Chano Urueta

Chano Urueta
Born
Santiago Eduardo Urueta Sierra

(1904-02-24)24 February 1904
Cusihuiriachi, Chihuahua, Mexico
Died23 March 1979(1979-03-23) (aged 75)
Mexico City, Mexico
OccupationsFilm director, screenwriter, film producer, actor
Years active1928–1974

Santiago Eduardo "Chano" Urueta Sierra (24 February 1904 – 23 March 1979) was a Mexican film director, screenwriter, and actor, active in the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema. He is considered the creator of the luchador film genre, and one of the fathers of Mexican horror cinema.

Biography

Urueta was born in Cusihuiriachi, Chihuahua in 1904. He was the son of Jesús Urueta [es], a prominent journalist, orator, politician, and one-time Ambassador to Argentina. He began his career in Hollywood in 1916, where he was part of a circle of Mexican expatriate actors and directors that notably included Emilio Fernández.

Urueta was nominated for an Ariel Award for the screenplay of his 1953 wrestling-themed film The Magnificent Beast, which is credited with initiating the popular luchador genre. He directed over 100 films between 1928 and 1974. He is also considered one of the fathers of Mexican horror cinema.

Among his acting work, Urueta appeared in two films by American director Sam Peckinpah: The Wild Bunch (1969) and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974).

Urueta died in Mexico City in March of 1979, at the age of 75.

Filmography

Director

Writer or co-writer only

Actor

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "México no olvida a Chano Urueta, creador del "cine de luchadores"". Noticine.
  2. 1 2 "Inicios del cine de Horror en México. 1933-1940 : Víctor Israel Torres Segura". Internet Archive. 2012-07-06. Retrieved 2025-04-11.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Sadoul, Georges (1983). Historia del cine mundial (in Spanish). Siglo XXI. ISBN 968-23-0533-0.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Riera, Emilio García (1990). Los hermanos Soler (in Spanish). pp. 70–76. ISBN 978-968-895-090-6.
  5. 1 2 Hernandez-Rodriguez, R. (2009-11-19). Splendors of Latin Cinema. Santa Barbara, Calif: Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-313-34978-2.
  6. ↑ Bala perdida (1959) | MUBI (in Spanish), retrieved 2023-09-05
  7. ↑ Kuhn, Annette; Westwell, Guy (2012-06-21). A Dictionary of Film Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, USA. p. 245. ISBN 0-19-958726-4.
  8. ↑ Jones, Alan (2005). The Rough Guide to Horror Movies. p. 235. ISBN 1-84353-521-1.
  9. 1 2 "Mendez, Baledon, Urueta: The Golden Age of Mexican Horror Cinema". The Film Magazine. 2020-07-14. Retrieved 2025-04-09.