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1-50 of 147
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Carrying talent, the requisite good looks, and plenty of on-screen charisma, Jay Hernandez was born in Morelia, Mexico and grew up in Los Angeles, California, to Isis (Maldonado), an accountant and secretary, and Javier Hernandez, Sr., a mechanic. He is of Mexican descent. Jay had a serendipitous experience that led to his career. While riding an elevator in a high-rise building in Los Angeles, the young man was approached by talent manager Howard Tyner, who suggested Hernandez had what it took to have a successful career in Hollywood. In 1998, he made his TV series debut as "Antonio Lopez", one of the high school basketball players in the NBC Saturday morning teen sitcom, Hang Time (1995), and stayed with the show for two seasons. Departing NBC, Hernandez moved to MTV with the short-term role of pizza delivery guy "Eddie" on the popular late-night serial, Undressed (1999), before segueing to the big screen. In 2001, Hernandez co-starred with Kirsten Dunst in the teen romance, Crazy/Beautiful (2001), portraying stalwart, straight-A high school student "Carlos Nunez", whose plans to attend the US Naval Academy are threatened by his growing attraction to a self-destructive rich girl, (Kirsten Dunst). He next appeared in Disney's surprise hit film, The Rookie (2002), as high school baseball team captain Joaquin "Wack" Campos. He also had a supporting role in the video-game-ish action flick, Torque (2004). Also in 2004, he was in the action-packed drama, Ladder 49 (2004), as "Keith Perez", and in the other action-packed drama, Friday Night Lights (2004). In 2006, he next starred in Eli Roth's Hostel (2005), a brutal horror flick about two American college buddies (Hernandez and Derek Richardson) lured to an out-of-the-way hostel in a Slovakian town rumored to house desperate, but beautiful Eastern European women. Following their wrong heads, both Americans get trapped in a truly sinister situation that plunges them into the dark recesses of human nature.- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Elpidia Carrillo was born on 16 August 1961 in Paracuaro, Michoacan, Mexico. She is an actress and producer, known for Predator (1987), Salvador (1986) and Nine Lives (2005).- Actor
- Producer
Jacob Vargas began his acting career when he was discovered breakdancing in a schoolyard at age 12. His introduction to acting came with a bit part as a breakdancer on the hit TV show Diff'rent Strokes (1978). In 1995 he won the very first ALMA Award (for Emerging Artist of the Year) for his work in both Allison Anders' My Crazy Life (1993) and Gregory Nava's My Family/Mi familia (1995). He later starred in films such as Selena (1997), Get Shorty (1995), American Me (1992), Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997) and the cult favorite Next Friday (2000) as Ice Cube's nemesis, Joker. He later shined as Tijuana cop Manolo, 'Benicio del Toro''s partner in Steven Soderbergh's Academy Award- winning film Traffic (2000), which earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award and another ALMA Award. He then made us laugh as Sammy the chef in John Moore's Flight of the Phoenix (2004) and brought depth to Marine sniper Cortez in Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes' war drama Jarhead (2005). In 2006 he starred as a straight-arrow DEA agent opposite Laurence Fishburne and Paul Walker in the action drama _Death and Life of Bobby Z, The (2006)_ and joined an all-star cast as a politically charged busboy in Emilio Estevez's historical drama Bobby (2006) and played a psychologically tortured drone pilot in Alex Rivera's sci-fi political love story _Sleep Dealer, The (2006)_. Not satisfied with just being labeled as an actor, he has also been focusing his talents on writing and producing through his production company, Third Son Productions. In 2001 he executive produced and starred in the independent film Road Dogz (2002). He also co-produced and starred in the stage play "Latinologues", which ran on Broadway in 2005 and is available on DVD. Through Third Son Productions, he is currently developing several feature film and television projects.- Damián Alcázar is a Mexican actor, who is best known for portraying Colombian drug lord Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela in the Netflix series Narcos.
Damián Alcázar studied acting first at the National Institute of Fine Arts and at the Theatrical Experimentation Center, then continued at the Faculty of Theater of the Veracruz University, where in later years he would work as a teacher.
He served as an actor for eight years in two theatre companies, alongside the most prestigious directors in Mexico. Under the direction of George Labaudan guest, he appeared on the balcony of Jean Genet.
He has appeared in six foreign films and more than twenty-eight Mexican films. He was awarded the Ariel for Best Actor in 1999 and in 2004, for the tapes Under California: The Time Limit, by Carlos Bolado, and in Crónicas, by Sebastián Cordero. He also won the prize for best actor at the Festival of Valladolid (Spain), for the latter.
He received Ariel for Best Supporting Actor for El anzuelo by Ernesto Rimoch; by Lolo, Francisco Athié, and for the success of Carlos Carrera, The Crime of Father Amaro. Damián has been nominated to receive this same award four other times. He won the award for Best Actor at the Cartagena Film Festival (Colombia) for the film Two Crimes, by Roberto Sneider.
He has also worked on telenovelas, being the most recent Secretos del corazón, produced by Epigmenio Ibarra for TV Azteca.
In April 2013 he was awarded the Honor Prize of the Latin American Film Show of Lleida with José Coronado. Since June 2016, he has been a deputy elected by Morena in the Constitutional Assembly of Mexico City. - Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Ricardo Abarca Lowman was born in June 1st, 1986 in Morelia, Mexico. His parents are Hector Ricardo Abarca Medina born in Mexico City and his mother Yasmine Cheyenne Lowman, born in London, England.
Ricardo's career began when he started his studies in acting, singing and dancing when he was 13 years old in CECA - Centro de Estudios y Capacitación Artística (Artistic Studies and Training Centre) in his natal city Morelia, Michoacán. Two years later, he was part of M5 Magneto (Boy Band), a band which toured several countries in Latin America with a great number of fans. Three albums were recorded, with two platinum disks, many tours, shows and autographs sessions; M5 became rapidly one of the most popular Mexican bands at the time.
In 2006 he traveled to Colombia for his first performance project which opened many more opportunities for this young actor who was characterized by his discipline and talent.
He was a co-star in the popular Nickelodeon and Sony Pictures Television series Isa tk+ which was the first production of its kind shown in a Latin American private TV children's channel. He was part of the series soundtrack and was nominated for "Kid of the Year" in Meus Premios Nick (the Brazilian version of the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards). One year later he was part of Popland, a series from Sony Pictures Television for MTV Latin America shown in more than ten countries. Ricardo participated in TV series like El Cartel de los Sapos (The Cartel of Snitches) and El Capo filmed in the same country.
In 2013 he was the lead actor in Cumbia Ninja a Fox International Channel (FIC) original series extremely popular in Latin America and different countries around the world. Cumbia Ninja broke audience records, positioning Ricardo not only in acting, but in singing, with three albums produced by the famous Puerto Rican producer Master Chris by Sony Music. The album won a platinum record in Argentina and the first single Ojos en la Espalda, interpreted by Ricardo, was a record in sales and downloads with more than 50 million views in YouTube.
In 2015, he debuted in his first film lead actor role in the movie Que Culpa tiene el Niño, directed by Gustavo Loza (México), successfully breaking box-office records in the first week, being one of the three most seen Mexicans movies of all time in Mexican film.
In that same year, Ricardo finished filming Pacifico, (Argentina-Colombia), a big budget sci-fi movie, which was filmed in Colombia, backed by the talents of the New Zealand symphony orchestra, directed by Gonzalo Gutiérrez "GG".
The professionalism and commitment that Ricardo Abarca uses, embracing each new project, has helped him to become a young actor respected and loved in the industry.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Agustín Bernal was born in 1959 in Paracuaro, Michoacan, Mexico. He was an actor and director, known for Demoledor (1995), Peleas salvajes (1998) and Los asesinos (1998). He died on 8 January 2018 in Parácuaro, Michoacán, Mexico.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Julio Alemán was born on 29 November 1933 in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. He was an actor and producer, known for El tunco Maclovio (1970), The Green Wall (1969) and Rocambole contra las mujeres arpías (1967). He was married to Esperanza de la Paz Gotes Martínez. He died on 11 April 2012 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico.- Actress
- Producer
- Casting Department
Sonia Infante was born on 17 February 1944 in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. She was an actress and producer, known for La soldadera (1966), Toña machetes (1985) and Los placeres ocultos (1989). She died on 16 July 2019 in Mexico City, Mexico.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Lilia Prado was born on 30 March 1928 in Sahuayo, Michoacan, Mexico. She was an actress, known for El rincón de las vírgenes (1972), Talpa (1956) and El analfabeto (1961). She was married to Gabriel España. She died on 22 May 2006 in Mexico City, Mexico.- Marco Méndez was born on 1 October 1976 in Uruapan, Michoacan, Mexico. He is an actor, known for Triunfo del amor (2010), Dear Enemy (2008) and Rubí (2004).
- Salvador Pineda was born on 16 June 1952 in Huetamo, Michoacan, Mexico. He is an actor, known for Triunfo del amor (2010), El camino secreto (1986) and Mujeres asesinas (2008).
- Actress
- Producer
Fanny Cano was born on 28 February 1944 in Huetamo, Michoacan, Mexico. She was an actress and producer, known for Yesenia (1970), Rubi (1968) and Frente al destino (1964). She was married to Sergio Luis Cano. She died on 7 December 1983 in Madrid, Spain.- Music Artist
- Music Department
- Composer
Lead singer of Mexican pop band "Los Bukis". Formed Los Bukis along with brothers, cousins and friends in the early 1970s. Became very successful from the late 1970s, throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Los Bukis have become one Latin America's best-selling and most influential bands and are sometimes refered as the "Latin Beatles".
The band disbanded in 1996 and Solis went solo, while the remaining members formed another band called "Los Mismos". Solis has also written songs for other artists such as; Olga Tanon, Laura Flores, Enrique Iglesias, and Ezequiel Pena.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Juan Gabriel was born on 7 January 1950 in Parácuaro, Michoacán, Mexico. He was a music artist and actor, known for 30 Minutes or Less (2011), Roma (2018) and Te sigo amando (1996). He died on 28 August 2016 in Santa Monica, California, USA.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Miguel Angel Caballero is the son of Mexican immigrant farm workers and an award-winning Queer Mexican-American/Chicano writer, director, and producer. He received his bachelor's degree in Theater from the School of Theater, Film & Television at UCLA. Drawing on his experience as a former actor has significantly enriched his journey as a film director. He gained a profound understanding of the intricacies of character development, emotional nuances, and the collaborative nature of filmmaking. This experience has been instrumental in shaping him into a more empathetic, communicative, and nuanced director today.
His latest Oscar® Qualified short film, THE BALLAD OF TITA AND THE MACHINES premiered at the Tribeca Festival and won the Audience Award at Outfest and the Imagen Award in 2023. His short film, ACUITZERAMO, premiered at the Morelia International Film Festival and won 20 awards internationally, including 'Best LGBTQ Short' at the American Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival. His film, BROKEN SUNFLOWER HEARTS, was named by Remezcla Magazine as one of the year's 'Best Short Films' by U.S. Latino directors. Miguel Angel is an Outfest Screenwriting Lab Fellow, Film Independent Project Involve Fellow, and the Warner Bros. Discovery 150 Artist Grant recipient. Miguel Angel was selected to take part in the 2022 inaugural Academy Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Accelerator Program. His feature film screenplay, ANGEL IN RETROGRADE, was 1 of 5 selected for the Tribeca Untold Stories, 2023. He is the winner of the Humanitas New Voices Award (2023) and ISA Fast Track Fellowship (2023). Miguel was named by the International Screenwriters Association (ISA) as one of the top 25 Screenwriters to watch in 2024.- Felipe Arriaga was born on 27 September 1937 in Cotija de la Paz, Michoacán, Mexico. He was an actor, known for El cafre (1986), Cargamento mortal (1989) and La ley del monte (1976). He died on 3 November 1988 in Mexico City, Mexico.
- Actor
- Director
- Stunts
Miguel Ángel Rodríguez was born in Los Reyes, Michoacan, Mexico. He is known for Yo Soy Bernabé, Imperio blanco (1992) and Xenobot (2025).- Actor
- Soundtrack
Chuy Bravo was born on 7 December 1956 in Tangancícuaro, Michoacán, Mexico. He was an actor, known for The Honeymooners (2005), Chelsea Lately (2007) and Mulberry to Rome. He died on 14 December 2019 in Mexico City, Mexico.- Claudia Troyo was born on 20 June 1977 in Maravatio, Michoacan, Mexico. She is an actress, known for La verdad oculta (2006), Mujeres engañadas (1999) and Muchachitas como tú (2007).
- Alicia del Lago was born on 11 January 1935 in Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico. She was an actress, known for Tizoc (1957), Green Stones (2001) and Marisol (1996). She died on 13 July 2015 in Ciudad de México, Mexico.
- Raquel Morell was born on 4 February 1959 in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. She is an actress, known for Contrato con la muerte (1985), Amorcito corazón (2011) and Amores verdaderos (2012).
- Director
- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
José Ángel García was born on 30 October 1950 in Huetamo, Michoacan, Mexico. He was a director and actor, known for El diario de una señorita decente (1969), Mujeres engañadas (1999) and Wooden Woman (2004). He was married to Patricia Bernal. He died on 22 January 2021 in Mexico City.- Actress
- Casting Director
- Casting Department
Anilú Pardo was born on 24 February 1958 in Michoacan, Mexico. She is an actress and casting director, known for The Tiger of Santa Julia (2002), Gunmen (1993) and Violaciones, casos de la vida real (1990).- Hortensia Santoveña was born on 17 October 1912 in Tlalpujahua, Michoacán, Mexico. She was an actress, known for Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970), Talpa (1956) and Eugenia Grandet (1953). She was married to Pascual García Peña. She died on 11 July 1986 in Mexico, D.F., Mexico.
- Cecilia Gabriela was born on 9 January 1962 in Michoacan, Mexico. She is an actress, known for Juro que te amo (2008), Mañana es para siempre (2008) and Muchachitas como tú (2007). She was previously married to Marco Uriel.
- Javier Ruán was born on 10 January 1940 in Nahuatzen, Michoacan, Mexico. He was an actor and writer, known for Rocambole contra la secta del escorpión (1967), Los marcados (1971) and Pueblo chico, infierno grande (1997). He died on 11 October 2021 in Mexico City, Mexico.
- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Fernando Méndez was born on 20 July 1908 in Zamora, Michoacan, Mexico. He was a director and writer, known for The Body Snatcher (1957), El criollo (1945) and El Suavecito (1951). He was married to Elva Helena Buelna Ramírez. He died on 17 October 1966 in Mexico, Distrito Federal, Mexico.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Farnesio de Bernal was born on 20 November 1926 in Zamora, Michoacán, Mexico. He was an actor and director, known for Original Sin (2001), Romeo + Juliet (1996) and Cronos (1992). He died on 7 April 2023 in Mexico, Distrito Federal, Mexico.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Eduardo de la Peña was born in 1936 in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. He is an actor and director, known for Cinco nacos asaltan Las Vegas (1987), Mi vecina me fascina (1990) and El ropaviejero (1994). He is married to Maricarmen Resendess. They have two children.- Emilio Garibay was born on 21 May 1916 in Churintzio, Michoacán, Mexico. He was an actor, known for Secuestro diabolico (1957), El alazán y el rosillo (1966) and Cazadores de cabezas (1962). He was married to Carmen Maciel Azcárate. He died on 31 August 1965 in Mexico D.F., Mexico.
- Writer
- Director
- Editor
Rafael Martínez García was born on 8 November 1990 in Puruándiro, Michoacán, Mexico. Rafael is a writer and director, known for El amor dura tres meses (2018), Apenas Primavera and El guardián del faro (2023).- Consuelo Frank was born on 25 April 1910 in Arteaga, Michoacán, Mexico. She was an actress, known for Rosa de Francia (1935), The Dressel Family (1935) and Los tres mosqueteros (1942). She died on 31 March 1991 in Mexico D.F., Mexico.
- Patricia Contreras was born on 3 November 1987 in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. She is an actress, known for The Lady (2014), The Lady 2: L'odio passionale (2015) and Il commissario Rex (2008).
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Luis Fernando Torres was born on 30 November 1990 in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. He is an actor, known for Abrázame muy fuerte (2000), De pocas, pocas pulgas (2003) and Siempre te amaré (2000).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Amalia Mendoza was born on 10 July 1923 in Huetamo de Núñez, Michoacan, Mexico. She was an actress, known for Los laureles (1961), Fiesta en el corazón (1958) and ¿Dónde estás, corazón? (1961). She was married to Octavio De la Vega. She died on 11 June 2001 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico.- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Born in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico, Victor began his music studies in his hometown at an early age. Further along he was admitted into the National School of Music of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) were he received his Bachelor's degree with Honors in Piano Performance under the tutelage of Maestro Luis Mayagoitia Vasquez. Throughout his career Mr. Hernandez has been active both as a pianist and a composer. In 2009 he received an MFA in Music Composition for the Screen from Columbia College Chicago where he did studies in film scoring under the mentorship of Andy Hill.- Susana Guízar was born on 15 August 1915 in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, Mexico. She was an actress, known for El abanico de Lady Windermere (1944), Del rancho a la capital (1942) and Jesusita en Chihuahua (1942). She was married to Jaime Inchaurrandieta Acha and Félix Arreguin Vélez. She died on 2 June 1997 in Mexico D.F., Mexico.
- Rafael Márquez is a Mexican former professional footballer. He played as a central defender, sweeper, or defensive midfielder. Márquez is regarded as the best defender in Mexico's history and one of the best Mexican players of all time.
Márquez began his career with Atlas in 1996, playing in over 70 games with the club before moving to France in 1999 with A.S. Monaco F.C., where he won the Ligue 1 title. In 2003, Márquez transferred to FC Barcelona, becoming the first ever Mexican to represent the club. He would go on to play in over 200 games during seven seasons with Barcelona, and win numerous championships. In 2006, he became the first Mexican player to win the UEFA Champions League when FC Barcelona defeated Arsenal F.C. in the final. In 2010 Márquez joined the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer. After being released from the club in 2012, he moved back to Mexico, this time to play for Club León. After captaining the team to two back-to-back league titles in 2013 and 2014, Márquez transferred to Hellas Verona of the Italian Serie A. He returned to boyhood club Atlas in 2015, and announced his retirement from football in April 2018.
A Mexican international since 1997, Márquez has been capped 146 times for the national team, having won the FIFA Confederations Cup Mexico 1999 (1999), and the 2003 and 2011 editions of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. In 2018, he became only the third player to play for his national team in five consecutive editions of the FIFA World Cup, in the 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 editions of the tournament. Márquez is the Mexican player with the most World Cup matches played with 19. - Writer
- Director
- Producer
Lucy Luna was born on 10 January 1990 in Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico. She is a writer and director, known for All Rise (2019), Two Sentence Horror Stories (2017) and We're All Here (2017).- Actress
- Music Department
Esmeralda was born on 18 February 1927 in Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico. She was an actress, known for Curvas peligrosas (1950), Melodías inolvidables (1959) and Mi marido (1951). She was married to Juan Sánchez Azcona. She died on 25 August 1992 in Mexico City, Mexico.- Roberto Meyer was born on 10 September 1901 in La Piedad, Michoacán, Mexico. He was an actor and writer, known for Aventuras de un nuevo rico (1950), Limosneros con garrote (1961) and The Rebel (1943). He was married to Martha Cifuentes Lassen. He died on 7 October 1974 in Mexico, Distrito Federal, Mexico.
- Actor
- Composer
Arturo Alegro was born in 1943 in La Piedad, Michoacán, Mexico. He was an actor and composer, known for Muchachitas (1991), The Queen of the Night (1994) and Gabriel y Gabriela (1982). He was married to Ruth Roxana Ramírez Zapata. He died on 23 October 1995 in Mexico, Distrito Federal, Mexico.- Leopoldo Pineda was born in 1915 in Ciudad Hidalgo, Michoacán, Mexico. He was an actor, known for El castillo de los monstruos (1958), Los valientes de Guerrero (1974) and El tigre de Santa Julia (1974). He was married to María de los Ángeles Fernández Solande. He died on 9 March 1995 in Mexico, D.F., Mexico.
- Born into a lower-middle class family in the village of Jiquilpan, Michoacan, Lazaro Cardenas was the oldest of seven children. He was forced to become the sole support of his family at age 16, when his father died, and he took such jobs as tax collector and jailer. He had always wanted to be a teacher, although he had to leave school at 11 years of age, but that dream went by the wayside during the turbulent years of the Mexican Revolution in the early 20th century, after renegade Gen. Victoriano Huerta overthrew and assassinated President Francisco I. Madero.
Cardenas became a supporter of Plutarco Elías Calles. Huerta was eventually overthrown and Calles was elected President. Cardenas became governor of his home state of Michoacan, and became known for his incorruptibility -- a rare character trait in Mexican politicians of the time -- his program of road- and school-building, his land reform program and the implementation of a social security system, among other things.
When Calles' term was up, however, he was unwilling to let go of the reins of power and used a succession of front men in the office of President while he actually ran the country from behind the scenes. Calles' party, the PNR, selected Cardenas as its presidential candidate in 1934 and Calles assented, believing that he could control Cardenas in much the same way as he had his predecessors. He was in for a surprise, however. In 1936 Cardenas had Calles and several dozen of his cronies arrested for corruption and jailed or deported to the US. It was a move that was wildly popular among the Mexican public, which had seldom -- if ever -- seen its politicians punished for the endemic corruption that characterized Mexican politics. He also ended capital punishment (a policy that stands to this day). Cardenas and his party managed to maintain control of Mexico without resorting to harsh, oppressive and usually bloody military solutions, which many of his predecessors had done during times of crisis, and this policy effectively put an end to the era of seemingly endless rebellions, uprisings and civil wars that had racked the country since 1910.
Cardenas' popularity became so widespread that he soon became the first Mexican President to travel the country without armored cars or convoys of bodyguards as an escort. In the 1934 election he did what few other Mexican Presidents had done -- campaign in many virtually inaccessible regions of the country, often on horseback, and accompanied by only a few aides and a driver. This won him even more respect from the population. After his election he moved the presidential headquarters from the historic -- and somewhat palatial -- Chapultepec Castle into a newly built, and less regal, residence called Los Pinos, and turned the former presidential palace into the National Museum of History.
When Rusian Communust boss Lev Trotskiy was exiled after falling out of favor with dictator Joseph Stalin, Cardenas gave him sanctuary in Mexico. His purpose was twofold -- it effectively neutralized his opponents' claims that he was a Stalinist and gave him credibility among labor unions and workers' organizations, which he needed in order to break the power of the old, corrupt CROM umbrella labor organization and promote the newly organized Confederation of Mexican Workers to take its place, which was headed by a socialist, Vicente Toledano.
During the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s, Cardenas was a strong supporter of the Republican government and a fierce opponent of fascist leader Gen. Francisco Franco. When Franco eventually defeated the loyalist forces, Cardenas instructed his ambassadors in Europe to offer asylum and protection to any Spanish loyalist who asked for it, and many Republican officials and ex-soldiers took refuge in Mexico's European embassies. Cardenas also allowed thousands of Spanish refugees to settle in Mexico, including many artists, writers and filmmakers, who came to have a strong influence on Mexico's cultural life.
Another policy of Cardenas' government was land reform, and it seized and re-distributed to landless farmers and sharecroppers millions of acres of land, much of it from wealthy "hacendados" who had illegally seized or stolen it in the first place. He also championed workers' rights and had legislation passed that guaranteed the rights of workers to unionize. He nationalized the hodgepodge of private railroads that crisscrossed Mexico in 1938 and consolidated them into one federally-administered railway system, the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico.
In the 1940 presidential elections -- by law he could not run for re-election -- Cardenas was not happy with his party's nominee, Manuel Avila, and demanded that Avila and his opponent, Juan Andreu, have public debates, which had been unheard of in previous elections, and that the ensuing elections be open and transparent -- again, an unheard-of situation in Mexican politics. Cardenas' wishes were ignored, however, and Election Day was marred by violent incidents across the country in which people were killed and injured, polling places were attacked and ballot boxes stolen. Each side released its own results showing that it had won, but eventually an official count determined that Avila, the PRI candidate, was the victor. Andreu thundered about leading a revolt and setting up a parallel government, but nothing came of it and Avila was inaugurated as President.
If there was one single action that marked Cardenas' administration, however, it was the nationalization of the oil industry. Vast quantities of oil had been discovered in Mexico at the turn of the century, and by 1921 it was the world's second-largest producer (it supplied more than 20% of the oil used in the US). The Cardenas administration had been negotiating with a consortium of American, Mexican and European oil companies that controlled the production and distribution of Mexican oil, attempting to get more control over the industry and a bigger cut of the profits for Mexico, but the oil cartel refused to consider any change in the system as it was. As a last resort the government proposed a solution devised by a presidential commission, but it was rejected out of hand by the oil companies. On March 18, 1938, Cardenas announced the nationalization of Mexico's oil reserves and the seizure of all equipment from foreign-owned oil companies in the country. It was an expensive action, but one that was so popular with the Mexican populace that the country began a national fund-raising campaign to raise money to compensate the oil companies for the seizures of its properties and equipment. Nevertheless, many European governments severed diplomatic relations with Mexico because of the nationalization and instituted a boycott of Mexican oil and oil products. However, the outbreak of World War II meant a huge demand for oil, and if America and Europe wouldn't buy Mexico's oil, it would look for customers elsewhere, and it soon found one -- Nazi Germany. That was enough for the Americans and Europeans. They patched up their differences with Mexico, ended their boycott and Mexico in turn stopped selling oil to Germany. Cardenas named the government oil company Pemex (Petroleos Mexicanos) and founded the National Polytechnic Institute to ensure that the country had a steady supply of experts to manage and improve its oil industry.
When Cardenas' presidential term expired in 1940, he was appointed as Mexico's Secretary of Defense, a post he held until 1945. Unlike many Mexican presidents, he did not enrich himself while in office, and upon retirement he took up residence in an unpretentious home by Lake Patzcuaro and spent his time supervising local irrigation projects and building schools and free medical clinics in areas that had neither.
He died of cancer in Mexico City in 1970. - Actor
- Additional Crew
Felipe del Castillo was born on 16 March 1906 in Tlalpujahua, Michoacán, Mexico. He was an actor, known for Verano ardiente (1971), El hijo del pueblo (1974) and El desconocido (1974). He was married to María Fuentes. He died on 5 July 1976 in Mexico, D.F., Mexico.- Actor
- Stunts
Mario Arteaga was born on 3 July 1923 in Michoacan de Ocampo, Mexico. He was an actor, known for Bite the Bullet (1975) and The Master Gunfighter (1975). He died on 9 January 1990 in Los Angeles County, California, USA.- Actor
- Writer
Paco Mauri was born on 12 November 1945 in Yurécuaro, Michoacán, Mexico. He is an actor and writer, known for Mission Kill (1985), The Ten (2007) and Cadenas (1992).- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Gloria Lozano was born on 8 March 1924 in Jiquilpan, Michoacán, Mexico. She was an actress and producer, known for La culta dama (1957), Mi influyente mujer (1957) and Felicidad (1957). She was married to José Prisciliano Castro Brito. She died on 15 November 1991 in Mexico, D.F., Mexico.- Joaquín García Vargas was born on 17 February 1919 in Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico. He was an actor, known for La presidenta municipal (1975), Las locuras de Tin-Tan (1952) and El mensaje de la muerte (1953). He was married to Eva Bejarano. He died on 13 May 1993 in Mexico D.F., Mexico.
- Writer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Juan Pablo Villaseñor was born on Morelia, Michoacán, México in 1956.
He studied at the 'Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica (CCC)', where he earned his degree, with the short film Y yo que la quiero tanto (1987).
Por si no te vuelvo a ver (1997), was his film debut; won thirty awards, including the "Ariel de Oro" and the FIPRESCI award in the "Muestra de Cine Mexicano de Guadalajara", among others.
Los niños de Morelia (2004) was his first documentary.