Germán Robles
Born March 20th, 1929 – Died Nov. 21st, 2015

Robles became a star after appearing as the Count Duval, in his first feature film, El Vampiro, in 1957. And that was even a last minute decision. Back in the ’50s, producer Abel Salazar was all set to start his new vampire film with another actor already cast as the Count, one that had already an established name. But when he thought back to the Universal pictures, like Dracula and Frankenstein, where both featured a monster played by a relatively unknown name, he decided to follow that same route. So he went to see a play and found Robles on stage and thought he would make a great vampire and hired him on the spot. Robles would go on to play Count Duval in the sequel El ataúd del Vampiro, aka The Vampire’s Coffin, in 1958.

While he would appear in a few other Mexican horror films, like the cult classic The Brainiac (1962) and the Nostradamus series, he continued to work in film and on the stage. But it is because of his performance in these early Mexican horror films, that had such amazing atmosphere and style back then, that he needs to be remembered. While we all know Lugosi and Lee, Robles’ name should be up there as well, since he gives us a splendid performance as the Count. Lucky for us, these movies are both available, so do yourself a favor and seek them out.