniseries. 1×01-1×02
	Los misterios de Laura	Eduardo del Bosque Nájera	La 1	Series. 2×01
	Gran Hotel	Anselmo	Antena 3	Series. 1×02
	Águila Roja	–	La 1	Series. 4×01
2012	Con el culo al aire	Clergyman	Antena 3	Series. 1×13
	Aída	Mr. Bouza	Telecinco	Series. 9×40
	La conspiración	Count Rodezno	ETB2 and La 1	Made-for-TV film
2015	Rabia	Adolfo Villanueva	Cuatro	Series. 1×01
2016	Bajo sospecha	Don Pedro	Antena 3	Series. 2×03-2×04
	Euskolegas	–	ETB2	Series. 2×02
2017	El Ministerio del Tiempo	Juan Ureña	La 1	Series. 3×13
2020	La línea invisible	–	Movistar Plus+	Series. 1×02
	Mira lo que has hecho	Señor Bodas de oro		Series. 3×06
	Patria	Bishop	HBO España	Miniseries. 1×04