LEO CARRILLO BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Leo Carrillo was born August 6th, 1880 in Los Angeles, California.  He came from a family of aristocrats.  His great grandfather was the first Governor of California, his father was the first mayor of Santa Monica and his great uncle was a California defender who also served as the mayor of Los Angeles for three different terms. 

As a child, his parents has aspirations for Carrillo to become a priest, but he had other goals in mind.  Instead, attending Loyola University and pursuing a degree in Engineering.  Upon completion of his degree he went on to secure employment as a cartoonist at the San Francisco based Examiner newspaper. 

He continued to work as a cartoonist but also began developing an interest in acting after fellow employees felt he had a talent for it and kept encouraging him to pursue a career in entertainment.

Carrillo began by using his talent for mimicry and dialects in vaudeville.  He then proceeded to work on several stage productions performing his specialty of comedy. 

Throughout his career he appeared in more then ninety films in either supporting or lead roles.  He is most remembered for his role on the television show, "The Cisco Kid" where he portrayed the character, "Pancho" whom he had also portrayed in a couple of earlier films prior to the release of the television series.  He starred in this television show from 1950-1956 with Duncan Renaldo as "The Cisco Kid".  One of his more known films prior to being cast on this television shows was the film, "The Fugitive" (1947).

Leo was married in 1940 to Edith Haeselbarth whom he stayed married to until 1953.   

Carrillo was also very involved with his State of California.  He was a preservationist and a conservationist.  For eighteen years he was on the board of California Beach and Parks commission.  As a result of his service to the state of California a park in north Santa Monica was named in his honor, the Leo Carrillo State Park.  There is also a Leo Carrillo State Beach in Malibu and in the city of Westminster, an elementary school was named after him as well as in Carlsbad, California a registered California Historical site is the Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park.

Leo Carrillo was a ficture every January 1st as he loved to ride his horse in the Pasadena Rose Parade along with many other western TV and movie actors such as Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy along with other celebrities such as Los Angeles newsman George Putnam.

Carrillo passed away on September 10th, 1961 of cancer and was interred in the Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery in Santa Monica.  Prior to his passing, Carrillo authored a book titled, "The California I Love" which spoke proudly of his heritage.  For his contribution to the motion pictures industry he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  To this day he is considered to be one of the true American icons.  
 
 
Filmography

1931   The Guilty Generation
1932   Running Hollywood
1933   Moonlight and Pretzels
1933   Parachute Jumper
1933   The 42nd. Street Special
1934   Manhattan Melodrama
1934   Four Frightened People
1934   The Gay Bride
1934   The Band Plays On
1934   Viva Villa!
1935   Love Me Forever
1935   In Caliente
1935   A Dream Comes True
1935   La Fiesta de Santa Barbara
1935   Star Night at the Cocoanut Grove
1935   If You Could Only Cook
1936   It Had to Happen
1936   The Gay Desperado
1936   Moonlight Murder
1937   History Is Made at Night
1937   I Promise to Pay
1937   Manhattan Merry-Go-Round
1938   Too Hot to Handle 
1938   Blockade
1938   Flirting with Fate
1938   Screen Snapshots
1939   Fisherman's Wharf
1939   Society Lawyer
1939   Rio
1940   One Night in the Tropics
1940   Captain Caution
1940   20 Mule Team
1940   Lillian Russell
1940   Wyoming 
1941   Barnacle Bill
1941   Riders of Death Valley
1941   Horror Island
1942   What's Cookin'?
1942   Men of Texas 
1942   American Empire
1943   Frontier Badmen
1943   Phantom of the Opera
1943   Crazy House
1943   Frontier Badmen
1944   Bowery to Broadway
1944   Ghost Catchers
1944   Gypsy Wildcat
1945   Crime, Inc.
1947   The Fugitive
1947   Around the World in California
1949   Satan's Cradle
1949   The Gay Amigo
1950   "The Cisco Kid: Lynching Story
1950   The Girl from San Lorenzo
1950   The Girl of the Golden West
1950   "The Cisco Kid: Newspaper Crusader
1951   "The Cisco Kid: Freight Line Feud
1951   "The Cisco Kid: Confession for Money