Benítez, Manuel

b. 1936, Palma del Río

   Matador ("El Cordobés")

   Born into a poor Andalusian family, and orphaned in the aftermath of the Civil War, El Cordobés transformed himself from an illiterate bricklayer to the most famous, though not the most highly regarded, matador of the past fifty years. Making up with undoubted courage, a winning smile, and the aid of an astute manager what he lacked in grace or technique, the longhaired torero offered bullfighting a modern face as Spain emerged from its conservative post-war phase into the more modern and increasingly outward-looking country of the 1960s. El Cordobés followed up his hugely successful career as a novillero by taking his alternativa in Cordoba in 1962 and confirming it in Madrid the following year, when he achieved a clamorous triumph at the expense of a serious goring. Notwithstanding his popular image as a member of the Marbella jet-set of the 1960s and 1970s, he gained steadily in skill, winning grudging admiration from all but his most acerbic detractors for performances in the leading arenas of Spain, France, Mexico and South America. El Cordobés twice broke the record for the number of corridas in a season, with 111 performances in 1965 and 121 in 1970. Despite several temporary retirements, he has remained active, making his most recent comeback in 1996.

   See also: bullfighting

   IAN CAMPBELL ROSS