Nacho Galindo was a Mexican-American film and television actor who lived and worked in the Los Angeles area for most of his life. Between 1941 and 1970 he had small, often unbilled roles in 71 feature films and at least 60 TV episodes. His most prominent film role was that of the Cisco Kid's third-billed sidekick, "Baby", in 1946's The Gay Cavalier, the first of poverty row studio Monogram's entries in the series, which starred Gilbert Roland as The Cisco Kid.
Film career during the 1940s
Born Ignacio Galindo in Mexico's fourth-largest municipality, Guadalajara, he emigrated to the United States by crossing the footbridge at the border crossing in Laredo, Texas, in 1927. The actor was 32 when he received uncredited bit parts in three 1941 musical comedies, Week-End in Havana, Fiesta and Rio Rita, where he was given the opportunity for a solo vocal in "The Ranger's Song". He was also seen in 1941 as a musician in Greta Garbo's final film, Two-Faced Woman. Whether due to wartime military service or for other reasons, there are no specified acting credits for Galindo between December 1941, as America entered into World War II, and December 1945, which brought his first billed part, a minor role as a character named "Pancho" in the Columbia mystery serial, Who's Guilty? Following another unbilled bit, he played the biggest part of his film career in Monogram's low-budget release The Cisco Kid in The Gay Cavalier. Unlike actors Chris-Pin Martin, Martin Garralaga and Leo Carrillo who played Cisco's comical companion Gordito or Pancho in several films, The Gay Cavalier was Galindo's sole appearance in that characterization, with the sidekick called "Baby" for that single film.
Film and television appearances in the 1950s and 60s
Following The Gay Cavalier, Galindo returned to playing mostly unbilled bit parts for the remainder of the 1940s, having appeared in 21 features by the end of the decade. His acting assignments multiplied in the 1950s, with roles in 43 features, including such major titles as 1950's Montana and Broken Arrow, 1952's Lone Star, 1953's Tropic Zone and The Hitch-Hiker, 1954's Broken Lance, A Star Is Born and Green Fire, 1955's Hell's Island and The Sea Chase, 1956's The Searchers and 1958's Saddle the Wind. Also, starting with a 1952 episode of the anthology series Rebound, he made 28 television appearances during the decade, with roles in such series as The Life of Riley, Adventures of Superman, My Little Margie and The Lone Ranger, The 20th Century Fox Hour, Screen Directors Playhouse, Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre and I Love Lucy , Maverick and Zorro in 1959. Starting with the January 31, 1960, installment of Maverick, Nacho Galindo's acting assignments during the 1960s consisted almost entirely of TV episodes, including Wanted Dead or Alive and Checkmate, Mister Ed, Peter Gunn and Perry Mason, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and 77 Sunset Strip, 77 Sunset Strip, Perry Mason and Have Gun – Will Travel, Burke's Law, The Wild Wild West, Cimarron Strip and The Monkees, The Flying Nun, I Spy and Gunsmoke, Family Affair and My Three Sons. There were 29 such television appearances in addition to 6 theatrical features, including vehicles for Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Deborah Kerr and Dean Martin as well as John Wayne and Robert Mitchum. His only work in the 1970s was his last remaining credit, an October 1970 episode of Adam-12. in One-Eyed Jacks. Less than three years later, Galindo died in Los Angeles at the age of 64.
