Date of Birth
12 August 1911,
Mexico, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Date of Death
20 April 1993, Mexico City, Mexico (lung cancer)
Birth Name
Mario Moreno Reyes
Mini Biography
Cantinflas was a prolific and productive Mexican comedian/producer/writer/singer. He was married to Valentina Ivanova from 1936 until her death. He appeared in more than 55 films, including (as Passepartoute) Around the World in Eighty Days (1956).
Spouse
| Valentina Ivanova |
(1936 - 5 January 1966) (her death) |
Trade Mark
His comedy routine consisted of engaging in drawn-out, nonsensical chatter.
Trivia
Despite the fact that Cantinflas died a millionaire several times over, and was one of the biggest stars ever in Spanish language films, he never forgot where he came from. Much of his money was given over to charitable work, including high-quality, low-income housing for Mexico City's poor. When he died, he was hailed as a national hero, and a protracted period of official mourning followed.
There are two different stories about how Mario Moreno Reyes adopted his more familiar professional name. One story goes that he did not want to shame his family, who thought of show business as a less than respectable profession, and so changed his name. The other is that, at one of his first nightclub engagements, a heckler taunted him with, "En la cantina, tu inflas!" ("You become a big man in the bar room!"). For some reason, this amused him, and he shortened the taunt into the professional name of Cantinflas.
Was once described as "the world's greatest comedian" by none other than Charles Chaplin.
Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. Pg. 88-89. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387
He is responsible for more than one word that is in the modern Spanish language dictionary, including the verb "Cantinflear," which roughly means to talk a lot but say nothing of substance.
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Cantinflas
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