Chrispin Martin
Chrispin Martin (November 19, 1893 – June 27, 1953) was an American actor. Born Ysabel Ponciana Chris-Pin Martin Paiz in Tucson, Arizona, and he was also credited in his films by other names, including Chris-Pin Martin, Chris King Martin, Chris Martin, Cris-Pin Martin and Ethier Crispin Martini.
His roles were as a rotund, roly-poly bumbling or slow comedic character who spoke in broken English. He acted in over 100 films between 1925 and 1953, including over 50 Westerns. His most remembered western film role was as a sidekick on Gordito and Pancho in nine of the Cisco Kid films. Martin was adept in both drama and comedy, in films like the melodramatic The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) as 'Poncho' the Mexican reluctantly apart of lynch mob of three hastily accused killers (Dana Andrews, Anthony Quinn, and Francis Ford). It's Martin who reluctantly becomes Quinn's confessor. And his comic sensibilities were best utilized in light fare, as in A Millionaire for Christy (1951). In this Fred MacMurray comedy, Martin plays a brief but memorable role as 'Manolo', a Mexican who knows no english, who MacMurray enlists to help pull his stranded car out of the beach, along with Martin's non-english speaking crew. His non-english animated performance with MacMurray, proves Martin to be every bit the entertaining supporting actor, stealing much of his scenes.
Death
On June 27, 1953, he died of a heart attack at 59, while addressing a Moose Lodge meeting in Montebello, California. His death record can be found here by searching for Chrispin Martin with Paiz as the mother's maiden name. There is a picture of Martin's grave here at the Odd Fellows Cemetery on Whittier Blvd, in East Los Angeles, California.
Selected filmography
- Romance of the Rio Grande (1941)
- Robin Hood of Monterey (1947)
External links
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