Friends of Cinetv today I am going to share with you 5 facts about the actor Pedro Armendariz, born in Mexico City, on May 9, 1912, of Mexican father and American mother. He was one of the most emblematic faces of the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema, giving life to fishermen, revolutionaries, peasants, Indians and adventurers, he came to represent in countless films the very essence of the Mexican man: nobility, sacrifice and sense of humor.
let's begin
1.- After his mother died in 1928, he and his younger brother Francisco lived with his grandparents and uncle Francisco Hastings in Laredo, Texas; he continued his studies in San Luis Obispo, California, where he finished his degree at California Polytechnic State University. He excelled in English, journalism and history. He finished his studies in 1932 and decided to return to Mexico City, to take care of his parents' inheritance; already in Mexico he was attracted to many activities, but he did not choose any of them. He opted to become an aviator but myopia prevented him from moving forward, he had different jobs such as hotel manager, foreign tourist guide, railroad worker and journalist for the bilingual magazine Mexico Real, which was a weekly tourist magazine. Until he was discovered by director Miguel Zacarías while he was reciting a monologue to a tourist at the Café del Hotel Regis.
In 1935, she filmed her first movie María Elena at the age of 22, her debut was not what she expected and she thought that cinema was not her thing. However, in August of the same year she filmed Rosario with Gloria Morell, Esther Fernandez and Julio Taboada. In 1937 she participated in five films alternating with Andrea Palma, Carlos Lopez chaflan en las cuatro milpas, Jalisco Nunca Pierde with Joaquín pardavé, La Adelita and Mi candidato with Esther Fernández; in 1938 she filmed again 5 films among the most outstanding are: La China Hilaria, canto a mi tierra and Los millones de chaflán in this film he shares credits with Victor and Tito Junco, his cousin Gloria Marin and who would become his wife, the young actress Carmelita Pardo. By this time the young Pedro Armendariz had already taken his new profession seriously and realized that "that" was what he was looking for in life. In addition to acting, he alternated his participation in the movies with radio, where he was the announcer of a small radio station.
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From the beginning he showed clear signs of his strong character, the film producers wanted to change his name to Mario del Mar, but Pedro categorically refused, demanding that his real name be respected even if it was not commercial.
Pedro Armendariz perfectly embodied the young revolutionary, indigenous and manly, teaming up with director Emilio "el Indio" Fernandez with whom he would make some of his best films, such as Soy puro mexicano (1941), Flor silvestre (1942), Maria Candelaria (1943), las abandonadas (1944), Bugambilia (1945), Enamorada (1946), La perla (1947) and Maclovia (1948), La malquerida (1949), alternating in these films with figures like: Dolores del Río, María Félix, Maria Elena Marques and Columba Dominguez.
[Fuente]https://www.facebook.com/PedroArmendarizFans/posts/1039720523150775/
[Fuente]https://www.benitomovieposter.com/catalog/la-malquerida-p-115263.html
At the end of the 40's he made the leap to Hollywood by the hand of John Ford himself, who required Armendariz's services for El fugitivo (1947), which was filmed in Mexico, and in 1948 he traveled to the United States to film Fort Apache (1948), an emblematic western in which he measured his acting qualities with Henry Fonda and John Wayne. And 3 Three Sons of the Devil, also sharing credits with John Wayne.
[Fuente]https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0040369/mediaviewer/rm2681796865/
2.- Pedro Armendariz participated in around 130 Mexican films and 30 foreign films shot in the United States, France, Spain, Italy and England. In the United States, he was famous for his work in films such as Fort Apache (1948), We Were Strangers (1949, directed by John Huston), The Torch (1950), Border River (1954), The Conqueror of Mongolia (1956), Diane (1956) and Manuela (1957). In Europe, his participation in the film Lucrecia Borgia (1953), El Diablo del Desierto (1954), filmed in France; Hombres y Lobos (1955), Los titanes, an Italian film shot in 1962, stood out. In Mexico, his participation stood out in notable films such as El bruto (1952, directed by Luis Buñuel), El hambre nuestra de cada dia (1959), El zarco 1957, La cucaracha (1959) and La bandida (1962).
[Fuente]https://www.benitomovieposter.com/catalog/lucrecia-borgia-p-66052.html
[Fuente]https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-2867/
3.- In 1956, he participated in the sadly famous film The Conqueror, produced by Howard Hughes. This film was shot in Utah, near the site where the U.S. government had conducted nuclear tests in the neighboring state of Nevada. Apparently, the radioactivity affected many of the actors involved in the film, who would later die of cancer.
The production knew about the nuclear tests at the site, but the effects on human health were unknown and the government had assured residents that the tests did not pose a health hazard.
This caused that of the 220 people who worked on the staff, including the director and actors, 91 fell ill with cancer and 46 died at the same time from different types of cancer. Starting with score composer Victor Young who died of a brain tumor, actors John Wayne (stomach and lung cancer), Susan Hayward (lung cancer with brain metastasis), Agnes Moorehead (uterine cancer) and John Hoyt (lung cancer). On January 2, 1963, Director Dick Powell also died of cancer. In 1958, Pedro Armendariz was diagnosed with kidney cancer and traveled to the United States for surgery and treatment.
[Fuente]https://www.cafr.ebay.ca/itm/175392771673
[Fuente]https://www.facebook.com/PedroArmendarizFans/photos/a.399471753842325/1263121487477343/?type=3
4.-His last participation in the cinema was in 1963, in the second film of the James Bond series, The Return of Agent 007 (in Spain and other Latin American countries known as From Russia with love), he shared credits with Sean Connery, Daniela Bianchi and Lois Maxwell. A few weeks before the end of filming, Terence Young visited the actor at the hotel where he was staying to ask him what his intentions were and if he could continue with the filming. Pedro Armendariz, with his characteristic professionalism, told the director to help him, that he could continue filming for two more weeks, since he wanted to secure financial resources for his family. With the collaboration of Syd Cain, Photographer Ted Moore planned to film Pedro Armendariz from the shoulders up and the last scenes were played by his stunt double, director Terence Young.
[Fuente]https://www.amazon.com/-/es/dp/B07N4C3T2M
[Fuente]https://www.pinterest.cl/pin/522065781809949905/
Pedro Armendariz was admired by the cast of the film when they learned that Pedro had worked hard despite suffering intense pain due to the metastasis of the cancer he had been diagnosed with, demonstrating his commitment and professionalism to the production.
[Fuente]https://www.mundo007.com/l/en-un-dia-como-hoy-nacio-pedro-armendariz/
Pedro Armendariz died four months before the premiere of the film. On June 18, 1963, he committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest in his room at the University of California Hospital in Los Angeles, where he had been admitted for treatment of the cancer he had been diagnosed with and which had metastasized to other organs. His body was transferred to Mexico and was buried in the Panteon Jardin.
[Fuente]https://www.mundo007.com/l/en-un-dia-como-hoy-nacio-pedro-armendariz/
[Fuente]https://www.facebook.com/cementeriodelafama/photos/a.310711152640476/594537687591153/?type=3
5.- Far from the tough character he played in his films and his brusque and impulsive temper, off screen Pedro Armendariz was an actor appreciated by his peers who considered him a great friend and a perfectionist and very professional actor. He liked to cook for his family and close friends. He was fond of photography and in his spare time he liked to take pictures of the beautiful Mexican landscapes, he also enjoyed hunting, collecting guns, playing dominoes, golf and going fishing, frequently visiting Acapulco with his family.
[Fuente]https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=741476020876437&set=pb.100050421372932.-2207520000&type=3
Throughout his career he received numerous awards including the Ariel, awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Mexico (in 1948 for his performance in La perla and in 1953 for his performance in El Rebozo de Soledad), the Palme d'Or at Cannes (1946) and the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale (1947). He also received recognition in Cuba, Russia and other countries for his artistic quality.
[Fuente]https://www.pinterest.com/pin/197595502390377843/
[Fuente]https://www.pinterest.com.mx/pin/4292562129481889/
[Fuente]https://www.pinterest.com/pin/550987335636436646/
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