Annotations for Artistic Medium: Acting

He was born poor in Chihuahua of a Mexican mother and Irish father and became an actor who was often cast in the role of the foreigner, the other.

Listen to some of the names of the characters he played.

Manolo de Palma, Chief Crazy Horse, Eufemio Zapata, Attila, Quasimodo, and of course, Zorba.

He won two Oscars for Best Supporting Actor, one for Viva Zapata and the other for Lust for Life.

Later in his life, Anthony Quinn continued to make film and television appearances, but his creative endeavors turned mainly to painting and books.

So was it when you went to Italy that you feel that things changed? You had been typecast in Hollywood for so long as a pirate or an Indian chief, for example. When did the roles that you were able to play begin to change for you?

Right after I made La Strada, everything changed.

I became, forgive me because I don't believe in it, but I mean I don't believe it happened. I became what they call an international star at that time. And things changed for me then.

And then I had won the Academy Award for Viva Zapata. So that changed my life to a great extent.

But the biggest, interesting enough, the biggest hit I ever made was in Mohammed, which was not shown in America for political reasons.

And another picture I made called Lion of the Desert, which was about an Arab Omar Mukhtar, who was the hero of all the Arab people in the world. And so I have 750 million fans in the Arab countries.

Before I got that phone call, I could not work in this community because there was nothing for me to do. I've been entertaining people since 1961. Here it is, 1978. I had not gained one penny from the American theater. The first paycheck I ever got was from Zoot Suit when I made 250 bucks a week for acting on stage.

Words never seen printed in my life. Words that I had heard all my life. Words that only could come from the heart and the passion and the understanding of the finest who command the language.

I said, my lord, que le wacha mis trapos, ese?

Ladies and gentlemen, the moment you're about to see is a construct of fact and fantasy. But relax, weigh the facts, and enjoy the pretense.

Our Pachuco realities will only make sense if you grasp their stylization. It was a secret fantasy for Vivato, living in or out of the Pachucada, to put on the Zoot Suit and play the myth. Pues Orale!

For this year's Academy Awards, actor Benicio Del Toro has been nominated as best supporting actor. If he wins, Del Toro would become only the second Latino to win an Oscar in one of the major categories. The only other time that happened was in 1961.

Eddie Olmos and Paul Rodriguez both told me that they felt 'Well if she can do it, I can do it.' And it's what encouraged them to pursue a career in our business.

Visible? Oh my dear it took a long time. The fact that I was in movies and television and all that kind of stuff really didn't mean a thing. It's how you perceive how visible you are and I didn't feel that way for many many years.