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28-646: Pedro Infante Cruz ( Spanish: [ˈpeðɾo jɱˈfante] ; 18 November 1917 – 15 April 1957) was a Mexican ranchera singer and actor whose career spanned the golden age of Mexican cinema . Infante was born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa , and raised in nearby Guamúchil . He died on 15 April 1957 in Mérida, Yucatán , while en route to Mexico City when his plane crashed due to engine failure. From 1939 until his death, Infante acted in over 60 films (30 of them with his brother Ángel ) and recorded over 350 songs. For his performance in

56-401: A Donkey ), or the more correct and succinct transliteration, "Three Baturros on a Burro.” His career as an actor in leading roles started with La Feria de Las Flores ( The Fair of Flowers ), literally translated as "The Flower Carnival," in 1943. In that same year, Mexican writer Carmen Barajas Sandoval , a friend and neighbor of Infante's wife, offered to introduce them to Jorge Negrete ,

84-462: A Eufemia ( Letter to Eufemia ), Nocturnal , Cien Años ( Hundred Years ), Flor Sin Retoño ( Flower Without Sprout ), Pénjamo , and ¿Qué Te Ha Dado Esa Mujer? ( What Has That Woman Given You? ). He sang "Mi Cariñito" to his frequent on-screen grandmother, Sara Garcia, so many times in so many of their movies together, that it was played at her funeral. The world-famous song Bésame Mucho ("Kiss Me

112-536: A Lot", or more loosely translated to get its elusive Spanish meaning closer to its English meaning, "Give Me a Lot of Kisses"), from the composer Consuelo Velázquez , was the only melody that he recorded in English and he interpreted it in the movie A Toda Máquina (ATM) ( At Full Speed ), with Luis Aguilar . Infante's hobby was aviation, logging 2,989 flight hours, under the pseudonym Captain Cruz, which then led to his death on

140-452: A boxer as well as others. Infante was also briefly depicted in the 2017 animated Disney movie Coco , along with Jorge Negrete . Some fans have speculated that his death was faked. These rumors were fueled by, among other factors, the fact that Infante's body was burned beyond recognition in the airplane crash, and by the appearance, in the 1980s, of a singer named Antonio Pedro, who was thought to resemble Infante. Antonio Pedro even went to

168-690: A campaign to change one of Boyle Heights street names to Pedro Infante Street. Later it was decided Euclid Heights would become Pedro Infante Street, and the unveiling of the street sign was in August 1983. Infante was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 1 August 1993. His star is located at 7083 Hollywood Boulevard. On 2 April 2001, Infante was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame in an awards ceremony that also included Xavier Cugat and Ruben Blades . The event

196-534: A major key, and consist of an instrumental introduction, verse and refrain, instrumental section repeating the verse, and another verse and refrain, with a tag ending. Rancheras are also noted for the grito mexicano , a yell that is done at musical interludes within a song, either by the musicians and/or the listening audience. The normal musical pattern of rancheras is a–b–a–b. Rancheras usually begin with an instrumental introduction (a). The first lyrical portion then begins (b), with instrumental adornments interrupting

224-745: A short time, having received music lessons from Carlos R. Hubbard. He won a charro suit in an amateur contest at the Colonial Theater, singing Vereda Tropical . In 1937, he became part of the Orquesta Estrella de Culiacán (Culiacán Star Orchestra) and was a singer, violinist, and drummer for a year and a half. His wife, María Luisa León (who died of cardiac arrest on 27 October 1978) was somewhat well-off. According to her memoir Pedro Infante en la intimidad conmigo (1961) ( Pedro Infante in intimacy with me ), she convinced him to move to Mexico City for better career opportunities in radio. In 1938, at

252-514: A singer he admired. Barajas, the aunt of the child actress Angélica María , worked at the Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Producción Cinematográfica , S.T.P.C. ( Union of Cinema Production Workers ). She convinced Negrete to recommend Infante to the producer Ismael Rodríguez and others. As a result, he was invited to appear in different pictures, such as Vuelve el Ametralladora ( The Machine Gun Returns ). While married to María Luisa León, Infante met

280-403: A vat of soggy fideos. If your racial and cultural background or ethnicity is other, then it's about time you learned about the most famous of Mexican singers and actors." In 2017, for what would have been Infante's 100th birthday, his life and career was celebrated with a Google Doodle that featured a slideshow with six graphics depicting Infante wearing traditional Mariachi garb , as a singer,

308-550: Is a Mexican actress. Her first film, Los tres huastecos , was released in 1948. Dorantes participated in many Mexican films of the 1950s and 1960s. In 1963, she was nominated for a Silver Goddess Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Sol en llamas (1962). Aside from acting, she is also a successful singer, obtaining gold and platinum records for her versions of the songs "Cuando no sé de ti", "Pequeña", "Ansiedad", "Recuerdos de Ipacarai", and " La Flor de la Canela ". She

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336-594: The Maria Laria television talk show in the U.S.A., to claim he was Infante. Ranchera The word ranchera was derived from the word rancho because the songs originated on the ranches and in the countryside of rural Mexico. Traditional themes in rancheras are about love , heartbreak , patriotism or nature . Rhythms can have a meter in 4 (in slow tempo: ranchera lenta and faster tempo: ranchera marcha ), 4 ( ranchera vals ), or 4 ( bolero ranchero ). Songs are usually in

364-522: The Infante Cruz family stayed for some time at Mazatlán , in early 1919 they moved to Guamúchil , where he was raised. As a teen, Infante showed talent and affection for music, made his own guitar in a carpenter shop, played in the Luis Ibarra Orchestra led by his father, and formed his own band called La Rabia (The Anger) in 1933. He managed to learn strings, wind, and percussion instruments in

392-465: The Panteón Jardín of Mexico City , as well as the one at 54th and 87th streets in the historic center of Mérida. Singers of ranchera and mariachi have paid posthumous musical homage to him. Denise Chávez , said in her book Loving Pedro Infante : "If you're a [Mexican], and don't know who he is, you should be tied to a hot stove with a yucca rope and beaten with sharp dry corn husks as you stand in

420-528: The age of 21, he auditioned for a position at the radio station XEB, with Julián Morán accompanying him on piano. Ernesto Belloc, the station's artistic director at the time, advised Infante to continue his career as a carpenter, as he was nervous during the audition. Nonetheless, he auditioned the following week and was hired to sing on the air three times a week. In Mexico City, he sang the songs of composers including Alberto Cervantes, José Alfredo Jiménez , Cuco Sánchez , Tomás Méndez , Rubén Fuentes , (some of

448-509: The best-known rancheras, with compositions totaling more than 1,000 songs, making him one of the most prolific songwriters in the history of western music. Another closely related style of music is the corrido , which is often played by the same ensembles that regularly play rancheras. The corrido, however, is apt to be an epic story about heroes and villains, or the narrator's lifestyle. Irma Dorantes Irma Aguirre Martínez (born 21 December 1934), commonly known as Irma Dorantes ,

476-544: The dancer Lupita Torrentera Bablot (b. 2 November 1931), with whom he had three children: Graciela Margarita (26 September 1947 – 20 January 1949, poliomyelitis), Pedro Infante Jr. (31 March 1950 – 1 April 2009, suicide), and Guadalupe Infante Torrentera (b. 3 October 1951). Irma Infante (b. 27 March 1955) was born from his marriage to young actress Irma Dorantes . Infante's career spanned the golden age of Mexican cinema . He appeared in such motion pictures as: Waltzes , cha-cha-chas , rancheras and boleros placed him among

504-412: The day of the crash, he was on his way to Mexico City from Mérida, Yucatán to challenge the ruling that annulled his marriage with Irma Dorantes. The air traffic controller, Carmen León, was the last person to hear Infante's voice. The plane crashed five minutes after taking off from Mérida, Yucatán , in southeast Mexico. An engine failed on takeoff, causing the plane to spiral to the ground, killing two on

532-606: The gathered to the closed casket funeral after a tribute at the Jorge Negrete Theater. Rodolfo Echeverría, who was Secretary-General of the National Actors Association at that time, delivered Infante's eulogy. Infante died intestate . In 1983, the radio state KWKW , located in Los Angeles, CA, which was at the time broadcasting a Pedro Infante hour that aired songs as well as readings of fan letters, organized

560-423: The ground as well as all three on the plane, Infante, pilot Víctor Manuel Vidal Lorca and Marcial Bautista. A 19-year-old woman named Ruth Russell Chan, who was on the ground at the time of the crash, also died. Infante's death was announced by radio personality Húmberto Sánchez-Rodríguez, of radio station XEMH of Mérida, after one of the firefighters discovered a bracelet engraved with the name "Pedro Infante", plus

588-484: The lines in between. The instruments then repeat the theme again, and then the lyrics may either be repeated or begin a new set of words. One also finds the form a–b–a–b–c–b used, in which the intro (a) is played, followed by the verse (b). This form is repeated, and then a refrain (c) is added, ending with the verse. The most popular ranchera composers include Lucha Reyes , Cuco Sánchez , Antonio Aguilar , Juan Gabriel and José Alfredo Jiménez , who composed many of

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616-452: The morning of 15 April 1957. Infante had survived two prior plane crashes, the first one occurred in 1947, and another in 1949 in which he had received an injury to his forehead that left him with a metal plate. According to Wilbert Alonzo-Cabrera, his biographer, the actor was co-piloting a Consolidated B-24D , which had been converted from heavy bomber to freighter in San Diego, California. On

644-558: The most popular singers of the mariachi and ranchera music. Some of his most popular songs include: Amorcito Corazón (approximately My Little Love, Sweetheart ), Te Quiero Así ( I Love You Like This ), La Que Se Fue ( She Who Left ), Corazón ( Heart ), El Durazno ( The Peach ), Dulce Patria ( Sweet Fatherland ), Maldita Sea Mi Suerte ( Cursed Be My Luck ), Así Es La vida ( Life Is Like This ), Mañana Rosalía ( Tomorrow Rosalía ), Mi Cariñito ( My Little Darling ), Dicen Que Soy Mujeriego ( They Say I Am A Womanizer ), Carta

672-471: The most renowned composers from the golden age of Mexican Cinema) Salvador Flores Rivera (Chava Flores) (better known for his humorous songs), René Touzet and others. His first musical recording, El Soldado Raso ( The Private ), was made on 19 November 1943 for the Peerless Records Company. Infante first appeared as an extra in the movie En un Burro Tres Baturros ( Three Men from Aragon on

700-545: The movie Tizoc , he was posthumously awarded the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the 7th Berlin International Film Festival . Pedro Infante was born 18 November 1917 in Mazatlán, Sinaloa , the son of Delfino Infante García (24 December 1880 – 17 March 1955), who played the double bass in a band, and Maria del Refugio Cruz Aranda. He was the third of his parents' fifteen children, nine of whom survived. Although

728-448: The winged insignia that symbolized his aviator license. This was around 8:15 am; at 11:12 am, Manuel Bernal, of Mexico City radio station XEW , gave the news saying: "this Monday, 15 April 1957, Pedro, our beloved Pedro...this has been confirmed, has died in a tragic accident in Mérida, Yucatán". His remains were later identified by the gold bracelet he wore. Additional identification

756-643: Was done during the autopsy by Benjamín Góngora, from the metal plate in Infante's forehead that he received after his injuries in the 1949 crash. The death of Pedro Infante caused an unprecedented outpouring of grief in Mexico and Latin America leading to reports of suicides, faintings, and nervous breakdowns among his fans. Two days later he was laid to rest at the Panteón Jardín cemetery amid 300,000 people who had come for

784-620: Was held at the Hostos Center For The Arts And Culture, located in the Bronx, New York City. There are five museums dedicated to his life and career: At least five statues have been erected in Pedro Infante's honor: According to producer Jorge Madrid y Campos, who was also his legal representative, Pedro Infante's fame has increased greatly since his death. Infante attracts a great number of fans of every age to his shrine in

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