A big, flamboyant Spanish opera singer, Bonanova began his singing career at age 17 in Madrid; he appeared with the Paris Opera and toured Europe and Latin America. Trying his hand at silent films in 1924, Bonanova produced, directed and starred in the Spanish film Don Juan. After some experience on Broadway (in Dishonored Lady with Katherine Cornell, [1930]) he made his U.S. film debut in Careless Lady (1932). Bonanova is perhaps best remembered as the singing tutor in Orson Welles's Citizen Kane (1941). He went on to play supporting and comic roles in many Hollywood films and also wrote operettas, plays, and novels.