Gilbert Roland


Luis Antonio Dámaso de Alonso, known professionally as Gilbert Roland, was a Mexican-born American film and television actor whose career spanned seven decades from the 1920s until the 1980s. He was twice nominated for the Golden Globe Award in 1952 and 1964 and inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.

Early years

There is some discrepancy about his place of birth, since his father, the Spanish bullfighter Francisco Alonso "Paquiro II", declared to the press that his son was born in Bilbao and that he had Spanish nationality. Other sources say that he was born in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. At first he intended to become a bullfighter like his father and his paternal grandfather.
When Pancho Villa took control of their town, Roland and his family fled to the United States. He lived in Texas until at age 14 he hopped on a freight train and went to Hollywood. After arriving there, he found menial jobs and slept in a Catholic church. He often lost those jobs because he spent time working as an extra in films. He chose his screen name by combining the names of his favorite actors, John Gilbert and Ruth Roland. He was often cast in the stereotypical Latin lover role.

Career

Roland's first film contract was with Paramount. His first major role was in the collegiate comedy The Plastic Age together with Clara Bow, to whom he became engaged. In 1926, he played Armand in Camille opposite Norma Talmadge, with whom he was romantically involved, and they starred together in several productions. With the advent of sound films, Roland frequently appeared in Spanish language adaptations of American films in romantic lead roles.
In 1933, Roland played a large supporting role in She Done Him Wrong as one of Mae West's character's lovers, along with rivals Cary Grant, Noah Beery Sr. and Owen Moore.
Roland served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II.
Beginning in the 1940s, critics began to take notice of his acting, and he was praised for his supporting roles in John Huston's We Were Strangers, The Bad and the Beautiful, Thunder Bay, and Cheyenne Autumn. He also appeared in a series of films in the mid-1940s as the popular character "The Cisco Kid". He played Hugo, the agnostic friend of the three shepherd children in The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima, based on the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima in 1917. In 1953, Roland played Greek-American sponge diver Mike Petrakis in the epic Beneath the 12-Mile Reef.
He also acted on December Bride and Playhouse 90, and both wrote the script for and acted in an episode of Wagon Train. He played Don Domingo Montoya, who inherits Rancho Montoya near the end of the series The High Chaparral.
His last film appearance was in the 1982 western ''Barbarosa.''

Personal life

Roland married actress Constance Bennett on April 20, 1941, in Yuma, Arizona. They were married until 1946 and had two daughters, Lorinda "Lynda" and Christina "Gyl". Bennett won custody of their daughters. He had appeared with Bennett in 1933 as Pepi D'Costa in George Cukor's Our Betters, and in the same year, as the romantic lead in After Tonight, a World War I drama.
His second marriage to Guillermina Cantú in 1954 lasted until his death 40 years later.

Death

Gilbert Roland died of cancer in Beverly Hills, California, in 1994, aged 88. His body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered at sea.

Accolades

Roland was nominated twice for a Golden Globe Award, for his roles in The Bad and the Beautiful and Cheyenne Autumn. For his contributions to the motion picture industry, Gilbert Roland has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6730 Hollywood Boulevard.

Archives

The moving-image collection of Gilbert Roland is held at the Academy Film Archive. Home movies make up the bulk of the collection. The film material at the Academy Film Archive is complemented by material in the Gilbert Roland papers at the academy's Margaret Herrick Library.
In 1975, El Paso, Texas, held Gilbert Roland Days. Among the recognition given the actor was creation of The Gilbert Roland Newspaper Carrier Scholarships Fund by the Newspaper Printing Corporation.

Filmography

Cinema

The Hunchback of Notre Dame as Extra The Lost World as Extra The Spaniard as Matador The Lady Who Lied The Lawful Cheater The Midshipman The Plastic Age as Carl PetersThe Campus Flirt as Graham StearnsThe Blonde Saint as AnnibaleCamille as Armand DuvalRose of the Golden West as JuanThe Love Mart as Victor JallotThe Dove as Johnny PowellThe Woman Disputed as Paul HartmanNew York Nights as Fred DeverneMen of the North as Louis La Bey aka Monsieur Le FoxResurrección as Prince Dmitri NekhludovThe Passionate Plumber as Tony LagorceHombres de mi vida as Jaime GilmanThe Woman in Room 13 as Victor LegrandLife Begins as Tony, Rita's Husband No Living Witness as Jerry BennettA Parisian Romance as VictorCall Her Savage as MoonglowShe Done Him Wrong as Serge StanieffOur Betters as Pepi D'CostaThe Romantic Widow as Luis Felipe de Córdoba aka Prudencio GonzálezTarnished Youth as Antoine 'Tony' FerrandAfter Tonight as Captain Rudolph "Rudy" RitterYo, tú y ella as Gabriel VillalbaElinor Norton as Rene AlbaMystery Woman as Juan SantandaJuliet Buys a Baby as Jack ArandaLadies Love Danger as Ricardo Souchet aka AlonzoMidnight Taxi as Flash DillonThe Last Train from Madrid as Eduardo de SotoThunder Trail as Dick Ames aka Arizona LopezLa vida bohemia as RodolfoGateway as Tony CadonaJuarez as Colonel Miguel LopezIsle of Destiny as Oliver BartonGambling on the High Seas as Greg MorellaThe Sea Hawk as Captain LopezRangers of Fortune as Antonio Hernandez SierraAngels with Broken Wings as Don Pablo VincenteMy Life with Caroline as Paco Del ValleEnemy Agents Meet Ellery Queen as Paul GilletteIsle of Missing Men as Thomas 'Dan' Bentley aka CurtisThe Desert Hawk as Kasim, The Desert Hawk / Hassan, The Evil Twin BrotherCaptain Kidd as Jose LorenzoThe Gay Cavalier as The Cisco KidSouth of Monterey as The Cisco KidBeauty and the Bandit as The Cisco KidRiding the California Trail as The Cisco Kid posing as Don Luis SalazarThe Other Love as CroupierHigh Conquest as Hugo LanierRobin Hood of Monterey as The Cisco KidPirates of Monterey as Major de RojasKing of the Bandits as the Cisco Kid aka Ramon MojicaThe Dude Goes West as Pecos KidThe Rebellion of the Ghosts as Arturo del RosalWe Were Strangers as Guillermo MontillaMalaya as RomanoThe Torch as Father SierraCrisis as Roland GonzalesThe Furies as Juan HerreraBullfighter and the Lady as Manolo EstradaThe Mark of the Renegade as Don Pedro GarciaTen Tall Men as Corporal Luis DelgadoMy Six Convicts as Punch PineroGlory Alley as Peppi DonnatoThe Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima as Hugo da SilvaApache War Smoke as Peso HerreraThe Bad and the Beautiful as Victor 'Gaucho' RiberoThunder Bay as Teche BossierThe Diamond Queen as Baron Paul de CabannesBeneath the 12-Mile Reef as Mike PetrakisThe French Line as Pierre DuQuesneThe Racers as Dell'OroUnderwater! as Dominic QuesadaThat Lady as Antonio PerezThe Treasure of Pancho Villa as Colonel Juan CastroBandido as Colonel José EscobarAround the World in 80 Days as Achmed AbdullahThree Violent People as Innocencio OrtegaThe Midnight Story as Sylvio MalatestaThe Last of the Fast Guns as Miles LangThe Wild and the Innocent as PaulThe Big Circus as Zach ColinoCatch Me If You Can Guns of the Timberland as Monty WalkerSamar as Colonel Juan Sebastian SalazarCheyenne Autumn as Dull KnifeThe Reward as Captain CarbajalThe Poppy Is Also a Flower as Serge MarkoAny Gun Can Play as MoneteroThe Ruthless Four as MasonBetween God, the Devil and a Winchester as HoraceJohnny Hamlet as Juan ChasquisdoSartana Does Not Forgive as KirchnerThe Christian Licorice Store as Jonathan 'JC' CarruthersRunning Wild as Chief TomacitoTreasure of Tayopa as Himself - HostThe Pacific Connection as AlanIslands in the Stream as Captain RalphThe Black Pearl Caboblanco as Dr. Rudolfo RamirezBarbarosa as Don Braulio

Television

Short subjects

La Fiesta de Santa Barbara Screen Snapshots Series 15, No. 8 Picture People No. 2: Hollywood Sports
  • ''Wings Up''