Gaspar Henaine

Gaspar Henaine (6 January 1930 – 30 September 2011), more commonly known by his pseudonym Capulina, was a Mexican comedian, actor, singer, film producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for partnering with Marco Antonio Campos as the double act Viruta and Capulina and for his subsequent solo career. He was later given the nickname "El Rey del Humorismo Blanco" (The King of White Humor), due to his clean, innocent style of comedy.

Gaspar Henaine
Viruta (right) and Capulina (left) in La Sombra del Otro.
PseudonymCapulina
Birth nameGaspar Henaine y Pérez de León
Born(1930-01-06)6 January 1930
Chignahuapan, Puebla, Mexico
Died30 September 2011(2011-09-30) (aged 81)
Mexico City, Mexico
MediumFilm, television, theatre, music
Years active1943–1999
GenresDouble act, slapstick
SpouseMaría Elena Frías
(married 1949–2011)

Early life

Capulina was born in Chignahuapan, Puebla, the son of Antonio Henaine Helú, a Lebanese businessman, and Concepción Pérez de León[1] (c. 1893 – 27 February 1983),[2] who was also born in Chignahuapan.[3] He and his family later moved to Mexico City. At age 10, he made his acting debut with a small part in Fernando de Fuentes' Allá en el rancho grande (1936).[4] He studied acting and later won the "best dramatic child actor" award bestowed by the academy he attended.[5][6] He started his musical career as one of the vocalists of the quartet Los Excéntricos del Ritmo.[4] Later, in 1946, he formed part of the trio Los Trincas. The trio was hugely successful and toured Mexico and some cities of the United States.[4]

Career

Viruta and Capulina

Capulina became famous across Latin America alongside his longtime professional partner, Marco Antonio Campos, as Viruta and Capulina. In 1951, they started filming together. The two comedians made 26 films. At first they imitated the comedy style of Laurel and Hardy, thanks to their physical resemblance to them. With time they developed their own characteristic comedy style. The main difference with Laurel and Hardy is that Viruta, the thin character, was also the intelligent and aggressive one, while Capulina, the portly character, was the fool and cowardly one.

In the peak of their popularity they had a television program called Cómicos y canciones,[7] where they alternated with other comedians and singers. Some of their sketches were written by a then unknown Roberto Gomez Bolaños who later gained legendary fame as comedian Chespirito.

Many rumors surfaced when the two co-workers stopped making films together; some suggested that Viruta felt underpaid, but Capulina attributed the separation to a feud between the two caused by lack of film jobs towards the end of their working relationship. Although he admitted that both he and Viruta felt some animosity against each other during their last six films together, Capulina also felt deep sorrow when Viruta died. A sufferer of three previous heart attacks, Viruta died after his fourth heart attack.

Later career

Capulina made a total of 84 movies, 58 of them after separating from Viruta. He also has recorded 12 music albums. One of his most famous films was Santo contra Capulina (1969), where he co-starred with Mexican wrestling legend El Santo.

Most of the films where he starred shared the same theme, to generate an adventure based on Capulina getting in trouble due to a specific issue, added with his position as an incompetent and foolish person. For example, in El mundo de los aviones (1969), Capulina is a pilot that always fails to land his plane correctly, hitting some wall and encrusting a partner in the process. He is involved in an international fraud and he teams with his airline partners to prevent the robbery, not without several funny problems.

He went from being the same character in different situations and who confronts different kind of enemies like robbers, gangs, spies, and also vampires, monsters, and mummies, with the aid of adventurers, wrestlers (like El Santo) or unexpected powers.

The character of Capulina gained huge popularity and a very successful comic book series -with stories by comic artist Oscar González Guerrero and art by his son Oscar Gonzalez Loyo- was published in the seventies and early eighties.

Capulina's last film was Mi compadre Capulina (1989). He also made a television series, Las aventuras de Capulina (1989), where he struggled in different adventures with the help of wrestler Tinieblas and sidekick Alushe.

His telenovela debut in El diario de Daniela (1996) was also his last appearance.

Capulina was also a theatrical actor and stand-up comedian. He toured with his act until 1997, when he retired, claiming that he was feeling too old to go on.

Death

Henaine died of complications with pneumonia and a gastric ulcer on September 30, 2011.[8]

Selected filmography
YearFilmRoleNotes
1943 Another Dawn
1950 Cuando acaba la noche as Los Trincas
1953 Ahí vienen los gorrones
1957 La sombra del otro
1958 Se los chupó la bruja Capulina
1958 Viaje a la luna Fireman
1958 Los legionarios Legionario Capulina
1958 La odalisca No. 13 Emir Ali Kaido
1958 Muertos de miedo Capulina
1958 A sablazo limpio Crispín Capulina
1959 Angelitos del trapecio Capulina
1960 Los tigres del desierto Capulina
1960 Dos locos en escena Capulina
1960 Dos criados malcriados Capulina
1960 El dolor de pagar la renta Capulina
1960 Comedians and Songs Capulina
1960 Los desenfrenados Capulina
1961 Limosneros con garrote Capulina
1961 Un par... a todo dar Capulina
1961 Pegando con tubo Teniente Capulina
1961 Dos tontos y un loco
1962 Qué perra vida Capulina
1962 Cascabelito Capulina
1962 ¡En peligro de muerte!
1963 Los invisibles
1963 Barridos y regados
1964 Buenos días, Acapulco Detective Capulina
1964 Los astronautas Capulina
1964 La edad de piedra
1965 Los reyes del volante
1965 El Investigador Capulina
1966 La vida de Pedro Infante Capulina
1966 Cada quién su lucha Capulina
1966 Dos meseros majaderos
1966 La batalla de los pasteles
1966 La cigüeña distraída Capulina Palacios / Capulina Corrales
1967 Detectives o ladrones..? (Dos agentes inocentes)
1967 Dos pintores pintorescos Capulina
1967 Un par de roba chicos
1967 El camino de los espantos last Viruta y Capulina film
1968 Operacion Carambola
1968 El Zangano speedy Gonzales
1974 El Carita
1981 El naco más naco
2015 Selección Canina Director Plateas (voice role) Released 4 years after his death
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References
  1. "Concepcion Perez de Leon - mentioned in the record of Juan Henaine Perez". FamilySearch. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  2. "Concepcion Perez - Mexico, Distrito Federal, Civil Registration". FamilySearch. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  3. Kuri Camacho, Ramón (2006). Chignahuapan: Sierra Norte de Puebla: voces y miradas de su historia, Volume 2. Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. p. 71. ISBN 9688638986.
  4. Trujillo, Marina (27 March 1995). "Todavía hay "Capulina" para mucho". El Siglo de Torreón. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  5. "Los niños son lo más importante en su vida: Gaspar Henaine "Capulina"". El Siglo de Torreón. 6 December 1998. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  6. "Viruta y Capulina filmaran en el estudio de Walt Disney". La Opinión. 6 September 1962. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  7. "Cobran bien en la TV Viruta y Capulina". La Opinión. 29 September 1963. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  8. "El rey del humor blanco, 'Capulina', muere tras semanas internado". CNN México. 30 September 2011. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
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