R.I.P. Pepino

[caladon]

Tony Martinez, 82; Actor Was Among First Latinos on TV
By DENNIS McLELLAN, TIMES STAFF WRITER


Tony Martinez, the bandleader-turned-actor who played the farm hand Pepino on "The Real McCoys" and was one of the few Latino faces on network television in the 1950s and early '60s, has died. He was 82.

Martinez died Monday of natural causes in a hospital in Las Vegas, according to his wife of 21 years, Myra.

Over four decades, Martinez played Sancho Panza in 2,245 performances of "Man of La Mancha," including the national company tour of the Tony-winning musical in the late 1960s and two later national revival tours, all of which ended up on Broadway.

The actor first joined the national "Man of La Mancha" company in 1967 and over the years he played opposite a dozen different Quixotes, including Richard Kiley, Jose Ferrer and Raul Julia.

"The best time he had was spent in the theater," his wife said. "That's the reason he came back so many times."

For millions of seasoned television viewers, however, Martinez is best remembered for his role in "The Real McCoys," the rural situation comedy about a West Virginia mountain family that moved to a farm in the San Fernando Valley.

The popular series, which aired from 1957 to 1963, starred Walter Brennan as cantankerous Grandpa Amos McCoy and Richard Crenna and Kathleen Nolan as newlyweds Luke and Kate McCoy.

Martinez played the Mexican farmhand Pepino Garcia, who, as a character on the show put it, "came with the house."

"He was just a natural, and he had this enormous sense of comedy timing," Nolan recalled this week. "He was surrounded by three people--me, Walter Brennan and Dick Crenna--who were experienced actors, and he was just right on the button."

Martinez came to acting by way of his music.

Born in Puerto Rico in 1920, he studied music in his native San Juan before moving to New York to study at Juilliard.

Martinez, who played five instruments and sang, formed his own small band in New York in the 1940s: Tony Martinez and His Mambo-USA..



He later studied acting at the Pasadena Playhouse and landed small parts in a number of movies in the late 1940s and early '50s. He also appeared as himself, with his band, in the movie musical "Rock Around the Clock," starring Bill Haley and the Comets.

Martinez and his band were playing at a club on the Sunset Strip when he was discovered by TV writer-producers Irving and Norman Pincus, who were looking for someone to play the Pepino character on their new sitcom.

"When they asked him to come in for the part, he didn't bother to call back because he thought it was a joke, and then they pursued him," Nolan recalled.

Nolan, who served as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1975 to 1980, called Martinez's casting "a major breakthrough in terms of minority representation on television.

"It may not have been the representation that we are seeking now, but it certainly was a breakthrough to have a major character on television that was not white, other than Desi [Arnaz in 'I Love Lucy'].

"The thing about the Pepino character is that although he was constructed as a stereotype"--he called Brennan's Amos McCoy character "Senor Grandpa," for example--"he was wise.

"When there was conflict with the grandpa character or the Kate and Luke characters, suddenly, out of nowhere, it was Pepino that would say, 'Well, you know, Senor or Senora, why don't you do such and such.' He was sort of the 'sleeper' resolver."

Nolan said she and Martinez kept in touch over the decades, but she hadn't seen him until the taping of a "Real McCoys" reunion special two years ago for TNN, which was airing the series.

"He looked terrific, and we were very happy to be there together," she said, adding that Martinez "was obviously very proud" of having played Pepino on the show "and it was very much a part of his life."

That was apparent when she later watched Martinez drive off in his car, whose license plate read: PEPINO.

Martinez, who wrote music for a handful of movies in Mexico in the 1970s, served as executive director of Artists Variety Co. in Puerto Rico, a government-sponsored program to help citizens enter the entertainment field, in the mid-1970s. He was executive director of the Institute of Motion Pictures, the government film commission in Puerto Rico, in the early 1980s.

In addition to his wife, Martinez is survived by five children: David of Las Vegas; Renee Wilson of Cedar City, Utah; Christian of Los Angeles; Lessette of New York City; Kimra of Sedona, Ariz.; two grandchildren; and a sister, Angelica Montanez of Virginia.

Funeral services are pending.
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[ficlopri]

I don't know much about Martinez but I know for a fact that singer-actor Desi Arnaz Sr. was most certainly a white man. He was descended from people that ruled Cuba and only white people were permitted to rule the island in the old days before the 1920's.

[caladon]

Cuban political infrastructure history aside; I believe the reference was noting that both Tony Martinez and Desi Arnaz were of Latin descent and not part of the main-stream "white" performers that dominated the air waves in those days. Marking a break in the trend.

[juan.garcia]

Mr. Martinez is certainly a hero. The decision to take that role, despite its stereotype, was an act of courage.

What was the exact day, month, and year of his death?

Note on cuban reference: Any reference to "white" is a soft spot for many Cubans, who are in hopeless denial of the Latino "stigma", that transcends skin color.

[caladon]

Mr. Martinez passed away on September 16, 2002.

http://us.imdb.com/Name?Martinez,+Tony+(I)

As it happened Desilu studios is where "The Real McCoys" was filmed. If you ever get the chance; there is a DVD that features 4 episodes of TRM and includes the reunion show that He, Richard Crenna and Kathy Nolan did in 2000 when TRM was being shown on TNN. During the reunion show they discussed how important "Pepino" was to the storylines due to the fact that it was usually "Pepinio" that would talk to and explain things to "Grandpa" in order to smooth things over. Without question, TRM would not have been as good without "Pepino" and "Pepino" would not have been as memorible had it not been for talent of Tony Martinez. All the parts were perfectly cast and the show was definitely a trail blazer.

[ficlopri]

Caladon, by your logic Richard Crenna being an Italian-American performer was also not the mainstream "white" of American TV. Pardon me but I think your point is all wrong. I feel that hispanic Americans, if they are to be thouht of racially at all, it should be as either white, black, or indian. Or any combination they happen to be. Not as hispanics. Desi Arnaz Sr. probably had a well-documented genealogy showing all his roots going back to nowhere but Spain. He was as white as his one time ultra-famous wife Lucile Ball. He should be thought of as such (if anyone thinks of his race at all). The point is not entirely moot either as while he's dead his non-racially mixed kids, Desi Jr. and Lucie are still alive.

[caladon]

ficlopri;

From you initial post, it seemed you were making a comment regarding this particular passage:

"It may not have been the representation that we are seeking now, but it certainly was a breakthrough to have a major character on television that was not white, other than Desi [Arnaz in 'I Love Lucy'].

To which you responded with:

"I don't know much about Martinez but I know for a fact that singer-actor Desi Arnaz Sr. was most certainly a white man. He was descended from people that ruled Cuba and only white people were permitted to rule the island in the old days before the 1920's."

You were commenting on a quote from Kathy Nolan that was included in the obituary written: By DENNIS McLELLAN, TIMES STAFF WRITER.

My follow-up posting was for no other reason than to offer a possible reason for the quote.

My sole purpose for posting that obituary was to alert those who had not heard or read, that Tony Martinez had sadly passed away. Any comments, observations or opinions contained therein were those of the author and those that were quoted. I had no point to make, or logic to explain. I simply wanted to pass along information. And since the information dealt specifically with TRM, this board seemed to be the best place to do it.

[BundyBoy10]

Very sad news. May he RIP.