Cantinflas Biography

Fast Facts

• Was a very generous philanthropist, often giving money to people who lined up at his door, and once built 64 apartment buildings in a Mexico City slum and sold them to destitute families for a fraction of what they were worth
• Attended several charity benefits each year, including his annual "wacky bullfighter" performances at the Plaza Mexico
• Joined a traveling tent show when he was a teenager, getting his first taste of performance when he was forced to substitute for the show's master of ceremonies one night
• Best known as a screenwriter, producer, and comic actor who appeared as Passepartout in the 1956 film "Around the World in 80 Days․"
• Often portrayed underdog characters who overcome great obstacles, doing so with much good humor
• Was often referred to as "Latin America's Chaplin" and when Charlie Chaplin himself saw one of his films, he described him as "the greatest comedian alive․"
• Cantinflas later entered the Spanish language in several dictionaries; in its verb form it means "to talk a lot and say little," and in its noun form it means "lovable clown․"
• The name Cantinflas came from a heckler who shouted "En la cantina tu inflas!" at him during a show, meaning "In the barroom you talk big!," and he liked the phrase so much he kept it as a stage name