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Chris-Pin Martin

{{short description|American actor (1893–1953)}}

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Chris-Pin Martin

| image = Chris-Pin Martin in American Empire.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Chris-Pin Martin in American Empire (1942)

| birth_name = Ysabel Ponciana Chris-Pin Martin Paiz

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1893|11|19}}

| birth_place = Tucson, Arizona, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1953|6|27|1893|11|19}}

| death_place = Montebello, California, U.S.

| occupation = Actor

| years_active =

}}

Chris-Pin Martin (born Ysabel Ponciana Chris-Pin Martin Paiz, November 19, 1893 – June 27, 1953) was an American character actor whose specialty lay in portraying comical Mexicans, particularly sidekicks in The Cisco Kid film series.[http://www.b-westerns.com/pals6.htm Chris-Pin Martin at "Saddle Pals & Sidekicks" section of B-Westerns] He acted in over 100 films between 1925 and 1953, including over 50 westerns.{{Cite book |last1=Rivera-Viruet |first1=Rafael J. |title=Hollywood-- se habla español: a brief glance at Hispanics in Hollywood films yesterday, today and tomorrow |last2=Resto |first2=Max |date=2008 |publisher=Terramax Entertainment Pub |isbn=978-0-9816650-0-9 |edition= |location=New York |pages=72}}

Biography

Martin was born in Tucson, Arizona, when Arizona was still a territory, the son of Toro "Bull" Martin, a Yaqui indian, and Florencia Paiz, a woman of Mexican descent. of southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico.{{Cite book |last=Reyes |first=Luis I. |title=Viva Hollywood: The Legacy of Latin and Hispanic Artists in American Film |publisher=Running Press Adult |year=2022 |isbn=978-0762478484}} He started working in Hollywood in 1911, as an extra for Universal Studios, and also worked as a recruitment agent ("runner") for hiring Latino and Latina extras needed for specific films at Hollywood studios.{{Cite book |last=Rowan |first=Terry |title=The American Western A Complete Film Guide |publisher=Lulu.com |year=2012 |isbn=978-1300418580 |pages=261}}

In 1922, Martin produced a film, Tepee Love, a romance, starring Martin and Dolores Contreras. The film played in Glendale, California, and Burbank, California, in 1922; a second film project never was finished.{{Cite book |last=Agrasánchez |first=Rogelio |title=Guillermo Calles: a biography of the actor and Mexican cinema pioneer |publisher=McFarland & Co |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-7864-4945-3 |location=Jefferson, N.C |pages=45}} By 1925, Martin had become a frequent, although unnamed character, in silent movies. His roles were as a bumbling or slow comedic character who spoke in broken English.

Martin's most remembered western film role was in nine of the Cisco Kid films playing the Kid's sidekicks Gordito and in the later films Pancho.{{Cite book |last=Hadleigh |first=Boze |title=Mexico's Most Wanted : The Top 10 Book of Chicano Culture, Latin Lovers, and Hispanic Pride |publisher=Potomac Books Inc. |year=2007}} He also appeared in the John Ford classic Stagecoach (1939) with John Wayne. He was credited in his films by other names, as well, including Chrispin Martin, Chris King Martin, Chris Martin, Cris-Pin Martin, and Ethier Crispin Martini.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

Martin was adept in both drama and comedy, in films like the melodramatic The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) as "Poncho" the Mexican who reluctantly becomes a part of a lynch mob and a contrite confessor. In A Millionaire for Christy (1951) Martin plays a brief but memorable role as "Manolo", a Mexican who speaks no English.

Death

Less than five months before his 60th birthday, Martin died of a heart attack while addressing a Moose lodge meeting in the Los Angeles suburb of Montebello.{{Cite book |last=Matheson |first=Sue |title=The John Ford Encyclopedia |year=2019 |isbn=9781538103821 |pages=203|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield }}His death record can be found [http://vitals.rootsweb.com/ca/death/search.cgi here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080118141937/http://vitals.rootsweb.com/ca/death/search.cgi |date=January 18, 2008 }} by searching for Chrispin Martin with Paiz as the mother's maiden name.

Selected filmography

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References

{{Reflist}}

{{Portal|Biography}}

External links

{{commons category|Chris-Pin Martin}}

  • {{IMDb name|0552077}}
  • {{Find a Grave|5322}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Chrispin}}

Category:1893 births

Category:1953 deaths

Category:American male film actors

Category:American male actors of Mexican descent

Category:Male actors from Tucson, Arizona

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:Male Western (genre) film actors