Rodolfo Acosta

For the Colombian composer, see Rodolfo Acosta (composer).

Rodolfo Pérez Acosta (July 29, 1920 – November 7, 1974)^[1] was a Mexican-American character actor who became known for his roles as Mexican outlaws or American Indians in Hollywood western films. He was sometimes credited as Rudolph Acosta.^[2]

Rodolfo Acosta
Acosta in One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
Born	Rodolfo Acosta (1920-07-29)July 29, 1920 El Paso, Texas, U.S.
Died	November 7, 1974(1974-11-07) (aged 54) Woodland Hills, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1946–1973
Spouses	Jeanine Cohen ​ ​ (m. 1945; div. 1957)​ Vera Martínez ​ ​ (m. 1971; div. 1974)​
Children	5

Early life and education

Acosta was born to José Acosta and Alexandrina Pérez de Acosta on July 29, 1920 in the El Segundo Barrio of El Paso, Texas.^[3][4] His father, a carpenter, moved the family to Los Angeles, where Acosta was raised and graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School.^[3][5] Acosta studied drama at Los Angeles City College and UCLA and he appeared at the Pasadena Playhouse. At the age of 19, he received a scholarship to the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City where he studied for three years.^[4] In 1943, during World War II, Acosta enlisted in the United States Navy, serving as a Yeoman^[6] in Naval Intelligence.^[3]

Career

After the war, Acosta worked on stage and in films which eventually led to a bit part in John Ford's 1947 film The Fugitive, directed by Emilio Fernández.^[3] Fernandez wrote the role of the pimp Paco for Acosta in the 1949 film Salón México, for which Acosta earned a nomination as Best Supporting Actor at the 1950 Ariel Awards.^[3] He then was placed on contract by Universal Studios, beginning with a small role in One Way Street (1950). Although Acosta was considered a romantic screen idol in Mexico and South America,^[7] his burly body and strong features led to a long succession of roles as bandits, Native American warriors and outlaws in American films.^[3] In The Tijuana Story (1957), he had a sympathetic leading role, but in general he spent his career as a familiar western antagonist.

Acosta was a regular as Vaquero on NBC's The High Chaparral from 1967–1969. Other television appearances included Cheyenne, Maverick, Zorro, Rawhide as Ossolo, an Indian Medicine Man in "The Incident at Superstition Prairie" in 1960, Bonanza, and Daniel Boone. In 1959, Acosta played the Kiowa Chief Satanta in the third episode entitled "Yellow Hair" of the ABC western series The Rebel. On the 1964 episode "A Book of Spanish Grammar" of Death Valley Days Acosta played Valdez, the traveling companion of Stephen F. Austin.

In 2013, Acosta along with Lee Marvin and Stuart Hamblen was inducted into Newhall, California's Walk of Western Stars during the annual Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival.^[8]

Personal life

Acosta married Jeanine Cohen in 1945 in Casablanca while he was in the military.^[9] In 1956, Cohen accused Acosta of adultery for sharing an apartment in Mexico City since 1953 with actress Ann Sheridan.^[10] Acosta subsequently filed for divorce in 1959.^[11] He later married Vera Martínez in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 18, 1971 and they divorced in October 1974.^[12][13]

Acosta was the father of five children.^[12] His son, Dante Acosta, is a politician in Santa Clarita, California^[14]

On November 7, 1974, Acosta died of liver cancer at the Motion picture and Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, and was buried in Hollywood Hills at Forest Lawn Cemetery.^[12]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1946	Soy un prófugo	Esbirro del jefe
1947	The Fugitive	Policeman	Uncredited
1948	Song of the Siren
	Rosenda	Salustio Hernández (el tejón)
	El gallero	El Meco
	Beau Ideal	German Foreign Legionnaire	Uncredited
1949	Salón México	Paco	Ariel Award nomination - Best Supporting Actor
	Felipe de Jesús	Principe Chokozabe
	La malquerida
	Prisión de sueños
1950	Vuelve Pancho Villa	Martín Corona
	One Way Street	Francisco Morales
	Pancho Villa Returns	Martín Corona
	Between Your Love and Heaven	Miguel Ramírez
1951	Victims of Sin	Rodolfo
	Pecado	Arregui
	Bullfighter and the Lady	Juan
	The Lovers	Alejandro / Alex Montez
	Sensuality	el Rizos
	Las Islas Marías	El Silencio (The Silence)
	Retorno al quinto patio	Don Pancho
	La bienamada
1952	Acapulco	Alfredo
	El puerto de los siete vicios	El falcón
	El mar y tú	Don Rufino
	El dinero no es la vida	Martín
	Yo soy Mexicano de acá de este lado	Freddy Miranda
	Yankee Buccaneer	Poulini
	Horizons West	General José Escobar Lopez
	Victims of Divorce	Antonio
1953	El billetero	Marcos Aguirre Torres
	San Antone	Chino Figueroa
	Destination Gobi	Tomec
	Wings of the Hawk	Arturo Torres
	City of Bad Men	Joe Mendoza
	Appointment in Honduras	Reyes
	Hondo	Silva
1954	Llévame en tus brazos	Agustín
	Passion	Salvador Sandro
	Drum Beat	Scarface Charlie
1955	A Life in the Balance	Lt. Fernando
	The Littlest Outlaw	Chato
1956	The Proud Ones	Chico
	Bandido!	Sebastian
1957	Trooper Hook	Apache chief Nanchez	Credited as Rudolfo Acosta
	Apache Warrior	Marteen
	The Tijuana Story	Manuel Acosta Mesa
1958	The Last Rebel	'Three Fingers' Jack	credited as Rudolph Acosta
	From Hell to Texas	Bayliss
1960	Walk Like a Dragon	Sheriff Marguelez	credited as Rudolph Acosta
	Let No Man Write My Epitaph	Max	credited as Rudolph Acosta
	Flaming Star	Buffalo Horn	credited as Rudolph Acosta
1961	Posse from Hell	Johnny Caddo	credited as Rudolph Acosta
	One-Eyed Jacks	Mexican Rurale Captain	credited as Rudolph Acosta
	The Second Time Around	Rodriguez	credited as Rudolph Acosta
1962	How the West Was Won	Gant Gang Member	Uncredited
1963	Savage Sam	Bandy Legs
	The Raiders	Cherokee Policeman	Uncredited
1964	Rio Conchos	Bloodshirt
1965	The Greatest Story Ever Told	Captain of Lancers
	The Sons of Katie Elder	Bondie Adams
	Río Hondo	Camargo
	The Reward	Patron
1966	Return of the Seven	Lopez	Credited as Rudy Acosta
	And Should We Die	Gen. Rodolfo Fierro
1967	The Violent Ones	Estevez
1968	Dayton's Devils	Fishing Boat Captain
1969	Impasse	Draco
	Che!	Monje	Uncredited
	Young Billy Young	Mexican Officer
1970	The Great White Hope	El Jefe
	Flap	Storekeeper
1971	Will to Die	Sheriff Dan Garcia	Final film role

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1956	The Sheriff of Cochise	Jose Perado	Episode: "Question of Honor"
1957	Lux Video Theatre	Vorbeck	Episode: "The Undesirable"
	Playhouse 90		Episode: "Without Incident"; credited as Rudolfo Acosta
	Whirlybirds	Don Miguel Cordoba	Episode: "Incident in Del Rio"
1957–1961	Have Gun - Will Travel	Sanchez / John Wildhorse / Pedro Valdez	3 episodes
1958	The Walter Winchell File	El Gato	Episode: "The Stop-over"
	Jefferson Drum	Mendoza	Episode: "Bandidos"
1958–1960	Zorro	Carancho / Perico	3 episodes; credited as Rudolph Acosta
1958	Cheyenne	Lobos	Season 3/Episode 17 - "Standoff"
1959	Cheyenne	Luis Cardenas	Season 4/Episode 3 - "The Rebellion"
1959	U.S. Marshal	Captain Joe Silva	Episode: "Gold Is Where You Find It"
	Sugarfoot	Rafael	Episode: "Small Hostage"
	The Rebel	Satanta	Episode: "Yellow Hair"
	The Texan		Episode: "The Reluctant Bridegroom"
1959–1964	Rawhide	Del Latigo / Arapahoe Leader / Ossolo / Chisera	4 episodes
1960	Rawhide	Ossolo	S3:E7, "Incident at Superstition Prairie"
1959–1965	Death Valley Days	Bandit Leader / Tony Alvado / Tall Rock / Valdez / Don Diego Archeluta / Chief Spotted Tail	6 episodes
1960	The Gambler, the Nun and the Radio	Killer	TV movie
	Buick-Electra Playhouse	Killer	Episode: "The Gambler, the Nun and the Radio"
	The Magical World of Disney	Carancho	2 episodes
	O'Conner's Ocean		TV movie
	Rogue for Hire	El Tigre	Episode: "Operation Jaguar"
1960–1962	Bronco	Juan Rodriguez / Tomas Fierro	2 episodes
1961	Cheyenne	Luis Boladas	Season 6/Episode 5 - "Day's Pay"
1961	One Step Beyond	Colonel Ferrero	Episode: "Person Unknown"
	The Barbara Stanwyck Show	Porfiro	Episode: "Yanqui Go Home"
	Tales of Wells Fargo	Red Knife	Episode: "Tanoa"
1962	Maverick	Sebastian Bolanes	Episode: "Poker Face"
	The Gallant Men	Lupo	Episode: "Signals for an End Run"
1963	The Virginian	Yaqui Leader	Episode: "The Mountain of the Sun"
	The Great Adventure	Lt. Bullhead	2 episodes
	Young Men in a Hurry	Jose Rodriguez	TV movie
1963–1964	Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre	Colonel Lu / Tartar	2 episodes
1964	The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters	Joe Oswego	Episode: "The Day of the Tin Trumpet"
	The Farmer's Daughter	Pedro Perez	Episode: "Katy Gets Arrested"
1964–1970	Bonanza	Sheriff Vincente Aranda / Matar / Lijah / Juan	4 episodes
1965	The Big Valley	Rico	Episode: "The Way to Kill a Killer"
	The Man from U.N.C.L.E.	Captain Ramirez	Episode: "The Very Important Zombie Affair"
1965–1966	Daniel Boone	Running Fox / Gabriel	2 episodes
1966	Iron Horse	Corporal	Episode: "Cougar Man"
	The Fugitive	First Mexican	Episode: "Wine Is a Traitor"
1967	Laredo	Luis Canzano	Episode: "Scourge of San Rosa"
	Valley of Mystery	Manuel Sanchez	TV movie
	Custer	Satanta	Episode: "Sabers in the Sun"
	Stranger on the Run	Mercurio	TV movie
1967–1969	The High Chaparral	Vaquero	22 episodes
1969	Mission: Impossible	Presidente Miguel De Varo	Episode: "The Vault"
	The Outcasts	Chief Frente	Episode: "The Stalking Devil"
1970	Run, Simon, Run	Manuel	TV movie
1971	The Bold Ones: The Lawyers	Pablo Delgado	Episode: "The Search for Leslie Grey"
	Cade's County	Nacho Gutierrez	Episode: "Crisscross"
	O'Hara, U.S. Treasury	Caesar Dominguez	Episode: "Operation: Heroin"
1971–1973	Ironside	Sgt. Ramirez / The Police Chief	2 episodes; final role
1972	Hec Ramsey	Kitami	Episode: "Mystery of the Green Feather"

References

1. Ellenberger, Allan R. (2001). Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory. McFarland & Company. p. 79.
2. Hoffman, Henryk (2000). "A" Western Filmmakers A Biographical Dictionary of Writers, Directors, Cinematographers, Composers, Actors and Actresses. McFarland. p. 447. ISBN 9780786406968.
3. Reyes, Luis; Rubie, Peter (October 1, 2000). Hispanics in Hollywood. Lone Eagle. p. 412. ISBN 978-1580650250.
4. "Rodolfo Acosta in "Apache Warrior" : About Rodolfo Acosta". SCTVHistory.com. Santa Clarita Valley Public Television. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
5. Lincolnian. Los Angeles: Abraham Lincoln High School. 1939. p. 28.
6. Burial plot for Rodolph Acosta Perez (gravestone). Forest Lawn Memorial Park. c. 1974. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
7. "Focus on Rodolfo Acosta". The High Chaparral News. January 14, 2009. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
8. Mooney, Luke (April 19, 2013). "Three inducted into Walk of Western Stars". The Santa Clarita Valley Signal. p. A10.
9. "Three's a Crowd". The Argus. Mexico City. November 2, 1956. p. 3.
10. "Actress Named in Adultery Action". News-Pilot. Mexico City. November 1, 1956. p. 1.
11. "Mexican Actor Seeks to Use Wife's Charge to Obtain Divorce". The Sacramento Bee. January 5, 1957. p. 3.
12. Aaker, Everett (2017). Television Western Players, 1960–1975: A Biographical Dictionary. McFarland. p. 5.
13. "Actor linked to Ann Sheridan seeks divorce". Los Angeles Times. May 21, 1959. p. 2.
14. Money, Luke (April 22, 2014). "Acosta to be officially seated during special City Council meeting today". Santa Clarita Valley Signal. p. A6.

Further reading

• De la Mora, Sergio (January 28, 2009). Cinemachismo: Masculinities and Sexuality in Mexican Film. Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. 48–57. ISBN 978-0-292-71296-6. Analysis of Acosta's performances in Víctimas del Pecado and Salon Mexico.

External links

• Biography portal
• Mexico portal
• California portal
• Los Angeles portal
• Film portal
• Television portal

• Rodolfo Acosta at IMDb
• Rodolfo Acosta at Find a Grave