From the movies of the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema, the public could see on the big screen the love stories between the gallant and the damsel, however, in the 70s there was a change in melodramas, as producers and directors began to make gay-themed tapes, in which they invited big stars like Carmen Salinas placeholder image and a famous actor recognized since 1950 and was encouraged to make the first homosexual character.
It was about Roberto Cobo, who is remembered for his character “El Jaibo” in the film ‘The forgotten“by Luis Buñuel, which is considered”Memory of the world“by UNESCO. The actor gained recognition from that film, however, his role as a transvestite made him set a precedent in national cinema, since before him no one had played a character belonging to the community LGBT.
Roberto Cobo started his career at a very young age
Eleuterio Garcia Romero He was born in General Zuazua, Nuevo León, on February 20, 1930 and at the age of eight he made his debut as an actor in the so-called tents. His talent led him to be part of the Iris Theater company, which was founded and directed by actress Esperanza Iris; and later made the leap to the big screen with ‘The seven children of Écija‘from 1947, where he shared credits with Rafael Banquells, Julián Soler, Florencio Castelló, among others.
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However, he achieved international recognition until he was 20 years old, when he played “El Jaibol” in ‘Los vivos’. The film won the award for ‘Best Director’ at the Cannes Film Festival, while Cobo won the award for ‘Best Youth Performance‘at the Awards Ariel 1950.
After the film, the young actor participated in other films such as ‘Subida al cielo’ where he was again directed by Luis Buñuel and worked with Lilia Prado, as well as in ‘Where the poor are born’, ‘Theater women’, ‘If it were anybody’, ‘Dancing, Ballroom’, ‘Star without light’, ‘To the rhythm of rock and roll’, ‘Poker de Aces’, ‘Cast me to the vampire’ and ‘Black Wind’, to name a few.
Roberto Cobo the first actor to play a gay man
The Golden Cinema heartthrob worked on around 70 films, but one of the most memorable was ‘The place without limits‘by director Arturo Ripstein, in which they also participated Carmen Salinas placeholder image, Lucha Villa, Gonzalo Vega, Fernando Soler, Julián Pastor, Ana Martin, Emma Roldán and many more stars.
In the 1978 tape, Roberto Cobo played “La Manuela“, which was the first openly gay character in the history of Mexican cinema, since it was a transvestite who had a brothel in the small town of Olivo. The actor not only played a role belonging to the LGBT community, he also starred in the first gay kiss in the national cinematography with his scene partner Gonzalo Vega.
Roberto Cobo was gay?
The performance of Roberto Cobo earned him an Ariel Award as’Best Actor’However, speculation about his sexual orientation soon began, as many claimed that he was gay. Meanwhile, the actor, who was also known as “The Cramps”, He was never willing to discuss his sexuality openly.
In 1978, in an interview with Proceso magazine, the interpreter indicated that he did not want to be known as the “homosexual on the screen” and although he loved to embody “La Manuela”, he had no resemblance to his character. “I hate and detest certain types of homosexuals who go around making a fool of themselves in the street, who discredit homosexuality,” he said.
Roberto Cobo He died on August 2, 2002 at the age of 72 due to a heart attack and a stroke in the esophagus. However, the actor went down in history for starring in the first openly LGBT-themed film in Mexican cinema.
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