Friday, August 28, 2020

RIP Manuel ‘El Loco’ Valdes


Manuel “El Loco” Valdes dies at 89.

El Universal
8/28/2020

The actor was in poor health, with problems such as skin cancer, brain cancer and water in the lungs.

Manuel "El Loco" Valdés died today at 89 years of age, for several months, the actor was in poor health, with problems such as skin cancer, brain cancer and water in the lungs. He had undergone several operations of general anesthesia, chemotherapies, immunotherapies and implants.

Marcos Valdés, the comedian's son, informed the journalist Javier Poza that "El Loco" died at his home at 3:40 in the morning, and will be watched in Sullivan from 11 am.

Big names like Germán Valdés “Tin Tan” and Ramón Valdés “don Ramón” are found in his family tree , but he earned his place in the history of comedy in Mexico on his own merit, thanks to his sense of humor that is proof of everything, even in sickness.

Fernando Manuel Valdés Castillo, real name of "El Loco" Valdés, was born on January 21, 1931 in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, his parents were Rafael Gómez-Valdés Angellini and Guadalupe Castillo, he had eight siblings, Rafael, Germán, Guadalupe, Pedro , Armando, Ramón, Cristobal and Antonio.

At the age of 7 he left his homeland, due to the work of his father who was a customs agent, something that forced him to change the state of the Republic several times. When they finally arrived in Nuevo Laredo, their brother Germán “Tin Tan” was already triumphing at the border and although he wanted to stop them there, because he wanted to buy them a house, their father did not accept and they moved to Mexico City.

He studied until the second year of high school, but he dropped out of basic education and entered a surveyor's school because he already wanted to start working immediately.
When Tin Tan made the movie "El hijo disobediente" (1945) Manuel worked as an extra receiving a payment of 12 pesos, he was only 13 years old and it was his first contact with the world of entertainment. Over time he began to dance, first in an amateur way and then he studied classical and modern ballet for five years; thus, at the age of 19, he was part of the Televicentro ballet and also worked with some vedettes as part of their dance corps.

His first opportunity as a comedian was received in Varidades de medio día (1955 - 1957) alongside Héctor Lechuga, where unforgettable characters such as La Hermanitas Mibanco appeared. This program was followed by "Operation Ha-Ha" (1966), "Crazy Salad" (1970 - 1973), "El show del Loco Valdés" (1972 - 1974), "Midnight Varieties" (1977) and "La Crazy Hour "(1982 - 1986). He is considered the first comedian to emerge clearly from television.

His film career has been much more prolific

His career in the cinema has been much more prolific, in his history there are about 62 films, among which are "Two ghosts and a girl" (1959) where he alternates with his brother "Tin Tan" and "Two fools. y un loco "(1961) in which he shared credits with comedians Marco Antonio Campos" Viruta "and Gaspar Henaine" Capulina ".

The dubbing was one of the areas in which he also excelled, performing works such as "Peter Pan: Return to Neverland" (2002), where he lent his voice to Captain Hook, or both films "Buza Caperuza" (2005 and 2011), where he takes up the character of the Big Bad Wolf, which he did in 1960 in the film "Little Red Riding Hood"; He also worked with Anima Estudios on the cartoon "The legend of the Nahuala" (2007).

His time at the theater was modest but with important projects, such as "Don Juan Tenorio", a version made by the conductor Paco Stanley (RIP) and who broke the rules with this classic by José Zorrilla, of course "El Tenorio Cómico" next to Los Mascabrothers and finally "Aeroplanos", where he shared the stage with a pillar of cinema and theater, Ignacio López Tarso.

From a young age he practiced American football, in the quarterback position, in Mexico he was a follower of the UNAM Pumas and in the United States of the Dallas Cowboys; But his great passion is soccer, being the team of his heart the Águilas del América, so he wore his shirt that for 45 years he made fun bets with his friend Sergio Corona, a fan of Chivas del Guadalajara, every time these teams faced each other. These have gone from wetting Corona to buckets of cold water, until the Fool knelt before his compadre.

His artistic activity began to cease, when in 2017 they detected a cancerous myeloma on his forehead, which despite having been removed, metastasized in the lungs, for which he entered into immunotherapy treatment. A year later a new tumor was detected behind his right eye, which was successfully removed. 2019 was a difficult year for the actor, who did not recover physically one hundred percent and also faced the death of his son Alejandro Valdés "El Pupi", since then his mood has had ups and downs.

Regarding the nickname that has distinguished him since the beginning of his career, there are several versions of where he was born, one says that it is thanks to his ability to improvise on stage and make people laugh, and it was his stage companions who put it on him in 1955 ; but it is said that Emilio Azcarraga Milmo was the one who baptized him that way, when he said, "What's crazy, Valdés?"

The follies of a madman

- He made a monologue in the program "Otro rollo", a section that Adal Ramones performed at the beginning of each program.

- In his program "Variedades de media noche" he fell asleep, due to overwork, and Emilio Azcarraga Milmo suspended him for three days.

- In 1983 in his program "La hora del loco" he made the group Parchis sing the anthem of the Eagles of America.

- With the Big Bad Wolf botarga, which he did several times in the movies, he had a very bad time due to the heat it caused, to the extent that he had to compare salt tablets in the United States to avoid dehydration during filming.

- He is considered as the first comedian born from television. 

A series with the life of the comedian is already being prepared, where his years of glory will be shown; plus a documentary.
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Unforgettable performances 

-        "Squash tender" (1949): although he performs a filler character, he alternates with his brothers Germán Valdés “Tin Tan” and Ramón Valdés.
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- "The cycling champion" (1956): it is the first film where he plays a secondary character, with a name and a story, and again he alternates with Tin Tan.

- "Journey to the Moon" (1958): in this film by Fernando Cortés the best comedians of the time met, there a young “Loco” Valdés alternated with figures such as Vitola, "Tin Tan", Chabelo, Viruta and Capulina , Los Xochimilcas, among others.

- "Música de siempre" (1958): here he makes his first leading role playing a theater janitor who tries to persuade two film producers to make a film about music.

-        "Two ghosts and a girl" (1958): now he shares the leading role with his legendary brother "Tin Tan", playing two ghosts trapped in a theater, El Loco has a sequence that has become a classic, the musical number " The Witch Doctor ", where the special effects were an innovation.


VALDES, Manuel (Manuel Gomez Valdés Castillo)
Born: 1/29/1931, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico
Died: 8/28/2020, Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico

Manuel Valdés’ westerns – actor:
Ferias Mexico – 1959
El tigre negro – 1960 (Manuel)
The Karambazo Sisters – 1960 (Pompeyo Bernal)

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