- Aguilar, Antonio
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▪ 2008Pascual Antonio Aguilar Barraza; Tony Aguilar; Toni Aguilar, “El Charro de Mexico”Mexican actor, singer, and cowboyborn May 17, 1919, Villanueva, Zacatecas, Mex.died June 19, 2007, Mexico City, Mex.enraptured audiences with his powerful voice and became the most popular of the ranchero singers during the golden age of Mexican films; he appeared in more than 125 motion pictures, many of which used scripts that he wrote, and recorded at least 150 albums during his heyday. Though he initially moved to Los Angeles to pursue an operatic career, Aguilar returned to Mexico in 1945 and became a mariachi. A spot on a radio show led to a record deal and his first film role, in Un rincón cerca del cielo (1950). Six years later he secured his first starring role, in Tierra de hombres. He was perhaps best known for his portrayals of Mexican revolutionaries; he starred in the title role of Emiliano Zapata (1970) and portrayed Pancho Villa in La sangre de un valiente (1993). After playing a Mexican general in The Undefeated (1969), Aguilar became disenchanted with the portrayal of Mexicans in Hollywood productions. He returned home to make films and in 1997 received a Special Golden Ariel Award for his contribution to Mexican cinema. Aguilar also traveled across the U.S. and Latin America with his wife, singer Flor Silvestre, and his two sons (Pepe and Antonio, Jr.) in glittering sequined costumes in a combination concert and rodeo show called a charrería. In 2000 Aguilar, who sold more than 25 million records, had his star embedded on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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Universalium. 2010.
