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Duncan Renaldo as:THE CISCO KID
In the Early 1950's Duncan Renaldo, helped to pioneer the way for serial B-Westerns to
The life story of Duncan Renaldo, aka THE CISCO KID would make a very good Hollywood script in itself. Accoring to interviews Renaldo said that he actually did not know when or in what country he was born, but that he was raised in several parts of Europe. He arrived in the U.S. in the early '20s, having secured his passage as a stoker on a Brazilian coal ship that caught fire in the Baltimore harbor leaving Duncan stranded while he was on a 90-day seaman's permit.
He failed at his attempt to be a portrait painter, then tried to become a producer of short films; but was soon unsuscessful here too. However, he did take up acting, and his talent was soon spotted by MGM scouts who signed him in 1928. He was primarily cast as Latin lovers in late silents and early talkies. In 1932 immigration authorities filed illegal entry charges against Duncan and he spent almost a year in prison. His rescuer, was Republic Studios head Herbert J. Yates who secured a presidential pardon from Roosevelt, and then signed a greatful Renaldo to a seven-year contract. Over the next several years he continued playing leads and supporting roles in minor films and serials, starring alongside many of tinseltown's biggest names. In the early '40s he was chosen as one of the Three Mesquiteers in a series of popular western films and within a few years he was starring in his own western serial as The Cisco Kid, the role for which he will forever be known.
Duncan first played The Cisco Kid in a B-Western film 'THE VALIANT HOMBRE' released in 1948. The series ran for a total of five films then Renaldo and his co-star Leo Carillo were offered a pioneering television show based on their same characters.
"The Cisco Kid" TV series ran for 156 action packed episodes and six enormously popular years. The series featured many actors and actresses previously seen in B-westerns, and produced 156 half-hour shows. The show continued even when Renaldo was injured during the fourth season in 1953-54 
in a rock fall and was hospitalized through nine episodes. The producers had Cisco wearing masks, disguised as a ghost and other gimmicks where they could use stuntmen or doubles. They had Renaldo record his lines from the hospital, and inserted previously-shot footage. The sixth season proved the final outing for the show, although it has been popular in re-runs.
Above published by DELL COMICS at the height of The Cisco Kid's popularity
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exit the big screens of Hollywood and enter into the living rooms of America through the small screens of a newly emerging media called television. Duncan Renaldo will forever be fondly remembered in our hearts as "CISCO".
