El Santo

Born September 23, 1917 · Tulancingo, Hidalgo, México

Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta debuted in the ring in 1934, but his legend began to be woven on July 26, 1942 in the legendary Arena México. That night the robust fighter - who over the years made a career under the names Hombre Rojo, Enmascarado, Murciélago II and Demonio Negro, among others - debuted a brand new personality under a shiny silver mask. El Santo, the Silver Masked Man, was born. The legend of El Santo was never the product of chance. His tenacity and versatility in the ring earned him the respect of his opponents and the admiration of the respectable public that night after night filled the coliseums where the Silver Masked Man gave an account of his fearsome rivals. He was rough and technical but, above all, he was an honest fighter who did not have to resort to tricks or scandals to increase his well-deserved fame. From the ring to the screen, the route that El Santo followed to become an idol of Mexican cinema led him first to the world of comics. Thanks to the inventiveness of the cartoonist and editor José Guadalupe Cruz, Santo was the first fantastic character in popular Mexican literature and one of the most beloved, along with the legendary Kalimán. The Silver Masked Man made his film debut in 1952. In that year, the popularity of wrestling in Mexico was increasing thanks to the broadcasts of this sport-spectacle on television. At the same time, the comics starring Santo, the Silver Masked Man - printed on that unforgettable sepia-colored paper - invaded magazine stands throughout the country and sold thousands of copies every week. A few years later, the circulation of Santo's adventures would reach more than a million weekly magazines.