He was a well-known theater performer in Chile who was honored with the highest award available to actors at the time. He immigrated to Argentina after the 1973 coup against Salvador Allende, a Marxist president he strongly backed. Soon after, he starred in a few small-scale movies in Argentina before going on to star in a wide range of various motion picture and television drama productions. Actress Paloma Contreras is the daughter of his marriage to Argentinean actress Leonor Manso.