Leo Carrillo (Spanish pronunciation: [Cay-reel-yo][a]) (1881–1961) was an American cartoonist, a comedian in vaudeville, and an actor on stage, film and television. He was best known in the United States as the Cisco Kid's sidekick Pancho on 1950s children's television, a role which capped a long show business career that began decades earlier.[2]
Growing up in culturally diverse Los Angeles, Carrillo was conversant in five languages with a keen ear for dialects.[3] When he went to work for the San Francisco Examiner as a cartoonist,[4] he began performing humorous monologues on the San Francisco stage, easily transforming himself into a variety of personas. Soon he began working in vaudeville with Major Bowes,[5] and toured the Orpheum Circuit with Walter C. Kelly.[6] Theatrical producer Oliver Morosco offered him a role in the original Broadway play Upstairs and Down in 1916, and within a year, he landed the title role in Lombardi, Ltd. For the next decade he performed on the vaudeville circuit in between acting in Broadway productions. A 1927 touring revival production of Lombardi, Ltd., again featured Carrillo in the lead, and began at George M. Cohan's Theatre before going on the road.[7]
Carrillo's first screen appearances were in 1927 Vitaphone shorts.[8] In the early decades of his film career, he was often the starring lead. And while he played many different ethnic roles, or characters with no discernible ethnicity, he was often cast as Italian or Hispanic. He played everything from the hero to the villain, in straight dramatic parts as well as appearing in light comedy and musical films. Over the course of his movie career, Carrillo appeared in over 80 feature-length films, ending in 1950 with Pancho Villa Returns. He was 68 years old when he first teamed with Duncan Renaldo to co-star in five Cisco Kid movies in 1949–1950. The ensuing popular The Cisco Kid television series ran for 156 episodes 1950–1956.[2]
For his contributions to the entertainment industry, Carrillo received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 8, 1960 . The star for his contributions to motion pictures is located at 1635 Vine Street, and the star for his television work is a block away at 1517 Vine Street.[9]
Stage
| Year | Title | Role | Theatre | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fads and Fancies | 1915 | Sir Giovanni Gasolini | Knickerbocker Theatre | Vaudeville skits and monologues | [10] |
| Upstairs and Down | 1916 | — | Cort Theatre | Carrillo's play debut | [11] |
| Lombardi, Ltd. | 1917 | Tito Lombardi | Morosco Theatre | [12] | |
| Mike Angelo | 1923 | Mike Angelo | Morosco Theatre | [13] | |
| Magnolia | 1923 | Tom | Liberty Theatre | [14] | |
| Gypsy Jim | 1924 | Gypsy Jim | 49th Street Theatre | [15] | |
| The Saint | 1924 | Valdez | Greenwich Village Theatre | [16] | |
| The Padre | 1926 | Father Pellegrin | Ritz Theatre | [17] | |
| Lombardi, Ltd. | 1927 | Tito Lombardi | George M. Cohan's Theatre | Touring production went on the road. | [18] |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Cisco Kid | 1950–56 | Pancho | 156 episodes | [2] |
| TV Club | 1951 | Himself | Episode #1.18 | [19] |
| Tournament of Roses Parade | 1954 | Himself | January 1, 1954 | [20] |
| The Red Skelton Hour | 1958 | Latin American Dictator | Episode: "Calypso Clem" | [21] |
| This Is Your Life | 1959 | Himself | April 15, 1959 | [22] |
| Hollywood Without Make-Up | 1963 | Himself | Ken Murray home movies of actors | [23] |
| The Bronze Screen: 100 Years of the Latino Image in Hollywood | 2002 | Himself (footage) | Documentary | [20] |
| California's Golden Parks | 2007 | Himself (footage) | #156, "Leo Carrillo Ranch" | [24] |
Films
Film shorts
| Year | Title | Studio/Distributor | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| At the Ball Game | 1927 | Vitaphone | Vaudeville skit | [25] |
| The Foreigner | 1928 | Vitaphone | Vaudeville skit | [26] |
| The Hellgate of Soisson | 1928 | Vitaphone | Vaudeville skit | [27] |
| Running Hollywood | 1932 | Universal Pictures | [20] | |
| The 42nd. Street Special | 1933 | Warner Brothers | [28] | |
| Star Night at the Cocoanut Grove | 1934 | MGM | Master of Ceremonies | [29] |
| Hollywood on Parade | 1934 | Paramount Pictures | No. B-8 | [20][30] |
| A Dream Comes True | 1935 | Vitaphone | (uncredited) | [20] |
| La Fiesta de Santa Barbara | 1935 | MGM | [31] | |
| Things You Never See on the Screen | 1935 | Warner Brothers | (never released; blooper reel compiled for studio personnel) | [32] |
| Cinema Circus | 1937 | Lewis Lewyn Productions | [33] | |
| Screen Snapshots | 1938 | Columbia Pictures | Series 17, No. 8 | [34] |
| Screen Snapshots | 1938 | Columbia Pictures | Series 17, No. 9 | [34] |
| Screen Snapshots | 1938 | Columbia Pictures | Series 18, No. 2 | [20] |
| Screen Snapshots | 1939 | Columbia Pictures | Series 19, No. 3, Outdoor Parties | [20] |
| Screen Snapshots | 1940 | Columbia Pictures | Seeing Hollywood, Rodeo Parade Participant | [20] |
| Hedda Hopper's Hollywood | 1942 | Paramount Pictures | No. 4 | [20] |
| Screen Snapshots | 1944 | Columbia Pictures | Series 24, No. 4, Rodeo Star. With Gloria Jean, Alan Mowbray, Bela Lugosi. | [34] |
| Screen Snapshots | 1945 | Columbia Pictures | Series 25, No. 3, Fashions and Rodeo | [34] |
| Around the World in California | 1947 | MGM | (uncredited) | [35] |
| Screen Snapshots | 1950 | Columbia Pictures | The Great Snowman | [20] |
| Screen Snapshots | 1953 | Columbia Pictures | Series 33, No. 4, Hollywood's great entertainers. Gene Nelson, Sid Grauman testimonial dinner, December 24, 1953 | [36] |
Feature and serial films
See also
Notes
Footnotes
Citations
References
- Baugh, Scott L. (2012). Latino American Cinema: An Encyclopedia of Movies, Stars, Concepts, and Trends. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-38036-5.
- Bordman, Gerald (1995). American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama 1914–1930. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-509078-9.
- Bordman, Gerald; Hischak, Thomas S. (2004). The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-516986-7.
- Bradley, Edwin M. (2005). The First Hollywood Sound Shorts, 1926–1931. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-4319-2.
- Brooks, Patricia; Brooks, Jonathan (2006). Laid to Rest in California: A Guide to the Cemeteries and Grave Sites of the Rich and Famous. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press. ISBN 978-0-7627-4101-4.
- Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–Present. New York, NY: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.
- Carrillo, Leo (1961). The California I Love. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. OCLC 657077014.
- Cullen, Frank; Hackman, Florence; McNeilly, Donald (2007). Vaudeville, Old & New : An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America. New York, NY: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-93853-2.
- Drew, Bernard A. (2014). Motion Picture Series and Sequels: A Reference Guide. New York, NY: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-72665-8.
- Durham, Weldon B. (1987). American Theatre Companies, 1888-1930. West Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-25359-5.
- Hirschak, Thomas S. (2009). Broadway Plays and Musicals: Descriptions and Essential Facts of More Than 14,000 Shows through 2007. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-3448-0.
- Liebman, Roy (2010). Vitaphone Films A Catalogue of the Features and Shorts. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-4697-1.
- Monush, Barry (2003). Encyclopedia of Hollywood Film Actors, Vol. 1: From the Silent Era to 1965. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 978-1-55783-551-2.
- Pitts, Michael R. (2012). Western Movies: A Guide, A Guide to 5,105 Feature Films. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-6372-5.
- Slide, Anthony (2012). The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-61703-250-9.
External links
- Leo Carrillo at IMDb