Pedro Armendáriz (1912 - 1963)

Date of Birth: 9 May 1912
Place of Birth: Churubusco, Mexico
Date of Death: 18 June 1963 (suicide)
Place of Death: Los Angeles, California, USA
Also Known As: Pedro Gregorio Armendáriz Hastings (real name)

BIOGRAPHY

Though born in Mexico, Armendáriz spent much of his early life in the United States - his Mexican father and American mother relocated to Laredo, Texas when he was a child and he remained there until his parents' deaths in 1921. Taken in by his uncle Francisco, Armendáriz moved to California where he went on to study business and journalism at the Polytechnic Institute of San Luis Obispo. On graduation in 1931, he returned home to Mexico City and began working for a local railroad company. Other early employment included brief stints as an insurance salesman and as a tourist guide.

His introduction to the film industry came purely by chance - he was reciting Hamlet's famous "To be or not to be" monologue to an American tourist in a cafeteria in 1936 when he was overheard by the Mexican director Miguel Zacarías who immediately signed him up for his next film.

It was good time for a young Mexican actor to make his debut - the native industry was undergoing something of a renaissance. His manly good looks made him a star in his homeland and soon smoothed the way for higher profile roles in Hollywood and European productions.

After a long and distinguished career, Armendáriz appeared alongside Sean Connery in From Russia With Love (1963). But during production, it became clear that Armendáriz was terribly unwell - in fact, he was dying from cancer and was only kept going by regular doses of morphine to kill the pain. Armendáriz finished the film and, confined to a wheelchair and awaiting the inevitable end in a Los Angeles hospital, he decided to end his own life with a single self-inflicted gunshot on 18 June 1963.

Armendáriz was survived by his long-time wife Carmelita Bohr (they had married in 1938) and his son, Pedro Armendáriz Jr, who would later appear briefly in a Bond film himself - he played the president in Licence To Kill (1989).
KEVIN LYONS

GENRE FILMOGRAPHY

All as performer
* = television

1961
Arrivano i titani (Cadmo)

1963
Captain Sindbad (El Kerim)
From Russia with Love (Kerim Bey)

NON-GENRE FILMOGRAPHY

1936
Irma la mala
She-Devil Island

María Elena (Eduardo)

Rosario

1937
Amapola del camino (Juan Padilla)

Las cuatro milpas
The Four Corn Patches – US title

Jalisco nunca pierde
Jalisco Never Loses

1938
La adelita

Mi candidato
My Candidate

Canto a mi tierra
México canta – Mexican title

Los millones de Chaflán

1939
La China hilaria

Con los Dorados de Villa
With Villa's Veterans - US title

El Indio
The Indian

Una luz en mi camino

La reina del río
The Queen of the River

1940
El Charro Negro

El jefe máximo

Mala yerba

Los olvidados de Dios
Those Forgotten by God

Pobre diablo

1941
Ni sangre, ni arena
Neither Blood Nor Sand - English language title
Nem Sangue Nem Arena - Portugese title
Ni sangre, ni arena - Spain title

El secreto del sacerdote

El Zorro de Jalisco

1942
Allá en el bajio

Del rancho a la capital

La epopeya del camino

La isla de la pasión (El Toro)
Clipperton
Passion Island

Simón Bolívar
The Life of Simon Bolivar - US title

Soy puro mexicano
I'm a Real Mexican - US title

1943
Distinto amanecer (Octavio)
Another Dawn - US title

Flor silvestre (Jose Luis Castro)
Messico insanguinato - Italian title
L'ouragan - French title
Wild Flower

Guadalajara (Pedro)

Konga Roja

Tierra de pasiones

1944
Alma de bronce

Las calaveras del terror

El corsario negro
The Black Pirate - English language title
The Black Privateer - English language title
Der Schwarze Korsar - Austrian / West German title
Svarta piraten - Swedish title

La guerra de los pasteles
War of the Pastries - English language title

María Candelaria (Lorenzo Rafael)
Maria Candelaria – Finnish / Swedish title
Portrait of Maria
La vergine indiana - Italian title
Xochimilco

1945
Las abandonadas (Juan Gomez)
Les abandonnées - French title
Abbandonata - Italian title
Die Verlassenen - German title

Bugambilia
Amore maledetto - Italian title

El capitán Malacara

Entre hermanos

1946
Enamorada (General José Juan Reyes)
Enamorada - French title
Die Fackel der Liebe - German title
Die Verliebte - German title

Rayando el sol

1947
Albur de amor

La casa colorada

The Fugitive (Police Lieutenant)
Befehl des Gewissens - West German title
La croce di fuoco - Italian title
Dieu est mort - French title
Elämisen oikeus - Finnish title
El fugitiu - Catalan Spanish title
El fugitivo - Argentinean / Mexican / Spanish title
O Fugitivo - Portugese title
Magten og æren - Danish title
Rätten att leva - Swedish title
Der Verfolgte - Austrian title

La perla (Quino)
Helmi - Finnish title
Mexikanische Romanze - West German title
Pärlan - Swedish title
The Pearl - US title
Die Perle - Austrian title

1948
3 Godfathers (Pedro Roca Fuerte)
Le fils du desert - French / French Canadian title
Flykt genom öknen - Swedish title
In nome di Dio - Italian title
Pako yli aavikon - Finnish title
Spuren im Sand - Austrian / West German title
Tre liv for ét - Danish title
Tres hijos del diablo - Argentinean title
Os Três Padrinhos - Portugese title
Tres padrinos - Spain title

En la Hacienda de la Flor: El hijo de Juan Charrasqueado

Fort Apache (Sergeant Beaufort)
Apashilinnake - Finnish title
Bis zum letzten Mann - Austrian / West German title
Fort Apaczów - Polish title
Forte Apache - Portugese title
Fuerte Apache - Venezuelan title
Indianöverfallet vid Fort Apache - Swedish title
Kampf um das Apachenfort - Austrian title
Le massacre de Fort Apache - French title
Il massacro di Fort Apache - Italian title
Sangre de héroes - Argentinean / Chilean title
War Party

Juan Charrasqueado

Maclovia (José María)
Beleza Maldita - Portugese title
Feudalismo messicano - Italian title

1949
Al caer la tarde
La Malquerida
The Torch (José Juan Reyes)
Tulsa (Jim Redbird)
We Were Strangers (Armando Ariete)

1950
La Loca de la casa
Por la puerta falsa
Rosauro Castro
Vuelve Pancho Villa (Pancho Villa)

1951
Ella y yo
Por querer a una mujer

1952
El Bruto (Pedro)
Hambre nuestra de cada día
El Rebozo de Soledad
El Tirano de Toledo (Don Blas)

1953
Lucrece Borgia (César Borgia)
Mulata
Reportaje (himself)
Street Corner (uncredited)

1954
Border River (General Calleja)
La Rebelión de los colgados

1955
Fortune carrée (Igricheff)
The Littlest Outlaw (General Torres)
Tam tam mayumbe (Martinez)

1956
Canasta de cuentos mexicanos (in the segment La Tigresa)
The Conqueror (Jamuga)
Diane (Francis I)
La Escondida (Felipe Rojano)
Uomini e lupi
Viva Revolution

1957
The Big Boodle (Colonel Mastegui)
La Mujer que no tuvo infancia
Stowaway Girl

1958
Café Colón
Cuando viva Villa! es la muerte
La Cucaracha (Razo)
Los Desarraigados
Dos hijos desobedientes
Quiero ser artista

1959
El Charro y la dama
Flor de mayo (Pepe Gamboa)
Little Savage (Captain Tiburon)
Sed de amor
Las Senoritas Vivanco
The Wonderful Country (Governor Cipriano Castro)
Yo pecador
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse: So Tender, So Profane *

1960
La Cárcel de Cananea
El Imposter
El Indulto
Pancho Villa y la Valentina

1961
Francis of Assisi (Sultan)
Los Hermanos del hierro (General)

1963
La Bandida (Roberto)

LINKS

SEE ALSO
Pedro Armendáriz Jr

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009