Actors - Cantinflas

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	Actors - Cantinflas

Mario Moreno Reyes (August 12, 1911 – April 20, 1993) was a comedian of the Mexican theatre and film industry. His interpretation of Cantinflas, a character originating in the "pelado", the impoverished campesino-cum-slumdweller that came to represent the national identity of Mexico, earned him popularity with the common people that he was able to parlay into a long, successful film career that included a foray into Hollywood. Charlie Chaplin once called him "the greatest comedian in the world," and he is often referred to as the "Charlie Chaplin of Mexico".

While some of films were dubbed into English for American audiences, and his work found some favor among the people of France, the wordplay of his Spanish-language humor did not translate particularly well into other languages. However, he was wildly successful in Latin America, where he still has many devoted fans.

As a pioneer of the cinema of Mexico, Moreno helped usher in its golden era. His success, as part of Mexico's cinematic blossoming, helped establish Mexico as the entertainment capital of Latin America. In addition to being a business leader, he also became involved in Mexico's tangled and often dangerous labor politics. Although he was himself politically conservative, his reputation as a spokesperson for the downtrodden gave his actions authenticity and became important in the early struggle against charrismo, the one-party government's practice of coopting and controlling unions.

Moreover, his character Cantinflas, whose identity became enmeshed with his own, was examined by media critics, philosophers, anthropologists, and linguists, who saw in him variably as danger to Mexican society, a bourgeois puppet, a kind philantropist, a venture capitalist, a transgressor of gender roles, a pious Catholic, a verbal innovator, and a picaresque underdog.

In effect, Moreno was all of these. His character Cantinflas, in attempting to encompass the identity of an entire nation, developed the contradictions and complexities inherent in any attempt to epitomize a country as complex and contradictory as Mexico.

Personal life

Born the sixth of thirteen children to Pedro Moreno Esquivel, an impoverished mail carrier, and Soledad Reyes, Moreno was born in the Santa María la Redonda neighborhood of Mexico City, and grew up in the rough Tepito barrio. He made it through difficult situations with the quick wit and street smarts that he would later apply in his films. After an unsuccessful attempt to enter the United States through California, he became a prizefighter in his teens as a source of income. His comic personality led him to a circus tent show, and from there to legitimate theatre and film.

He married Valentina Ivanova, of Russian ethnicity, on October 27, 1936, and remained with her until her death in 1966. They adopted a son in 1961 and named him Mario Arturo Moreno Ivanova.

He served as president of the Mexican actor's guild known as Asociación Nacional de Actores (ANDA, "National Association of Actors") and as first secretary general of the independent filmworkers' union Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Producción Cinematográfica (STPC).

Following his retirement, Moreno devoted his life to helping others through charity and humanitarian organizations, especially those dedicated to helping children. His contributions to the Catholic Church and orphanages made him a folk hero in Mexico.

In 1993, after his death in Mexico City from lung cancer, thousands appeared on the rainy day for his funeral. The ceremony was a national event, lasting three days. His body lay in state in the Rotonda de los Hombres Ilustres (Rotunda of Distinguished Men) and he was honored by many heads of state and the United States Senate, which held a moment of silence for him.

After his death, a 12-year legal battle ensued between Mario Moreno Ivanova, Cantinflas' adoptive son and heir to his estate, and the actor's blood nephew, Eduardo Moreno Laparade over the control of 34 of films made by Cantinflas. The nephew claimed his uncle gave him a written notice to the rights for movies on his deathbed. Moreno Ivanova argued he is the direct heir of Cantinflas and the rights belong to him. Moreno Laparade won the lawsuit twice , and Moreno Ivanova appealed winning at the final instance.

At the same time, another legal battle ensued between Columbia Pictures and Cantinflas' son over the control of these films. Columbia claims that it bought the rights to 34 films four decades ago with the court noting several discrepancies in the papers. The son wanted the rights to the films to remain his and more generally, Mexico's, as a national treasure. On June 2, 2001 the eight year battle was resolved with Columbia retaining ownership over the 34 disputed films.

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Actors - Cantinflas

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