Jorge Rivero’s Split-Level Career : Across the Mexican border, he can pick and choose his roles, but in the U.S., Rivero is just another actor

When actor Jorge Rivero moved to Hollywood from Mexico in 1984, his resume was as long as the Baja coast, but his command of English was limited to short groups of words. Even though he was a star in Latin American countries, in the United States, he was virtually a nobody who couldn’t even work here because he had no work permit.

With few options available to an outsider, he sharpened his English with a dialogue coach and applied for residency. Now, 45 years into a life that sometimes strikes him as being one long string of low-budget movies, Rivero is ready to make his big break into the American film industry.

He stars in Frank Zuniga’s “Fist Fighter” with Eddie Albert Jr. and Mike Connors, which was released in Spanish-language theaters Wednesday and in English on Friday. “My films are shown in a lot of countries, but never here in the United States,” he had complained. And he doesn’t understand why.

“I’m a working actor, but only because I work in different countries,” said Rivero, relaxed in the garret of his Hollywood Hills home. “In the United States there is a lot of competition. It’s not like in Mexico where I’m a big film star. Here, there are a hundred ‘Jorge Rivero’ types.”

That may be, but for “Fist Fighter” Rivero has been rechristened George Rivero. Producer Carlos Vasallo explains, “Americans just don’t know how to pronounce Jorge .”

Reviewed in The Times, he was judged “a likable action hero . . . who projects a rarely seen burly wholesomeness, like a matinee idol from a gentler, less cynical era.”

At this stage of his career, Rivero can pick and choose his films south of the border. And typically, they’re action/adventure films because “that’s where my fans want to see me.” But in the States, because of his heavy accent, Rivero has been relegated to the back of casting lines. “You have to remember, I’m coming from a Latin American country,” he explained. “I’m a foreigner, and some people are uncomfortable with that.”

Rivero is not a complete stranger to the American film scene, however, having appeared with John Wayne in “Rio Lobo,” Candice Bergen in “Soldier Blue,” and Charlton Heston in “The Last Hard Man.” But these credits don’t amount to a hill of beans with American producers, as Rivero has discovered.

So while he chases fame and glory on the Western front, he still travels extensively in Europe and Latin America to work on low-budget movies that receive limited distribution. “There’s not a lot of money to be made,” said Rivero, “but it’s my bread and butter. And I can’t walk away from that.”

In his home town of Mexico City, Rivero was a well-known athlete in his early teens. After he was graduated from college with a degree in chemical engineering, he put aside his athletic ambitions and business career to establish himself as an actor. His first film was a Mexican production of “The Invisible Man.”

“The only part of me that was on screen was my silhouette,” he recalled. “It was a disappointing experience.”

But it landed him a number of roles on six different telenovelas , Mexican soap operas, which helped establish his credibility as an actor. His second film role was as the masked wrestler in “The King of the Ring.” From there he made the segue to Westerns and action/adventure films.

After “Rio Lobo,” Rivero made a real run at the American film industry, but he was never taken seriously. That’s when he first started working in Europe. He eventually formed his own production company with Carlos Vasallo, and together they made such films as “Target Eagle” with George Peppard and Chuck Connors, and “Killing Machine” with Margaux Hemingway and Lee Van Cleef.

It was also during this period that Rivero went by the more Anglo-sounding first name of George. “They told me it was hard to sell a movie with a Latin American guy playing the lead,” he explained. “It bothered me, but what could I do. Fortunately, American producers prefer Jorge.”

When he first moved to Hollywood, Rivero lost a lot of work because he didn’t have his residency. Now that he has overcome that obstacle and the language barrier, “good things should be happening for him,” said Rivero’s fiance, Betty Moran. “This is the first time he’s really ready. With all his experience, he can do some wonderful work.”

During the last four years, Rivero has done a number of commercials for Nissan and, more recently, Sears, Roebuck and Co. “Jorge’s public image is overwhelmingly positive,” said Andres Sullivan, senior vice president of Mendoza, Dillion & Asociadoes, an advertising agency in Newport Beach that has worked extensively with Rivero. “He’s a person with a lot of prominence in the Latino community.”

In February, Rivero received the Mr. Amigo Award 1988 for his contribution to international friendship and mutual understanding between the United States and Mexico. Past recipients of the award include the former president of Mexico, Miguel Aleman, and singer/composer Lucia Mendez.

Rivero wants to be “considered very seriously” for the role of Enrique (Kiki) Camerena, the U.S. drug agent who was tortured and murdered in Guadalajara. “I would like to be involved with that project, because to play the part of a Mexican guy, you have to have been born in Mexico,” he said.

In April, he goes to Mexico to film a comedy with Alfonso Zayas. From there he’ll come back to the United States and film a movie tentatively titled “High Cargo.” Once that’s finished, he’ll fly back down to Mexico to do another telenovela “just to keep in shape.”

One thing for sure, Rivero gathered a lot of experience. Today, he has a major following in Latin American countries. But the only people who typically recognize him on the streets of Hollywood are “restaurant workers or people who watch Spanish programming stations,” he said. “It’s a big ego boost for me when I walk the streets of Mexico,” says Rivero. “But there’s also a certain amount of pressure that comes with being a film star. People ask me for advice, and I never know what to tell them. But the day when that kind of attention stops is the day when I start worrying about my career.

“In the United States, I’m just another actor and that’s good because it gives me time to relax. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of unemployed actors. But if you work in other languages, and if you have a big following in Mexico and other Latin American countries, the anonymity is easier to handle. Besides, I have fans in the States, too.

“I remember when they brought me here to do ‘The Last Hard Man’ with Charlton Heston,” Rivero continues. “I was having lunch with the producer when this guy (Latino) from the kitchen came up to our table and asked me for my autograph. Another time, two guys (Latinos) driving a trash truck stopped me as I was window shopping in Beverly Hills and asked me for my autograph. Everyone else on the street was looking at me like, ‘Who’s that guy?’ ”

Not that he’s complaining, mind you. That’s part of the reason why he maintains a second home in Mexico City. “There’s an audience down there that has been very good to me. But when you do a film in Mexico, it’s only seen in a few countries. When you do a film in the United States, it’s seen all over the world.”