Oscar Isaac to play “Juan Pujol Garcia” aka GARBO
We all know and love Oscar Isaac from his role as rebel pilot Poe Dameron in the new Star Wars films, but most of us are not familiar with the man behind the codename “GARBO”. WWII nerds might already be jumping up and down in excitement, the rest might need a quick history lesson:
Juan Pujol Garcia was a Spaniard born in 1912, who fought in the Spanish Civil War for both sides, from which he experienced mistreatment in each army, eventually leading him to have a deep resentment for Fascism and Communism. After the war, the Nazi threat was everywhere and he was eager to do his bit for the cause. So he marched right up to the British Embassy and asked to be employed as a spy. He was rejected three times (it should also be pointed out that his wife also helped out in contacting the British). Not to be deterred, he went and created a fake identity of him being a Nazi-fanatic before coming into contact with an Abwehr (German Intelligence) agent codenamed “Frederico”. Once his espionage crash course was complete, he was instructed to make for London, instead he headed to Lisbon, Portugal. From there he fed the Germans bogus information about London, with the help of a tourist guide and several other material from the public library. The Germans fell for it. This set in motion for him to eventually become a double agent for the British, and he was vital for Operation Fortitude/D-Day to be a success. He was the only person to receive accolades from both sides of the war, an Iron Cross 2nd class from Germany and a MBE from King George VI.
Why the name GARBO you may wonder? Juan Garcia had an aptitude with creating realistic characters and putting on believable performances which were instrumental to his spy activities. So he was named after Greta Garbo, a famous Oscar nominated actress.
Oscar Isaac, spanish speaking actor and already looks the part is a great choice for the role, and it would be great to see this story told on the big screen. Hopefully most of the eccentric details make it, since they are what make the story so incredible.
Want to read more on agent garbo? Wikipedia is your friend and:
https://www.mi5.gov.uk/agent-garbo
Also check out the book co-authored by him:
https://www.amazon.com/Operation-Garbo-Personal-Successful-Espionage/dp/1849541078
A bit more info about the film:
http://variety.com/2017/film/news/oscar-isaac-garbo-network-1201984499/#article








