Natividad Vacío (September 8, 1912 – May 30, 1996) was an American

character actor A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to b ...

in films and television from the 1950s through the 1980s. Born Natividad Domínguez Vacío in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the ...

, he was

Mexican-American Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...

. He nearly always played a Hispanic character in his 65 film and television appearances.IMDB entry
/ref> He was married to Henriqueta (Queta) Vacío.

Career

His debut came in a 1950 episode of ''

The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in ...

'' called "Dead Man's Chest". He was featured in ''

The Hitch-Hiker ''The Hitch-Hiker'' is a 1953 American film noir thriller co-written and directed by Ida Lupino, starring Edmond O'Brien, William Talman and Frank Lovejoy, about two friends taken hostage by a hitchhiker during an automobile trip to Mexico. ' ...

'' (1953), a

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American '' ...

directed by Ida Lupino. Many of his roles were in Westerns, although he had a diverse career. For example, he played a character called "Frank Smith" who was the family gardener in five episodes of the suburban sitcom ''

Father Knows Best ''Father Knows Best'' is an American sitcom starring Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray and Lauren Chapin. The series, which began on radio in 1949, aired as a television show for six seasons and 203 episodes. Created by ...

''. The majority of his work was in television, with an occasional movie role. Perhaps the highest-profile film in which he appeared was ''

The Magnificent Seven ''The Magnificent Seven'' is a 1960 American Western film directed by John Sturges. The screenplay by William Roberts is a remake – in an Old West–style – of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese film ''Seven Samurai'' (itself initially relea ...

'' (1960), portraying "Miguel", one of the Mexican townspeople trying to defend their farming village from a band of outlaws. In 1988, he appeared in the Robert Redford film '' The Milagro Beanfield War'' (1988) where he portrayed "Onofre", a man with one arm, who said his arm was eaten off by butterflies. He was one of the four men they called the "senile brigade". Vacío was a close friend of actor

George Reeves George Reeves (born George Keefer Brewer; January 5, 1914 – June 16, 1959) was an American actor. He is best known for portraying Superman in the television series '' Adventures of Superman'' (1952–1958). His death at age 45 from a g ...

, star of the TV series '' Adventures of Superman''. Vacío played the role of a Mexican police inspector in the 1958 episode "The Brainy Burro". Vacío and Reeves met at

Pasadena Junior College Pasadena City College (PCC) is a public community college in Pasadena, California. History Pasadena City College was founded in 1924 as Pasadena Junior College. From 1928 to 1953, it operated as a four-year junior college, combining the las ...

, and Reeves loved to hear "Nati", Vacío's nickname, sing and play his guitar. Reeves asked Nati to show him how to play. Reeves was a quick learner and both of them would play and sing Mexican songs, all the time. In '' Hollywoodland'' (2006), a film about Reeves' life and death, the character of Vacío was portrayed by

Diego Fuentes Diego Antonio Fuentes Lopez, known as Diego Fuentes, is a Canadian actor of Chilean descent and Toronto socialite. MuchMusic Fuentes was MuchMusic's first ever VJ Search winner in 1995, going on to host the popular ''Clip Trip'' show on MuchMusi ...

, Toronto actor/socialite, in a couple of scenes.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vacio, Natividad 1912 births 1996 deaths Male actors from El Paso, Texas American male actors of Mexican descent American male television actors American male film actors 20th-century American male actors