José-Luis de Villalonga on AllMovie

The suave and dapper Spanish actor José Luis de Villalonga specialized in polished, upper-crust, high-society characterizations -- which in fact mirrored his offscreen social status, image, and persona. Born in 1920, de Villalonga debuted prominently under the aegis of Louis Malle on that helmer's 1958 succès de scandale Les Amants -- as a smug, self-satisfied polo player. The actor only achieved an international breakthrough, however, three years later -- as Jose da Silva Perriera, a Brazilian millionaire engaged to Manhattan playgirl Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) but unexpectedly passed over for George Peppard -- in the Blake Edwards classic Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961). de Villalonga maintained an occasional onscreen presence through the late '80s, in films such as Darling (1965), Voltati Eugenio (1980), Patrimonio Nacional (1980), and Blood and Sand (1989). He gained much broader recognition in his later years, however, as a social fixture of Euro bohemian life and as an author of several well-received tomes.