Bedoya, Alfonso (1904–1957)
Bedoya, Alfonso (1904–1957)
Alfonso Bedoya worked as a character actor in Mexican and U.S. cinema from the late thirties to the late fifties. Born on April 16, 1904, in Vicam Sonora, he left his small town as a child and briefly attended a private school in Texas. After dropping out and working odd jobs in the United States, he moved to Mexico City. Bedoya appeared in more than 175 Mexican films. Among his films were La Golondrina (The Swallow, 1938); El Gavilán (The Hawk, 1940); Los de abajo (The Underdogs, 1940); Los tres mosqueteros (The Three Musketeers, 1942); Flor Silvestre (1943); Gran Casino (1946); Doña Bárbara (1943); Las Abandonadas (The Abandoned, 1944) and La Perla (The Pearl, 1945). Bedoya's first role in U.S. cinema was in John Huston's classic Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), which also starred Humphrey Bogart and Tim Holt. In this film, he played a vicious Mexican bandit leader named Gold Hat and uttered the lines that he is most remembered for: "Badges? We ain't got no badges! We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any stinking badges!" Although Bedoya starred in other U.S. movies, none brought him as much success. He died of reasons related to heavy drinking in Mexico City on December 15, 1957.
See alsoCinema: From the Silent Film to 1990 .
BIBLIOGRAPHY
"Bedoya, Alfonso." Obituary. New York Times, December 17, 1957.
Sophia Koutsoyannis