Latin-American Studies

Born on May 24, 1925 in Aguilares (Texas, USA), Pedro Gonzalez is a renowned American actor who featured in many movies as early as 1950. He played several roles mostly in the Mexican comedies. In 1975, he was part of the film, Six Pack Annie. He also played a role in Down the Drain in 1989 and other television films (Hollywood para. 1).

Among other films he has featured include Uphill All The Way in 1986, Lust in the Dust in 1984, Support Your Local Gunfighter in 1971, Chisum in 1970 and Hook Line and Sinker in 1969. He also appeared in many John Wayne movies (Hollywood para. 1).

His mother was Spanish whereas the father was a Mexican-America. Their family was very talented. The father played trumpet whereas the mother was a dancer. Pedro left school and joined the family act known as Las Perlitas when he was 7 years old. While he was in this group, he toured Texas. Although he was illiterate, he used to memorize scripts with the help of the wife who read them to him. He was greatly talented and offered the audience the best kind of entertainment while working at the same time. He drew a lot of audience due to his comedy shows (The Internet Movie Database, para. 2). He worked with Wayne for a decade and featured in many films such as Wings of the Hawk in 1953. He had three children Pedro Gonzalez, Gonzalez Jr., who also featured in the movie The Young Land in 1959 and McLintoc in 1963 (The Internet Movie Database para. 4).

John Wayne cast Pedro in many of his movies such as Hell fighters, Rio Bravo, Gunsmoke, Jerry Lewis film, The High and the Mighty Wanted Dead or Alive. This was after he noticed him during You Bet Your Life quiz show hosted by Groucho Marx.  He was mainly involved in comic roles and was an inspiration to many Latino actors. He died on 6 February 2006 (The Internet Movie Database para. 6).

Pedro Gonzalez was in conflict with the authorities who claimed that he used his shows to protest on several issues like the forceful deportation of Latins who were citizens of the United States (Rangel para. 12). He was charged on accounts of rape and sentenced to serve 50 years in jail. His wife was in the forefront to see him being released. She appealed to two presidents from Mexico. He was later released after serving 6 years in jail. His release was as a result of several protest efforts in 1940 (Rangel para, 13).