Chrispin Martin
Chrispin Martin (19 November 1893 – 27 June 1953) was an American actor. Born Ysabel Ponciana Chris-Pin Martin Paiz in Tucson, Arizona, and he was also credited in his films by many other names, such as Chris-Pin Martin, Chris King Martin, Chris Martin, Cris-Pin Martin and Ethier Crispin Martini.
His roles were always as a rotund, roly-poly comic character where he would be bumbling or slow, of Mexican heritage who spoke in broken English. Martin acted in over 100 films between 1925 and 1953, including over 50 Westerns. His most remembered western film role was as a sidekick on Gordito and Pancho in nine of the Cisco Kid films.
On June 27, 1953, Chris-Pin Martin died of a heart attack at 59, while addressing a Moose Lodge meeting in Montebello, California. His death record can be found here by searching for Chrispin Martin with Paiz as the mother's maiden name.
There is also a picture of Martin's grave here at the Odd Fellows Cemetery on Whittier Blvd, in East Los Angeles, California.
Selected filmography
- Robin Hood of Monterey (1947)