Cantinflas
Fortino Mario Alfonso Moreno Reyes ( born August 12, 1911 in Mexico City, † April 20, 1993 ibid ), better known as Cantinflas, was a Mexican actor, singer, comedian and film producer.
In Mexico, he was known as the " mime " or the " comedian in a raincoat ." Charlie Chaplin once called Cantinflas once " the funniest man in the world ". His trademarks were his mustache, his funny little hat, the knotted around his neck tie and his droopy too big pants. One of his trademarks was his way to muddled to twist this way his opposite the word in the mouth and create word games; this way of speaking is called in Mexico today " cantinflear ".
He started out as a mime and dancer in the circus and joined later on in vaudeville. In 1936 he had his first supporting role in " No te engañes corazón ". In 1939 he founded with Jacques Gelman and Santiago Riachi the company " Posa Films" and entered 1940 in a first film ( " Ahí está el detective " ) on. Overall, he starred in more than 55 films. World famous as he was Passepartout ( fictional character ) in the American epic film " Around the World in 80 Days" (1956 ) by Jules Verne's novel. Known and loved he was for his portrayal of " Cantinflas ", a poor unruly peasants, who represented the typical Mexicans from the slums of Mexico with humor. He was an optimist, criticized the politicians and the rich, and made fun of everyday life. His personal style as a comedian was so special that you referred to him as " Cantinflismo ". He was honored with a star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood.
In his later years he was a member of the Asociación Nacional de Actores. During his presidency of the association he founded the "House of the actor " (Casa del Actor), a home for actors with little money. He had always been known for his generosity.
He was married to actress Valentina Ivanova Zubareff.