Leo Carrillo

albatros1 ( 2007-12-05 )

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Leo Antonio Carrillo (August 6, 1880 – September 10, 1961), was an actor, vaudevillian, political cartoonist, and conservationist. Although he played stereotypical Latinos, Leo Carrillo was part of an old and respected Californio family who could trace their roots back to the conquistadores. The family moved from San Diego to Los Angeles then to Santa Monica, where Carrillo's father Juan José Carrillo (1842-1916), served as the city's police chief and later the first mayor. A university graduate, Leo Carrillo worked as a newspaper cartoonist for the San Francisco Examiner before turning to acting on Broadway . In Hollywood, he appeared in more than 90 films, in which he played supporting or character roles. However, he is best remembered from the television show The Cisco Kid, on which he portrayed Pancho, a role he had previously played in several films. A preservationist and conservationist, Carrillo served on the California Beach and Parks commission for eighteen years, and played a key role in the state's acquisition of Hearst Castle at San Simeon, the Los Angeles Arboretum, and the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. He was eventually made a goodwill ambassador by the State Governor. Leo Carrillo died of cancer in 1961 and was interred in the Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery in Santa Monica. For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Leo Carrillo has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1635 Vine Street.