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Pedro Armendáriz

Pedro Armendáriz
Kerim Bey by Pedro Armendariz.jpg
Armendáriz as Kerim Bey in From Russia with Love.
Born Pedro Gregorio Armendáriz Hastings
(1912-05-09)May 9, 1912
Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Died June 18, 1963(1963-06-18) (aged 51)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death Suicide
Resting place Panteón Jardín, Mexico City
Occupation Actor
Years active 1935–1963
Spouse(s) Carmelita Bohr (m. 1938–1963) (his death) (1917-1963)
Children Pedro Armendáriz, Jr.

Pedro Armendáriz, born Pedro Gregorio Armendáriz Hastings (May 9, 1912 – June 18, 1963), was a Mexican film actor who made films in both Mexico and the United States. With Dolores del Río and María Félix, he was one of the best-known Latin American movie stars of the 1940s and 1950s.

Armendáriz was born in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico to Pedro Armendáriz García-Conde (Mexican) and Adela Hastings (American). He was also the cousin of actress Gloria Marín. Armendáriz and his younger brother Francisco lived with their uncle Henry Hastings, Sr. in Laredo, Texas after their mother died. He later studied in California. He started in the world of acting by participating in the stage plays performed by the theater group at the University of California, where he continued a career in law. He graduated with an engineering degree from the California Polytechnic State University.

When Armendáriz finished his studies, he moved to Mexico where he worked for the railroad, as a tour guide and as a journalist for the bilingual magazine México Real. He was discovered by film director Miguel Zacarías when Armendáriz recited a soliloquy from Hamlet to an American tourist. His meeting with the director Emilio Fernández was providential. Actor and director began working in numerous films: Soy puro mexicano (1942), Flor silvestre (1942) and specially María Candelaria (1943) were the first films of intense common path. Under the guidance of Emilio Fernández, Pedro Armendáriz developed the film personality traits of strong nationalist; often, he played tough and manly men, indigenous, peasants and revolutionaries. Amendáriz repeatedly portrayed Pancho Villa and played opposite actresses such as Dolores del Río and María Félix.


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