Jorge Negrete Biography

QUICK FACTS
Activity Actor
Real name Jorge Alberto Negrete Moreno
Nationality Mexico
Birth November 30, 1911 (Guanajuato – Mexico)
Death December 5, 1953
BIOGRAPHY
Jorge Alberto Negrete Moreno, known simply as Jorge Negrete, was a Mexican singer and actor, born on November 30, 1911, in Guanajuato, Mexico. One of the icons of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, Jorge was one of the six children of the marriage formed by David Negrete and Emilia Moreno, a lieutenant colonel and a housewife. His family would move to Mexico City in 1921, when his father retired from military life and where he would work as a teacher. Jorge entered the Heroic Military College, graduating as a lieutenant of cavalry and administration of the Mexican Army.

He decided to abandon his military career due to his passion for music, joining the Compañía Impulsora de Opera de México, under the direction of José Pierson. He would ask for leave from the army to dedicate himself completely to his dream, his career as a singer. He would begin his career on the radio station XETR, performing romantic Mexican and Neapolitan songs, using the pseudonym Alberto Moreno. It would be his friend and announcer, Arturo de Córdova, who advised him to take up the name Jorge Negrete.

In 1934, Jorge would have his first performance at the Palace of Fine Arts, in the musical La Verdad Suspicious . Shortly afterward he would accompany Ramon Armengod, to give a tour in New York, performing as Par de Aces and later as The Mexican Caballeros, on the NBC network.

Jorge would make his film debut with the film The Devil’s Godmother (1937), alongside María Fernanda Ibáñez. Soon, the charismatic actor would be one of the most beloved figures for the Mexican public, in films like ¡Ay Jalisco no te rajes! (1941), El peñón de las ánimas (1943), Gran Casino (1946), Allá en el rancho grande (1948) and Un gallo en corral ajeno (1950). In 1952, Jorge would play one of his great roles, alongside the other national idol, Pedro Infante, in the film Dos Kinds of Care (1952), by Ismael Rodríguez.

While touring Latin America and Spain, Jorge was the creator of the National Association of Actors. The singer and actor died on December 5, 1953, due to liver disease, while on tour in Los Angeles. Due to his death, national mourning was declared and five minutes of silence were observed in all the cinemas in the country.