Biographie

Due to his starring in French Connection (1971) and that he did much of his acting work in French films, many Americans perceived him as a Frenchman, when he was in fact very much Spanish.

Got his part in The French Connection after his name was mixed up with that of actor Francisco Rabal; Rabal himself turned out to be unavailable at the time, so Rey was retained for the role.

Thanks to his work with Luis Buñuel he was the first Spanish actor who gained international fame.

Was also a voice actor, and provided the Castilian Spanish dubbed voice for Laurence Olivier in Hamlet (1948) and Le prince et la danseuse (1957); for Henry Fonda in Le Jour le plus long (1962), and for the character "Jim" in the animated feature Quand souffle le vent (1986) (John Mills in the original). He also dubbed himself into Spanish in the roles he performed in other languages, as well as other Spanish actors in Spanish movies whose voice was deemed unsuitable for the screen.

Became the favorite leading actor of Luis Buñuel in the latter half of the director's career.