Duncan Renaldo
Acting • Born 1904-04-23 – Died 1980-09-03
Biography
To most audiences, Duncan Renaldo will always be identified as film and TV's "The Cisco Kid." However, this role occurred late in his career, which consisted of much more than just this western character. Not much is known about Renaldo's early life. In fact, his date and place of birth is still questioned. The usual given birth date is April 23, 1904. His birthplace has been generally stated as Spain--he has said that his first memories as a child were in Spain--although Romania and even New Jersey have been mentioned as well. An orphan, he never knew his actual parents and was never able to ascertain the exact date and place of his birth. He was raised and educated in various European countries and arrived in the US in the early 1920s as a stoker on a Brazilian coal ship. Entering the country on a 90-day seaman's permit, he stayed when his ship caught fire at the dock and burned to the waterline. A paltry existence as a portrait painter forced him to seek other work, and he somehow found his way into films as a producer of short features, which in turn led to on-camera work as an actor with MGM in 1928. The studio capitalized on his dashing Hispanic looks and initially typed him as a "Latin lover", but it didn't last long. In the early 1930s his career was interrupted when he was arrested and faced deportation due to his illegal immigrant status. The actor was eventually pardoned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt--his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, had bought one of Renaldo's paintings, looked into his case and persuaded her husband to pardon him. He returned to minor films for both Republic and Monogram, alternating as heroic sidekick and villain. He co-starred as one of the Three Mesquiteers in the revamped film series, and showed up regularly in 1930s and 1940s cliffhangers, including The Painted Stallion (1937), Jungle Menace (1937), Zorro Rides Again (1937), King of the Mounties (1942), Secret Service in Darkest Africa (1943) The Tiger Woman (1944). In 1945 he began the Cisco Kid film series and transferred the character successfully to TV in the early 1950s, with Leo Carrillo as faithful sidekick Pancho. Renaldo made the character clean-shaven and more of a do-gooder than the roguish bandit who actually was in the books. Renaldo retired soon after the series' demise and died years later at Goleta Valley Community Hospital in California of lung cancer in 1980.
Filmography
68 credits
The Capture
Movie • 1950
Carlos
Outlaws of the Desert
Movie • 1941
Sheik Suleiman
Hands Across the Border
Movie • 1944
Juan Morales
Trader Horn
Movie • 1931
Peru
South of the Border
Movie • 1939
Andreo Mendoza
Spawn of the North
Movie • 1938
Ivan
Rebellion
Movie • 1936
Ricardo Castillo
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Movie • 1972
Self (archive footage)
Pals of the Prairie
Movie • 1929
Francisco Valencia
Down Mexico Way
Movie • 1941
Juan
San Antonio Kid
Movie • 1944
Johnny Bennett
The Moth
Movie • 1934
Don Pedro
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
Movie • 1929
Esteban
Cowboys from Texas
Movie • 1939
Rico Rinaldo
Zorro Rides Again
Movie • 1937
Renaldo
Special Agent K-7
Movie • 1936
Tony Blank
Heroes of the Saddle
Movie • 1940
Rico
Lady Luck
Movie • 1936
Tony Morelli
Jungle Flight
Movie • 1947
Police Captain Costa
Ten Laps to Go
Movie • 1936
Eddie DeSylva
Covered Wagon Days
Movie • 1940
Rico Rinaldo
King of the Texas Rangers
Movie • 1941
Lt. Pedro Garcia
Jungle Menace
Movie • 1937
Armand Roget
Sky Racket
Movie • 1937
Count Barksi
Oklahoma Renegades
Movie • 1940
Rico Rinaldo
Gauchos of El Dorado
Movie • 1941
Gaucho / José Ojara
Moonlight Murder
Movie • 1936
Pedro
Pioneers of the West
Movie • 1940
Rico
The Tiger Woman
Movie • 1944
José Delgado
Two Minutes to Play
Movie • 1936
Lew Ashley
The Lone Ranger Rides Again
Movie • 1939
Juan Vasquez
Rough Riders' Round-up
Movie • 1939
Alcalde Don Enriguez
The Daring Caballero
Movie • 1949
The Cisco Kid
Jungle Terror
Movie • 1946
Armand Roget
Sword of the Avenger
Movie • 1948
Fernando
Mile a Minute Love
Movie • 1937
Count Ribalto
Rose of the Rio Grande
Movie • 1938
Sebastian
The Kansas Terrors
Movie • 1939
Renaldo
Rocky Mountain Rangers
Movie • 1940
Rico
In Old New Mexico
Movie • 1945
The Cisco Kid
The Gay Amigo
Movie • 1949
The Cisco Kid
The Cisco Kid Returns
Movie • 1945
The Cisco Kid
South of Panama
Movie • 1941
Captain of Police
A Yank in Libya
Movie • 1942
Sheik David
Tiger Fangs
Movie • 1943
Peter Jeremy
Gaucho Serenade
Movie • 1940
Gaucho Don José
Trapped in Tia Juana
Movie • 1932
Lt. Kenneth Holbert / El Zorro
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Movie • 1943
Lt. Berrendo
Call of the South Seas
Movie • 1944
Commissioner Charcot
The Fighting Seabees
Movie • 1944
Construction Worker at Party
The Girl from San Lorenzo
Movie • 1950
The Cisco Kid
The Painted Stallion
Movie • 1937
Zamorro
King of the Mounties
Movie • 1942
Pierre (Ch. 1, 11-12)
Sheriff of Sundown
Movie • 1944
Chihuahua Ramírez
South of the Rio Grande
Movie • 1945
The Cisco Kid
Satan's Cradle
Movie • 1949
The Cisco Kid
The Valiant Hombre
Movie • 1948
The Cisco Kid
Bad Men of Missouri
Movie • 1941
Dan
Border Patrol
Movie • 1943
Commandante
Clothes Make the Woman
Movie • 1928
Around the World
Movie • 1943
Dragoman
Mission to Moscow
Movie • 1943
Italian Reporter (uncredited)
Tropic Holiday
Movie • 1938
Young Blood (uncredited)
The Mad Empress
Movie • 1939
Col. Miguel López
Public Stenographer
Movie • 1934
Henchman Orsini
Secret Service In Darkest Africa
Movie • 1943
Capt. Pierre LaSalle
The Cisco Kid
TV • 1950
The Cisco Kid
Western von gestern
TV • 1978
Renaldo