Header Image: Armendáriz, right, as revenue man Jim Dunn with classmate Joel Davis, were the main characters in “Moonshine,” performed Feb. 11, 1931, on the Crandall Gym stage.

Over the decades, many notable people have come to Cal Poly to benefit from the Learn by Doing philosophy: among them, John Madden (Physical Education '59; M.A. Education '61), "Weird Al" Yankovic (Architecture, '80) and astronaut Victor Glover (General Engineering, '99). But decades before, a trailblazing Mexican actor and international movie star found his artistic passion during his time as a Mustang. 

Pedro “Pete” Armendáriz, dazzled in film roles during the golden age of Mexican cinema in the 1940s and ‘50s. He also worked with actors including John Wayne and Sean Connery, and notable directors like John Huston.  

Armendáriz first came to Cal Poly in 1928, as a 16-year-old high school sophomore. When he arrived on campus, the California Polytechnic School (as it was then known) was a campus on the move, with more students, major new buildings and a varied curriculum that catered to six classes — four grades of high school and two classes of junior college students — in study areas from agriculture and mechanics to academics and the liberal arts. A 1931 alumnus who became an international movie star hailed by Hollywood as the “Mexican Clark Gable,” may be Cal Poly’s best-kept Latino secret. 

In the fall of his senior year, Armendáriz became the Heron Hall correspondent for the Polygram student newspaper, becoming president of the Polytechnic Press Club the following February and editor-in-chief of the Polygram newspaper that March. 

Also that February, Armendáriz kicked off his acting career, appearing in the 20-minute, one-act farce “Moonshine.”  

In the play, Armendáriz portrayed a U.S. Treasury agent held captive by a moonshiner who was planning the revenuer’s murder. His character made a friend of his foe, however, and escaped using his wits. 

Over the next three months, Armendáriz performed in the biggest campus play, “The Black Flamingo,” and was ringmaster of the third annual student Block “P” Poly Circus. He graduated in May of 1931 and returned to Cal Poly that fall as a junior college student. 

Casting for the annual play began in February 1932 — and Armendáriz was a shoo-in.  

The play, “The Bad Man,” was set near the border and alluded to the life of Mexican outlaw-revolutionary Pancho Villa. It was Armendáriz’s final performance at Cal Poly, but his first of ultimately six portrayals of Pancho Villa.  

Nearly 100 years later, the website Collider would call Armendáriz, “arguably the most recognizable performer to have played Pancho Villa — an incredible feat considering Villa actually played himself in a number of different films before his death.”

Pedro Armendáriz left Cal Poly for Mexico City with a handful of theatrical performances under his belt and a creative fire within.  

Armendáriz made his film debut in the 1935 Mexican drama “Rosario” and quickly made an impression in Mexico’s burgeoning film industry, said author Luis Reyes, a renowned scholar, author and lecturer specializing in the history of Latinos in the Hollywood film industry. 

“Flor Silvestre” (Wild Flower), a 1943 Mexican historical film directed by Emilio Fernández and starring Dolores del Río, “was the movie that put him on the map,” said Reyes, who has been a guest expert on Turner Classic Movies. 

“He became a film idol fairly quickly because of his look,” Reyes continued. “He was the first truly Mexican film star because of his Indigenous look.” 

Good roles followed in Hollywood too, including in classic westerns like “Fort Apache” and “Three Godfathers." 

But his most famous acting role, in the 1963 James Bond film “From Russia With Love,” with Sean Connery, would be his last. Following the completion of his movie scenes in England, he returned to Los Angeles and was admitted into the UCLA Medical Center with terminal cancer. Armendáriz died by suicide shortly after, at the age of 51. 

Armendáriz “was the top of the classic Mexican cinema,” according to Reyes, and remains beloved by generations of film buffs. 

He was a six-time nominee for the Ariel Award — Mexico’s Academy Award. He won for Best Actor twice: 1948’s “La Perla” (John Steinbeck’s “The Pearl”); and “El Rebozo de Soledad (Soledad’s Shawl) in 1953. Throughout his lifetime, he appeared in 42 Mexican films and more than 80 movies in Hollywood, France, England, Italy and Germany. 

“It’s him, Emilio Fernández, Dolores del Río and the list goes on,” Reyes said. “He was one of the true icons of Mexican cinema, but he was also one of the first international stars. His movies played all over the world, and he worked all over the world.”