The Cisco Kid was a popular radio, television and film series based on the fictional Western character created by author O. Henry in his short story "The Caballero's Way," published in 1907 in the short story collection Heart of the West. Films and television
depicted the Cisco Kid a heroic Mexican caballero, although in O. Henry's original story he was a non-Hispanic character and a cruel outlaw who was
probably modelled on Billy the Kid.
Numerous movies featured the character, beginning in the silent film era with William R. Dunn portraying the
Cisco Kid in The Caballero's Way (1914), followed by The Border Terror (1919). Warner Baxter won an Oscar for his portrayal of the Cisco Kid in the early sound film, In Old Arizona (1928), directed by Irving Cummings and Raoul Walsh, who was originally slated to play the lead until a jackrabbit jumping through a windshield cost him an eye
while on location.
The movie series with Cesar Romero in the title role began with The Cisco Kid and the Lady (1939), and Duncan Renaldo took over the reins in 1945 with The Cisco Kid Returns. Beginning with The Gay Cavalier (1946),
Gilbert Roland played the character in a half-dozen 1946-1947 movies.
Renaldo returned to the role for the popular 156-episode Ziv Television series (1950-1956), notable as one
of the first TV series filmed in color. After a long absence, the character galloped back onto TV screens with The Cisco
Kid, a 1994 TV movie starring Jimmy Smits.
The Cisco Kid's cinematic sidekick, Gordito ("Fatty"), was portrayed by Chris-Pin Martin, followed by Pancho, played by Martin Garralaga and later by Leo Carrillo. For the 1994 TV film, Pancho was played by Cheech Marin. The TV episodes and the 1994 movie ended with one or the other of them making a corny joke about the adventure
they had just completed. They would laugh, saying, "Oh, Pancho!" "Oh, Cisco!", before galloping off into the sunset. Spanish-styled
Western theme music was heard as the credits rolled.
Radio
The Cisco Kid came to radio October 2, 1942, with Jackson Beck in the title role and Louis Sorin as Pancho. With Vicki Vola and Bryna Raeburn in supporting roles and Michael
Rye announcing, this series continued on Mutual until 1945. It was followed by another Mutual series in 1946, starring Jack
Mather and Harry Lang, who continued to head the cast in the syndicated radio series of more than 600 episodes from 1947 to
1956.
Comics
Baily Publishing's Cisco Kid Comics appeared on newsstands in 1944, followed by Dell Comics's 41-issue run of The Cisco Kid Comics, beginning in 1951.
Jose Luis Salinas and Rod Reed drew the Cisco Kid comic strip which was syndicated from 1951 to 1967.
