Fortino Mario Alfonso Moreno Reyes was born on August 12, 1911 in a tough neighborhood in Mexico City to an impoverished couple with 8 children. After a failed attempt to migrate to the U.S. and a short lived boxing career, Fortino found his place in a circus tent show and then on to theater and film.
Reyes created the character Cantinflas who was el pelado, an impoverished common man with hopes to succeed. Historian and author of Cantinflas and the Chaos of Mexican Modernity, Jeff M. Pilcher writes, “Cantinflas symbolized the underdog who triumphed through trickery over more powerful opponents.” Cantinflas was influenced by Charlie Chaplin’s earlier films and ideology. Like Chaplin, Cantinflas was a social satirist. Through his films he challenged the politics of the day and became a hero of the Mexican people. Mexican artists began painting Cantinflas to serve as a symbol of the everyday Mexican man.
See him in action on YouTube “porque cantinflas es cantinflas?”
He made over 60 films. To audiences in the United States, he is best remembered for his role in “Around the World in 80 Days.” Cantinflas has a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame and won a Golden Globe for best actor as well as the Mexican Academy of Film Lifetime Achievement Award.