Photo illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios. Photo: Arthur Bryan Marroquin/ABM Photography
The history of the silver screen was partly made by, and with, Latinos. A new book wants to make sure they get their due.
Why it matters: Latinos are deeply underrepresented in Hollywood and are often typecast as criminals or gangsters.
The book, “Viva Hollywood: The Legacy of Latin and Hispanic Artists in American Film,” by Luis I. Reyes, charts how those stereotypes started.
- Published Sep. 13 by Running Press, a Hachette imprint, the book also details how some performers were able to break out of them, and how key Hispanics were to the development of film.
Details: Among the most compelling parts of Reyes’ book are the tidbits of Hispanic influence that have been lost to history, like that some of Marilyn Monroe’s most famous on-screen dresses were designed by a Hispanic costumer, Bill Travilla, and that it was a Mexican American sculptor behind the puppets used to make the original “King Kong” movie.
- The casting director for several Charlie Chaplin classics, and the choreographer for Elvis in “Jailhouse Rock” and Gene Kelly in “An American in Paris,” were Hispanic.
- Rita Hayworth, who was of Spanish descent, was born Margarita Cansino but changed her name — and hairline — at the behest of her studio.
- Reyes also dispels reports that the Oscar statue is modeled after Mexican actor and director Emilio Fernández, saying his research shows it’s likely just a rumor spread by Fernández.
What he's saying: “I wanted to show that we've been involved in the Hollywood film industry since the beginning,” Reyes tells Axios Latino.
- “We’ve been making more inroads, defining our image and experience within American cinema. But we also have a long history that needs to be documented and celebrated.”