Mauricio Borensztein (27 April 1925 – 11 January 1996), known by the stage name Tato Bores, was an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

film, theatre and television comedian, who specialized in political humor. His ironic TV

monologue In theatre, a monologue (also known as monolog in North American English) (in , from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts ...

s, delivered at a fast pace, became a reference point for generations of

Argentines Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

Biography

He was born into a family of

Polish Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...

heritage. He took his first steps into the humor field in 1957, after the fall of

Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine military officer and Statesman (politician), statesman who served as the History of Argentina (1946-1955), 29th president of Argentina from 1946 to Revolución Libertad ...

, debuting in state-owned Channel 7. When in character, he wore dress coat, white bow tie and a deliberately badly cut wig, and waved a cigar. Besides the monologues, at some point during each show he pretended to dial the number of the

Casa Rosada The ''Casa Rosada'' (), , is the president of the Argentine Republic's official workplace, located in Buenos Aires. The palatial mansion is known officially as ''Casa de Gobierno'' ("House of Government" or "Government House"). Normally, the pre ...

and speak to the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

(whoever it was at the time), asking pointed questions or commenting on uncomfortable news. Near the end of his life, Borensztein abandoned the weekly show format and resorted to "special programmes" every month or sometimes more often. In one of these, he appeared as Dr. Helmut Strasse, "argentinologist", an

archeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeol ...

specialized in the lost land of Argentina, which had sunk into the Atlantic Ocean 500 years before the fictional time frame of the show. The show was a humorous

mockumentary A mockumentary (a portmanteau of ''mock'' and ''documentary'') is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a Documentary film, documentary. Mockumentaries are often used to analyze or comment on current event ...

about the downfall of Argentina where Borensztein, speaking in a mixture of

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and some odd words in Spanish,

overdubbed Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more a ...

into straight Spanish by a narrator, commented on the latest findings and theories while he toured a digging site. Before the broadcast of one of the programmes, federal judge

María Servini de Cubría Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

was warned that the show contained an ironic comment about a ridiculously low fine she had received for mishandling a case. Servini ordered the offending segment to be cut out, and forbade Borensztein to mention her name. This violated

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recognise ...

, since the programme had not been broadcast and she had not verified it was criminally offensive. Borensztein received overwhelming support from the

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

istic community of Argentina, but respected the judicial order, from then on referring to the judge as "the unnameable" or as ''Jueza Barubudubudía'' (intended as a nonsensical yet transparent rhyme of "Servini de Cubría") until the censorship was lifted.

Professional work

Television

Films

* ''Un pecado por mes'' (1949) * ''La comedia inmortal'' (1951) * '' The Path to Crime'' (1951) * ''Esta es mi vida'' (1952) * ''Mala gente'' (1952) * ''Por cuatro días locos'' (1953) * ''Casada y señorita'' (1954) * ''Vida nocturna'' (1955) * ''Vacaciones en la Argentina'' (1960) * '' El Asalto'' (1960) * ''Propiedad'' (1962) * ''El televisor'' (1962) * ''Viaje de una noche de verano'' (1965) * ''Disputas en la cama'' (1972) * ''Departamento compartido'' (1980) * '' Amante para dos'' (1981)

Family

He was the father of Alejandro Borensztein,

Sebastián Borensztein Sebastián Borensztein (born 22 April 1963) is an Argentine screenwriter and film director, best known for the films '' Chinese Take-Away'' (2011), '' Heroic Losers'' (2019) and the horror television miniseries '' El garante'' (1997). Early li ...

and Marina Borensztein.

Sources