Almodóvar, Pedro << ahl moh DOH vahr, PAY droh >> (1951-…), is a Spanish motion-picture director, screenwriter, and actor. He became a leading personality in the newly liberated Spanish cinema that emerged after the death of the dictator General Francisco Franco in 1975. Almodóvar has gained a reputation for making movies that are whimsical, shocking, and comic. Many of his movies center on social issues, including sex, homosexuality, and male violence toward women. All About My Mother (1999), written and directed by Almodóvar, won an Academy Award for best foreign language film. Almodóvar won an Academy Award for best original screenplay for Talk to Her (2002).
Almodóvar was born on Sept. 25, 1951, in Calzada de Calatrava, La Mancha, Spain. In 1967, he moved to Madrid. In the early 1970’s, he began acting with a drama group called Los Goliardos. In 1974, he directed his first movie, Two Whores, or a Love Story That Ends with a Wedding. His first feature film was Pepi, Luci, Bom, and Lots of Other Girls (1980). Almodóvar’s first movie to gain widespread international acclaim was What Have I Done to Deserve This? (1984). His 1988 film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown also received critical praise and won several awards at film festivals. In 1987, he founded his own production company.
Almodóvar also wrote and directed Matador (1986); Law of Desire (1987); Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990); High Heels (1991); Kika (1993); The Flower of My Secret (1995); Live Flesh (1997); Bad Education (2004); Volver (2006); Broken Embraces (2009); The Skin I Live In (2011); I’m So Excited (2013); Julieta (2016), based on short stories by the Canadian writer Alice Munro; Pain and Glory (2019); and Parallel Mothers (2021). In addition, Almodóvar writes the music for many of his movies.
