Leo Carrillo was born on August 6, 1881 at Los Angeles, California. Carrillo's fame derives from his characterization of Pancho on the "Cisco Kid" TV show, but there was much more to his show-business career. A former newspaper cartoonist, Carrillo first attracted attention as a dialect comedian in vaudeville. He broke into movies in the late 1920s, just as sound was coming in, and most often played a malapropistic Latin character. He was sometimes a bad guy, as in Girl of the Rio (1932), but more often played the fool.

His particular brand of buffoonery must be seen to be appreciated in Moonlight and Pretzels (1933), Viva Villa! (1934), Love Me Forever, In Caliente (both 1935), History Is Made at Night (1937), Manhattan MerryGo-Round, Girl of the Golden West, Too Hot to Handle (all 1938), Lillian Russell (1940, as Tony Pastor), American Empire (1942), Ghost Catchers (1944), and The Fugitive (1947), among others. He first played Pancho to Duncan Renaldo's Cisco in a 1950 series of B Westerns, before achieving latter-day celebrity in the longrunning television show. Proud of his Californian heritage, he wrote a book, The California I Love in 1961.

Carrillo married Edith Haeselbarth in 1940 and stayed with him until her death in 1953. They had one daughter - Antoinette.

As far as I can tell, Carrillo never appeared on the Strip, but my research has shown he was the first actor to have a room in a resort named after him. When the Hotel Last Frontier was built, the section that was originally the Pair-O-Dice club was incorporated into the resort and called The Carrillo Room. The picture above shows the picture that hung in the Room with Carrillo standing next to it.

Leo Carrillo State Park and Leo Carrillo beach, both in California, were named after the actor, who also served on the State Park and Recreation Commission. He was related by blood and marriage to a long line of distinguished original Californians.

Carrillo died on September 10, 1961, of cancer but shortly before his death he wrote the book The California I Love with A.J. Marik. He is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery, Santa Monica, CA.

Carrillo's credits include Pancho Villa Returns (1950) as Pancho Villa, The Cisco Kid (1950) TV Series as Pancho; The Girl From San Lorenzo (aka Don Amigo) (1950) as Pancho; Screen Snapshots: The Great Showman (1950) as himself; Satan's Cradle (1949) as Pancho; The Daring Caballero(aka Guns of Fury) (1949) as Pancho; The Gay Amigo (aka Daring Rogue) (1949) as Pancho; Valiant Hombre (1948) as Pancho; The Fugitive (1947) as Chief of Police Puerto Grande; Around the World in California (1946) (uncredited) as Himself; Under Western Skies (1945) as King Randall; Mexicana (1945) as Esteban Guzman; Screen Snapshots Series 25, No. 3: Fashions and Rodeo (1945) as himself; Crime, Inc. (1945) as Anthony Charles 'Tony' Marlow; Moonlight and Cactus (1944) as Pasqualito; Bowery to Broadway (1944) as P.J. Fenton; Babes on Swing Street (1944); Gypsy Wildcat (1944) as Anube; Ghost Catchers (1944) as Jerry; Crazy House (1943) - Cameo appearance; Larceny with Music (1943) as Gus Borelli; Phantom of the Opera (1943) as Signor Ferretti; Frontier Badmen (1943) as Chinito Galvez; Follow the Band (1943) as himself; Honolulu Lu (1942) as Don Estaban Cordoba; American Empire (aka My Son Alone) (1942) as Dominique Beauchard; Sin Town (1942) as Angelo Colins; Timber (1942) as Quebec; Men of Texas (aka Men of destiny) (1942) as Sam Sawyer; Top Sergeant (1942) as Cpl. Frenchy Devereaux; Danger in the Pacific (1942) as Leo Marzell; Escape from Hong Kong (1942) as Pancho; Unseen Enemy (1942) as Nick; What's Cookin'? (1942/I) as Marvothe the Great; Tight Shoes (1941) as Amalfi; Road Agent (aka Texas Road Agent) (1941) as Pancho; The Kid from Kansas (1941) as Pancho; Riders of Death Valley (1941) as Pancho Lopez; Barnacle Bill (1941) as Pico Rodriguez; Horror Island (1941) as Tobias Clump; One Night in the Tropics (1940) as Escobar, Mayor of San Marcos; Captain Caution (1940) as Argandeau; Wyoming (aka Bad Many of Wyoming) (1940) as Pete Marillo; Lillian Russell (1940) as Tony Pastor; 20 Mule Team (1940) as Piute Pete; The Girl and the Gambler (1939) as El Rayo; Rio (1939) as Roberto; Chicken Wagon Family (1939) as Jean Paul Batiste Fippany; Society Lawyer (1939) as Tony Gazotti; Fisherman's Wharf (1939) as Carlo; The Arizona Wildcat (1938) as Manuel Hernandez; City Streets (1938) as Joe Carmine; Flirting with Fate (1938) as Sancho; Too Hot to Handle (1938) as Joselito; Blockade (1938) as Luis; Screen Snapshots: Studio Talent Parade (Series 17, No. 9) (1938) as himself; The Girl of the Golden West (1938) as Mosquito; Little Miss Roughneck (1938) as Pascual Orozco; 52nd Street (1937) as Fiorello Zamarelli; Hotel Haywire (1937) as Dr. Zodiac Z. Zippe; The Barrier (1937) as Poleon Doret; Manhattan Merry-Go-Round (aka Manhattan Music Bow (1937) as Gordoni; I Promise to Pay (1937) as Forra; History Is Made at Night (1937) as Cesare; Cinema Circus (1937) (uncredited) as himself; It Had to Happen (1936) as Giuseppe Badjagaloupe; The Gay Desperado (1936) as Pable Braganza; Moonlight Murder (1936) as Gino D'Acosta; If You Could Only Cook (1935) as Mike Rossini; The Winning Ticket (1935); La Fiesta de Santa Barbara (1935) as himself; Love Me Forever (aka On Wings of Song) (1935) as Steve Corelli; In Caliente (1935) as Jose Gomez; The Band Plays On (1934) as Angelo; The Gay Bride (1934) as Mickey 'The Greek' Mikapopoulis; Star Night at the Cocoanut Grove (1934) as himself; Manhattan Melodrama (1934) as Father Joe; Viva Villa! (1934) as Sierra; Four Frightened People (1934) as Montague; Obey the Law (1933) as Tony Pasqual; Racetrack (1933) as Joe Tomasso; Before Morning (1933) as Dr. Gruelle; Moonlight and Pretzels (Moonlight and Melody) (1933) as Nick Pappacroplis; Parachute Jumper (1933) as Kurt Weber; Men Are Such Fools (1932) as Tony Mello; Second Fiddle (1932); Deception (1932) as Jim Hurley; The Broken Wing (1932) as Captain Innocencio; Girl of the Rio (aka The Dover) (1932) as Don Jose Tostado; The Guilty Generation (1931) as Mike Palmiero; Lasca of the Rio Grande (1931) as Jose Santa Cruz; Homicide Squad (Lost Men) (1931) as Big Louie Grenado; Hell Bound (1931) as Nick Cotrelli; The Foreigner (1929); Hellgate of Soissons (1929); Mister Antonio (1929) as Antonio Camaradino; and At the Ball Game (????).