Natividad Vacío

Natividad Vácio
in The Hitch-Hiker (1953)
Born	(1912-09-08)September 8, 1912 El Paso, Texas, U.S.
Died	May 30, 1996(1996-05-30) (aged 83) Burbank, California, U.S.
Years active	1950–1989

Natividad Vacío (September 8, 1912 – May 30, 1996) was an American character actor in films and television from the 1950s through the 1980s. Born Natividad Domínguez Vacío in El Paso, Texas, he was Mexican-American. He nearly always played a Hispanic character in his 65 film and television appearances. He was married to Henriqueta (Queta) Vacío.

Career

His debut came in a 1950 episode of The Lone Ranger called "Dead Man's Chest". He was featured in a pivotal role in The Hitch-Hiker (1953), a film noir directed by Ida Lupino. Many of his roles were in Westerns, although he had a diverse career. For example, he played a character called "Frank Smith" who was the family gardener in five episodes of the suburban sitcom Father Knows Best (the character -- and therefore the Andersons -- pronounced his first name as "Frahnk," so the credits generally spelled it phonetically as "Fronk").

The majority of his work was in television, with an occasional movie role. Perhaps the highest-profile film in which he appeared was The Magnificent Seven (1960), portraying "Miguel", one of the Mexican townspeople trying to defend their farming village from a band of outlaws. In 1988, he appeared in the Robert Redford film The Milagro Beanfield War (1988) where he portrayed "Onofre", a man with one arm, who said his arm was eaten off by butterflies. He was one of the four men they called the "senile brigade".

Vacío was a close friend of actor George Reeves, star of the TV series Adventures of Superman. Vacío played the role of a Mexican police inspector in the 1958 episode "The Brainy Burro". Vacío and Reeves met at Pasadena Junior College, and Reeves loved to hear "Nati", Vacío's nickname, sing and play his guitar. Reeves asked Nati to show him how to play. Reeves was a quick learner and both of them would play and sing Mexican songs, all the time.

In Hollywoodland (2006), a film about Reeves' life and death, the character of Vacío was portrayed by Diego Fuentes, Toronto actor/socialite, in a couple of scenes.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1948	The Loves of Carmen	Man	Uncredited
1950	Branded	Peon	Uncredited
1953	Jeopardy	Persistent Tijuana Vendor	Uncredited
1953	The Hitch-Hiker	Jose
1953	Latin Lovers	Vacuum Cleaner Man	(scenes deleted)
1954	Green Fire	Hernandez
1955	Stranger on Horseback	Morales	Uncredited
1956	Walk the Proud Land	Compos	Uncredited
1956	Giant	Eusebio	Uncredited
1957	The Night the World Exploded	Hospital Physician	Uncredited
1957	Father Knows Best	Frank
1957	Escape from Red Rock	Don Miguel Chavez
1958	Father Knows Best	Frank
1960	The Magnificent Seven	Miguel
1963	The Gun Hawk	Quid
1964	Honeymoon Hotel	Vagrant at Garbage Dump	Uncredited
1966	Castle of Evil	Muchado
1968	The Pink Jungle	Figueroa	1970. Adam 12	1972	Skyjacked	Spanish Passenger	Uncredited
1980	Cheech and Chong's Next Movie	Mexican Man in Welfare Office
1983	The Man with Two Brains	Ramon
1988	Milagro Beanfield War	The Senile Brigade

External links

• Natividad Vacío at IMDb