Mario Moreno Biography

QUICK FACTS
Activities Actor , Screenwriter
Real name Mario Fortino Alfonso Moreno Reyes
Nicknames Mario Moreno Cantinflas, Cantinflas
Nationality Mexico
Birth August 12, 1911 (Mexico City – Mexico)
Death April 20, 1993
BIOGRAPHY
Mario Fortino Alfonso Moreno Reyes, known as Mario Moreno “Cantinflas”, was a Mexican actor and comedian, born on August 12, 1911, in Mexico City. Mario was the sixth of fourteen children of the marriage formed by Pedro Moreno and María de la Soledad, a postman and a housewife. Of those fourteen children, only eight survived birth.

He was born in the Santa María la Ribera neighborhood, although he grew up in the Tepito neighborhood, where he worked in various jobs: as a shoemaker’s assistant, shoe shiner, errand boy, postman, taxi driver, billiards employee, boxer and bullfighter. He would enlist in the Mexican Army, as an infantry soldier with typist studies, but his father would request his discharge, because he had lied about his age, saying that he was 21 years old, when in reality he was 16. Shortly after, he would work in a tent. traveling comedians, where he would meet his wife, the Moscow native Valentina Ivanova Zuvareff, whom he married on October 27, 1934. His charismatic personality and his ability as a comedian allowed him to join the circus cast, and then make the leap to the theater and , eventually, to the cinema.

The origin of the name Cantinflas was never revealed, there were assumptions about the creation of the name, by Mario, to prevent his parents from finding out that he worked in the show, as they considered it a shameful occupation. Another story refers to his first performance in the Ofelia tent, where Mario, with stage fright, began to err in his monologue, with brilliantly incoherent phrases. He would take inspiration from the poor neighborhoods where he grew up for the creation of the mythical character.

He made his debut in 1936, with the film No te engañes corazón (1939), which did not obtain the expected attention. By 1939, he would found the company Posa Films, which allowed him to develop short films about the character. It would be in 1940 when he would finally become a star, for the film There’s the Detail (1940), whose phrase became classic throughout his career. The film was a success in Mexico and Latin America. Shortly after, the actor participated in films such as The Unknown Gendarme (1941), Neither Blood nor Sand (1941), The Circus (1943), Gran Hotel (1944), The Supersabio (1948), The Porter (1950) and The Seven machos (1951), among several others, becoming an icon of Mexican cinema.

In August 1953, Cantinflas would begin his theatrical season of the play Yo, Colón, at the Teatro de los Insurgentes, where he placed the character in the role of Christopher Columbus, while discovering America, with historical and contemporary comic references. In 1956, the actor was part of the cast of the North American film Around the World in 80 Days (1956), for which he would win a Golden Globe award in the category of best actor in a comedy or musical.

Cantinflas died on April 20, 1993, due to lung cancer. Thousands of people gathered for his funeral and national mourning was declared for three days.

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