Mexican Consulate Honors Pioneer

Long before there was Ricky Martin’s “La Vida Loca,” there was Tito Guizar’s “Cielito Lindo.”

Guizar, who became one of the first Latinos to star in Hollywood, was honored Monday by the Mexican Consulate for a 70-year film and music career covering both sides of the border.

Guizar, 91, co-starred in films in the 1930s with the likes of Bob Hope and Roy Rogers. During that era he hosted a national radio program for CBS called “Tito Guizar and His Guitar.” He later performed as a solo artist at Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl.

With Valentino-like looks, Guizar is credited with being the first performer to bring Mexican folk music to mainstream U.S. audiences. His version of “Cielito Lindo” is believed by experts to be one of the best-known ranchera songs ever recorded, said Victor Manuel Trevino, interim Mexican consul in Los Angeles.

Guizar is as active today as ever, co-starring in Mexican soap operas and doing live performances. But, as he said a few hours before receiving a plaque Monday evening, one of his greatest accomplishments has been to open doors for other Latino artists and to have brought a part of Mexican culture to U.S. audiences.

“I am very proud of the younger generation of Latino artists,” Guizar said, referring to the likes of Martin, Juan Gabriel and Vicente Fernandez.

Like many of Mexico’s folkloric singers of his generation, the Guadalajara-born Guizar wanted to become an opera singer. During the early 1930s, he took singing lessons in New York. But, although he had a good tenor voice, his teachers felt he would have a better chance at success recording Mexican ranchera music than in the competitive world of opera, Guizar said.

After starring as Mexico’s first singing cowboy in the 1936 film, “Alla en el Rancho Grande,” Guizar returned to the United States and began appearing in starring roles in movies such as “The Big Broadcast of 1938,” with Hope, and with Rogers in “The Gay Ranchero.”

“Tito Guizar is a true pioneer. He made it in Hollywood long before it was acceptable to be a Latino,” Trevino said.

Guizar continued to appear in Hollywood films through the 1940s. All along, he hosted his own English-language national radio show from New York, which aired after Bing Crosby’s program. During his show, Guizar sang traditional Mexican songs, which he often translated into English.

“He sang Mexican music to U.S. audiences when it was considered embarrassing to do so,” said Guizar’s daughter Lilia Inclan, who lives in Los Angeles. “He filled the Hollywood Bowl decades before Latino artists were appearing in the Universal Amphitheatre.”

By the 1950s, Guizar had returned to Mexico, where he continued to act in films and perform until 1990, when his wife of 57 years, Carmen, died.

Guizar had already retired when, in 1994, he was called by the influential Mexican TV network Televisa to participate in Mexican soap operas.

Guizar’s career is one that modern Latino stars can emulate, Trevino said. “He is a true role model for younger artists.”

Tall, with sparkling blue eyes, Guizar is still a striking figure at 91. He just finished working in the Mexican soap opera, “El Privilegio de Amar.” He says that being able to work with younger actors and receiving professional recognition, such as Monday’s honor, “nurture me in a spiritual way.”