Chris-Pin Martin

CHRIS-PIN MARTIN (1893–1953)

Ysabel Ponciana Chris-Pin Martin Píaz was born in Tucson, Arizona, in 1893 to Toro “Bull” Martin, a Yaqui Indian, and Florence Morales Martin, a Mexican. With very little formal education, Chris-Pin held various menial jobs in Tucson until he joined a group of Native Americans bound for Hollywood in 1911. His first job was as a runner who recruited Mexicans and Native Americans as movie extras, but he was soon an extra himself.

With a natural comedic flair, Chris-Pin began playing bit roles, albeit often uncredited, in countless silent films and early talking movies. Working mostly in Westerns, he was typecast as a bumbling, dull-witted Hispanic. He is best known for his role as Gordito, the laughable sidekick of the dashing Cisco Kid. He died on June 27, 1953, of a heart attack.

Chris-Pin Martin