Nacho Galindo (November 7, 1908 – June 22, 1973) 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[1] 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
"Nacho" was 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 (as a singing seller of lollipops), Fiesta and Rio Rita (completed in 1941, released in April 1942), 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.[2]
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