- Praised by Alfred Hitchcock as the best director ever.
- Liked to daydream, and his imaginations were frequently to play tricks to his friends and, in Mexico, one of his favorite "victims" was the Spanish screenwriter Luis Alcoriza. During a hunting party, Alcoriza saw an eaglet on a tree and knocked it down with the first shot but then he found a price tag on a paw: it was a stuffed bird put there by Buñuel.
- Rejected an offer from Salvador Dalí to direct a sequel to Un chien andalou (1929) in 1966.
- He was fluent in Spanish and French but never learned to speak English.
- Was voted the 14th Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
- Member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1954
- Loathed Salvador Dalí's wife, Gala Dalí.
- Educated at Jesuit schools before attending the University of Madrid. While there he formed friendships with Salvador Dali and Federico Garcia-Lorca.
- In the 5th edition of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (edited by Steven Jay Schneider), 9 of his films are listed: Un chien andalou (1929), L'Age d'Or (1930), Las Hurdes (1933), The Young and the Damned (1950), The Young One (1960), Viridiana (1961), Belle de Jour (1967), Tristana (1970) and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972).
- Became a Mexican citizen in 1948.
- Worked as chief editor and chief of the writer department of the Museum of Modern Art in New York (1939-1943)
- Father of film-maker Rafael Buñuel.
- Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945". Pages 71-92. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.
- 30 Film retrospective on the Berlinale in 2008.
- Grandfather of Diego Bunuel.
- In his youth, Buñuel was deeply religious, serving at Mass and taking Communion every day, until, at the age of 16, he grew disgusted with what he perceived as the illogicality of the Church, along with its power and wealth.
- Father of Juan Luis Buñuel
- Directed one Oscar nominated performance: Dan O'Herlihy in Robinson Crusoe (1954).
- Seven of Buñuel's films are included in Sight & Sound's 2012 critics' poll of the top 250 films of all time.
- Was father-in-law of filmmaker Joyce Buñuel.
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