Dapper, durable international star, a leading man in his native Spain who played prominent roles in a wide variety of European and American features. An architecture student when the Spanish Civil War broke out, Rey saw his father, who fought for the Loyalists against Franco, sentenced to death (the sentence was later suspended). He also saw his family's wealth dwindle away and then became involved with the fighting as well. Needing money, Rey drifted into film work as an extra and kept busy dubbing voices from foreign films into Spanish, in several films as the voice of Laurence Olivier.
After Spanish Civil War entered movies as extra (first appearance: as an Englishman in "The Four Robinsons") and voice-over dubber of foreign films (e.g. He dubbed Laurence Olivier's voice for both "Hamlet" and "Richard III" as well as voices for Humphrey Bogart and Tyrone Power)
Began appearing on stage at the prestigious Teatro Espanol