José Riesgo

José Riesgo, known as "Pepe", is an actor who played Julián in the Spanish version of Sesame Street. He performed his role in the 1979-1980 version and again in the 1983-1987 version, being the only person to act in two different versions of Barrio Sésamo.

Riesgo is a veteran actor from Spanish cinema, having acted in no less than 136 movies, plus five TV series.

He began acting in 1949 with small roles in dramas and comedies of the time.

It was not until 1953, however, that he began acting in movies with an international persepective, such as The Lovers of Toledo or Luis García Berlanga's Welcome Mr. Marshall, which is considered one of the best movies in the story of Spanish cinema. However, his roles were mainly small, sometimes with seven movies in the same year (1956 or 1958), and even nine (1959).

Riesgo was one of the usual actors for the Italian-Spanish co-productions in the 1960s, particularly in the "spaghetti western". He apeared in Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars (1964), in a very small (and uncredited) cameo as a captain in the Mexican Cavalry - and it was not the only time he played a Mexican.

From the early 1970s, Riesgo left slowly the co-productions (being his last Bad Man's River, 1971, Eugenio Martín, starring Lee Van Cleef, James Mason and Gina Lollobrigida) and centered his attention in Spanish movies, with an occasional appearance in some prestigious TV series such as Estudio 1 or Curro Jiménez. During the late 1970s, he became a well-known face of the current of landismo.

It was in 1979 that he began working in TV series Barrio Sésamo, till it was cancelled in 1980. Riesgo played one of the humans who interacted with Gallina Caponata and Perezgil. His role was Julián, who owned a trolley of food and sold through the Sesame Street.

During the early 1980s, he played again small roles in Spanish productions, including Mariano Ozores' comedies or Jacinto Molina's horror flicks.

He would reprise his role as Julián in the 1983-1987 period of Barrio Sésamo, now interacting with the new characters.

After 1987, with the end of the new period of Barrio Sésamo, Riesgo continued playing Julián in theatre versions of the series, alongside Chelo Vivares (Espinete) and Juan Sánchez (Chema the baker).

Once this performance was over, Riesgo decided to retire from acting.