Who was Jorge Negrete?
Jorge Negrete was born on 11-30-1911 in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. He died on 12-05-1953 in Los Angeles, California, United States at the age of 42. His career began in radio during the 1930s.
Jorge Negrete, also known as «el Charro Cantor», his full name is Jorge Alberto Negrete Moreno. He is considered one of the most popular Mexican singers and actors of all time.
Photo Pixabay
He was the first to die of the Three Mexican Roosters (as he, Infante and Javier Solís were known). Trained for opera, he was featured in many films of Mexico’s Golden Age.
Beginnings of Jorge Negrete
Jorge Alberto Negrete Moreno was born in Guanajuato on November 30, 1911. He was the son of General David Negrete and Emilia Moreno.
He grew up with his brother David and three sisters: Consuelo, Emilia and Teresa. He and David studied at the Santa María de Guanajuato Catholic School and at the Alexander Von Humboldt German School, where he learned German, English, French and Italian.
The Military College
Jorge Negrete, at the age of fourteen, entered the Military College. At the age of 18 he graduated with high degrees as Cavalry and Administration Lieutenant and worked in a weapons factory, beginning medical studies and becoming an administrator at the Puebla Military Hospital.
His career is often compared to that of Pedro Infante, the best known and most popular Mexican actor of the time. The public rivalry did not carry over into their private lives, since they were close friends until Negrete’s death.
Jorge Negrete worked at the Ciudadela Weapons Factory, where he carried out administrative tasks and studied medicine.
It was during his youth that Jorge Negrete was diagnosed with liver dysfunction (hepatitis C) that did not prevent him from smoking all his life.
The opera
Jorge Negrete in 1930 requested his transfer to Mexico City, where he received singing classes from José Pierson, director of the Compañía Impulsora de Opera de México. A year later, he dedicated himself to singing opera roles on Xetra-FM.
Negrete was also interested in music, becoming a talented opera singer (at one point he was offered a secondary position by the Metropolitan Opera House in New York).
When he was hired by radio station XEW in 1930, however, he struggled to make the transition from opera to the more commercial ranchera style.
After four years of development and growing acclaim, Jorge Negrete made a trip to New York to introduce himself and was hired by NBC.
Beginnings of Jorge Negrete’s career
When Jorge Negrete was still in his early twenties, he became a star on the clear channel radio station XER.
In 1935 he made his debut on stage with musical plays in the Roberto Soto company as an extra stage (extra), working among others in «Calles y más calles» at the Teatro Lírico.
Jorge Negrete, began his career singing on the radio in 1931 in Mexico City singing opera parts. In 1936 he signed with NBC for a television show featuring Cuban and Mexican musicians.
In 1936, he signed a contract with NBC to perform at the Spanish Theater in New York twice a week with other Mexican and Cuban musicians on television broadcasts.
Performing a mix of Mexican and Cuban songs. Known by his fans as «El Charro Cantor», he made his first film in 1937.
The following year Jorge Negrete returned to Mexico to act in his first film, La mariana del doable. In 1938 he appeared in La Valentina, El fanfarrón, Caminos de ayer and Perjura.
In the latter he met Marina Tamayo, with whom he began dating. The following year she starred in Una Luz en mi camino, Juntos, pero no revueltos, El Cementerio de las águilas and Juan sin miedo.
the wedding
During the filming of his next film, La Valentina (1938), he met actress Elisa Christy. They were married in 1940 and moved to New York for a time, where Jorge wrote Spanish versions of English songs for Southern Music.
The couple moved to New York, where Jorge Negrete performed at La Conga with Desi Arnaz.
Your great friend Pedro Infante
In Mexico his star rose quickly thanks to his strong screen presence and his manly, arrogant, but good-humoured and romantic singing, dressed in a typical charro suit, hence his nickname «El Charro Cantor».
Most of his films are known as «ranch comedies» where this folkloric world was brought to life, often including old songs that resonated with audiences.
Friend
Jorge Negrete had an on-screen rivalry with Pedro Infante, who was a friend in real life. He became one of the top stars of his time, stirring up mostly female crowds wherever he went.
He also founded the Gremio de Trabajadores Cinematográficos Mexicanos and directed the National Association of Actors (ANDA), which would bring him many problems so frequently.
When Cuba was taken by a hurricane, Jorge Negrete acted to raise funds for the injured.
In December 1953, while attending a boxing match in Los Angeles, he suffered an acute gastroesophageal hemorrhage, from which he never regained consciousness.
Mexican movies
In 1941, his role in ¡Ay Jalisco, No Te Rajes! it made him a star throughout the Spanish-speaking world and helped popularize the charro movie. During the filming he met Gloria Marín and began an affair.
The same year, he appeared in Fiesta. Jorge Negrete capitalized on his stardom by touring Latin America singing rancheras in the trio, Los Tres Calaveras.
blood and sun
During the filming of Seda, sangre y sol (1942), in which Jorge Negrete co-starred as his lover, his wife divorced him. Although Marín never married, they lived together for the next ten years and adopted a girl, Goyita.
In 1942, Jorge Negrete appeared in El Peñón de las Animas. Although he fought to have Marín as a co-star, he was paired with newcomer and future superstar, María Félix, who reportedly despised him.
Jalisco and Negrete
In 1942, Jorge Negrete also appeared in Asi se quiere en Jalisco, Historia de un gran amor and Cuando viajean las estrellas.
1943 appeared in El Rebelde, A love letter, Land of passions, Here came the bully and The Hunchback.
1944, Jorge Negrete, acted in When a Mexican wants. In 1945 he filmed Canaima, Until Jalisco lost, I have to eat that tuna Mexico and Camino de Sacramento.
1946 Jorge Negrete, starred in The Godson of Death, In Times of the Inquisition and Being a Charro is not enough. In 1947, he starred in the Gran Casino by the great Spanish director Luis Buñuel.
In 1948 he filmed If Adelita left with another. She ended the 1940s in 1949 with Una Gallega in Mexico, Jalisco sings in Seville and Allá en el Rancho Grande.
George’s Golden Years
During the early 1950s, Jorge Negrete worked with Pedro Infante, one of his main rancher rivals, at Dos Tipos de Cuidado.
In the 1950s, Lluvia roja, La Posesión and Teatro Apolo were followed by a year off from acting.
He returned to the cinema in 1952 with Tal para cual, Un Gallo en corral ajeno, Los Tres alegres compadres, There is a child in his future and Always tea.
His last films were El Rapto, Reportaje and Dos tipos de cuidado, from 1953. To the surprise of some, that same year Jorge Negrete married María Félix. In a marriage that Mexicans dubbed «the wedding of the century»
The wedding at the Catipoato property (now ex-Hacienda de Tlalpan), included the spectacle of the most prominent celebrities, as well as personalities from the intellectual milieu, such as Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, María Teresa Montoya, Octavio Paz, as well as bullfighters. and famous athletes of the time.
The death of Jorge Negrete
In November he traveled to Los Angeles where he died at the Cedros del Líbano Hospital on December 5, 1953 of cirrhosis of the liver.
His death was due to a picture derived from Hepatitis C that he contracted during his youth, which caused the varicose veins he had in his esophagus and stomach to burst while he was attending a boxing performance.
The day of his death (December 5, 1953) was considered national mourning and five minutes of silence were observed in all the country’s cinemas.
Only at the Mexico City airport, nearly 10,000 people gathered to receive his body.
A human wall of hundreds of thousands of fans bordered the path of the Teatro de la Asociación Nacional de Actores (today Teatro Jorge Negrete) to the Jardín del Panteón, south of Mexico City.
On December 5, the anniversary of his death, fans continue to pay tribute to El Charro Cantor at his grave, and TV and radio stations hold marathons of his movies and songs.
In 2011 the centenary of his birth was commemorated. Various concerts and tribute performances were held throughout Mexico and some European countries with Hispanic culture and heritage.
Curiosities of Jorge Negrete
During his stay in the United States (USA), he worked as a waiter in Latino restaurants. He spoke German, English, Italian and, being self-taught, he studied the principles of Nahuatl. He used to dress in his films in a certain way: embroidered jacket, tight pants He wore a white shirt with a bow tie and a wide-brimmed hat. He briefly studied Medicine. He participated in a total of 38 films. He graduated with the highest grades of his generation, with the rank of administration lieutenant of the National Army. Later he participated in the battle of Jiménez, in Coahuila. He entered the XEW with the support of Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta. At the military school where he learned to ride a horse, a skill that he would later exploit in his roles as a Mexican charro. He was a good friend of Pedro Infante, there were no rivalries as was said. On each death anniversary, «El Charro Cantor» is remembered by his Mexican followers, who attend his grave, and from other Latin American countries. Close friends said that Negrete suffered a serious love disappointment that plunged him into alcoholism, the breakup with actress Gloria Marín would have left him devastated.
Films by Jorge Negrete
The Kidnapping (1953) Reporting (1953) Two Careful Fellows (1953) To each his own (1952) The Straying Rooster (1952) The Three Merry Pals (1952) There is a child in your future (1952) Forever Yours (1952) Red Rain (1952) 1950) La Posesión (Possession) (1950) Teatro Apolo (Apollo Theater) (1950) A Galician in Mexico (A Galician in Mexico) (1949) Jalisco sings in Seville (1949) There at the Rancho Grande (Out On the Big Ranch) (1949)Si Adelita se fuera con otro (If Adelita went out with another) (1948)Gran Casino (1947)Death’s godson (1946)In times of the inquisition ( In the Times of the Inquisition) (1946)No Basta ser charro (It’s not enough to be a Charro) (1946)Canaima aka El Dios del mal (The God of Evil) (1945)Hasta que perdido Jalisco (1945)I have to eat that tuna Mexico aka The day you love me…