Studied painting and architecture at the Royal Academy of San Fernando.
The first Spaniard to win two Academy Awards: for "Patton" and "Nicholas and Alexandra", both directed by Franklin Schaffner.
He started out as a film crew member in Spain's thriving 1930s cinema. He worked for 10 years with set decorator Sigfrido Burmann, assisting with several nationalistic historical epics.
First Spanish person to win an Oscar. As of 2016, he's the only Spanish to win two Oscars.