Mazatlán’s on- and off-screen favorite

During the golden age of Mexican cinema (1935-1959), there were many stars, but the King of the Screen then, and perhaps even still now, was Pedro Infante. A handsome rogue with full lips and an emotionally stirring voice, he lived his life with more abandon than perhaps any character he ever played on screen. He was a Harley Davidson-riding womanizer that insisted on doing all of his own stunts, boxed for fun, and was an avid pilot, the last hobby eventually taking his life after no less than three crashes.

José Pedro Infante Cruz was born January 18, 1917 in Mazatlán, and raised in Guamúchil. His father, Delfino Infante García, was a double bass player in a band. He was the third oldest amongst 14 other siblings, nine who lived to adulthood. Pedro started work at a young age as a carpenter, but always had a special affinity for music. He learned to play string, wind and percussion instruments. This love of all things music led him to use his carpentry skills to build his first guitar, which took two years to complete.

The first time Infante sang for the public was at a 1937 Sinaloa festival at the age of 20. The crowd loved him, and his wife, María Luisa León, encouraged him to go to Mexico City to try his luck in the entertainment industry. His first job was singing and acting at a radio station, XEB, and he also sang in various concert halls. This led to his first recording, El Soldado Raso, in 1943, followed by approximately 350 more recordings during his career, always with the record label Discos Peerless.

In 1942 Infante was offered an acting job on the movie “La Feria de Las Flores,” and a cinematic star burst on the scene. Women fell in love with him and men looked up to him as an example of masculinity. He went on to act and sing in approximately 60 more movies and prior to his death, was in negotiations to begin working in Hollywood with some of the biggest stars of the time, including Marlon Brando, John Wayne, Kirk Douglas and Joan Crawford. He received many awards, including the Silver Bear of the Berlin International Film Festival for Best Actor, and the Ariel Award given by the Mexican Academy of Arts and Cinematographic Sciences for Best Actor.

While married to Maria, Infante met a dancer, Lupita Torrentera, with whom he had three children, Graciela Margarita, Pedro Infante, Jr. and Guadalupe Infante Torrentera. Later, he had a relationship with Irma Dorantes, a 16-year-old actress, and their daughter, Irma Infante, also had an outstanding career as an actress and singer. This all solidified his reputation as a ladies man, and it was even rumored his death was orchestrated by the President of Mexico for having an affair with his mistress.

Infante’s first of three plane crashes occurred in 1947, from which he suffered only minor injuries. The second was in 1949 near Zitacuaro, Michoacan. He was seriously injured and it was thought he wouldn’t live, but after surgery in which a steel plate was placed in his head, and months of rehabilitation he was entertaining once again. This didn’t discourage him from further flying; on the contrary, he boasted about his invincibility.

The morning of April 15, 1957, Infante woke up early in Merida, Yucatan, rode his Harley Davidson to the airfield and climbed into the cockpit of his plane. He crashed five minutes after take-off. The remains were identified solely by his bracelet engraved with his name and the winged ornament that symbolized the license of Pedro as an aviator. At 11:15, Manuel Bernal, of the radio station XEW, announced, “Ha muerto Pedro Infante!” (“Pedro Infante has died.”)

Like many of our American icons (for example, Elvis Presley and Jim Morrison), rumors abound that Infante didn’t perish. Some say his face was so scarred from the crash that he hid and is living in the Sierra Madres. Another story is he faked his own death to escape a hit the mafia had placed on him over an affair with yet another woman. Nonetheless, in Mexican pop culture Infante is still a very popular figure, and his influence can be seen and heard today

. The day of Pedro Infante’s death was declared a day of national mourning and four statues were built in his honor throughout Mexico, one of which graces the malecón here in Mazatlan. As long as his songs are played on the radio and his movies are on television, Pedro Infante, indeed, continues to live.