News
Farewell to Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez
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Ainslee S. Wittig/Range News Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez and wife Lee at Rex Allen Days in October 2005. |
By CAROL BROEDER/Arizona Range News
Willcox has lost one of its most beloved "adopted" sons.
Film star and entertainer Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, 80, who attended Rex Allen Days for more than 50 years, died last Monday from cancer.
Funeral services for Gonzalez were held Friday morning at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Culver City, Calif., near Los Angeles.
"Pedro loved so many people, and the majority of people he loved were in Willcox," Rex Allen Jr. told the Range News Thursday.
"He had adopted Willcox as his hometown," Allen said. "Pedro had more fondness for Willcox than for where he was from. He would say he was from San Antonio, and then talk about Willcox."
Gonzalez was honored with a plaque by the Rex Allen Museum during the 54th Rex Allen Days in October.
Bob Irvin, the museum's president, read the inscription during the Rex Allen Jr. and Friends Stage Show, "To Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, in honor of your 53 years of dedication and participation in Rex Allen Days. You will always be loved and appreciated here in Willcox, Arizona."
By all accounts, Gonzalez had attended more Rex Allen Days than its namesake and his son have.
He was known to have joked with the stage show audience that he thought he'd better show up for Rex Allen Days because he was afraid someone might take away the Willcox alley that is named after him.
"Rex Allen Days will never be the same without Pedro entertaining us with his pots and pans during the stage shows," said Mary Leighton, manager of the Rex Allen Museum.
"I first met Pedro in the 70s when he was with Rex Sr. It was quite evident then that he had a following in the community," she said.
"I've never heard anyone say anything against Pedro, his character, or his family. He was so proud of his family. It was clearly evident he loved his family very much, just as he loved his family here in Willcox," Leighton said Monday.
"Our heartfelt sympathy and prayers go out to Lee and the children. Pedro was a first-class entertainer and person," Irvin told the Range News Thursday. "He will be missed during Rex Allen Days from now on. I was proud to call Pedro and his wife Lee my friends."
He was born Ramiro Gonzalez Gonzalez, in Aguilaras, Texas, in 1925, and grew up in the entertainment business.
"My mother was a big star in the silent movies in Mexico. She was a Spanish dancer and she danced with her brother and sister. The three of them danced together for Pancho Villa," Gonzalez said during a Range News interview in 1998.
"My father was a trumpet player. He was playing in a theater in San Antonio, Texas, when my mother came from Mexico to dance in the same theater. They fell in love and got married there in that theater," said Gonzalez, adding, "My wife and I also got married in that same theater."
Gonzalez was one of nine children growing up during the Depression. He was delivered by a midwife who did not register his birth. Gonzalez said that when he was 17 he went to register for the draft but there was no record of his birth. He said it took him two years to get a birth certificate, and he only obtained it with the help of two witnesses who were there when he was born.
"One was 72 and one was 80," he said. As soon as his birth was recorded, Gonzalez said he was drafted. Though he had started entertaining very young, the military offered him more opportunities to entertain. He said he began performing comedy in Spanish, but it wasn't until he learned English that he began to be successful.
"I never learned to speak English too good, but the audience liked it like that," he said. Gonzalez also taught himself to play drums, guitar and piano, along with a wide variety of non-traditional musical instruments, such as his famous pots and pans.
When television came along, Gonzalez was one of the first Hispanic entertainers to break into the business.
"In 1953, I performed with Groucho Marx in his biggest television show ever," said Gonzalez, adding that John Wayne saw him in that performance and signed him up after the show to perform with him in more movies than Gonzalez can remember.
"I think I worked in more than 20 movies with John Wayne, but it may have been more like 30," he said. From then on, Gonzalez performed in dozens of movies, including many Walt Disney movies, such as "The Love Bug," and "The Odd Couple."
He met Rex Allen in a studio one day while Allen was there to film "The Frontier Doctor." Allen asked Gonzalez to work with him and the two hit it off.
They remained good friends, though neither one could remember how many times they had worked together.
In his book, "My life, Sunrise to Sunset," Rex Allen wrote, "Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez traveled the country with me for so many years, he is like a brother to me. Every time I needed an act to work on stage with me, I chose Pedro because he is a showman, a hard act to follow. He has never missed a date."
Gonzalez continued performing, sometimes working with his grandson, Clifton Gonzalez Gonzalez, of whom he spoke with great pride.
"My grandson's name was Clifton Craig Collins, but he was getting no work. He called me one day to tell me he was changing his last name to Gonzalez Gonzalez. Then he began to get work," Pedro said.
Clifton Gonzalez Gonzalez has recently performed in movies such as "Rampage: The Hillside Strangler Murders," "Dirty," and "Capote."
Though Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez never went to school and never learned to read or write, he had an exceptional memory. He memorized the scripts his wife, Lee, read to him.
Gonzalez once said he believed that every one of us, "are here in this world to serve. If you have no desire to serve, you have no business being here. I like to see kids laugh, enjoying life. To end a life with drugs is such a tragedy. I just want to say thanks to the world and help to make it a little happier."
"Life goes on, just like it did after my Dad died," Allen told the Range News Thursday. "The wonderful thing is that people will carry Pedro's memory with joy forever. Like my Dad, Pedro believed that children were the most important ones."
"Will Rex Allen Days go on? Yes, but it won't be the same without Pedro," Allen said.
"Maybe now, Willcox will name a street after him."
(Editor's Note: Former Range News staff writer Karen Weston Gonzales contributed to this report.)
Film star and entertainer Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, 80, who attended Rex Allen Days for more than 50 years, died last Monday from cancer.
Funeral services for Gonzalez were held Friday morning at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Culver City, Calif., near Los Angeles.
"Pedro loved so many people, and the majority of people he loved were in Willcox," Rex Allen Jr. told the Range News Thursday.
"He had adopted Willcox as his hometown," Allen said. "Pedro had more fondness for Willcox than for where he was from. He would say he was from San Antonio, and then talk about Willcox."
Gonzalez was honored with a plaque by the Rex Allen Museum during the 54th Rex Allen Days in October.
Bob Irvin, the museum's president, read the inscription during the Rex Allen Jr. and Friends Stage Show, "To Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, in honor of your 53 years of dedication and participation in Rex Allen Days. You will always be loved and appreciated here in Willcox, Arizona."
By all accounts, Gonzalez had attended more Rex Allen Days than its namesake and his son have.
He was known to have joked with the stage show audience that he thought he'd better show up for Rex Allen Days because he was afraid someone might take away the Willcox alley that is named after him.
"Rex Allen Days will never be the same without Pedro entertaining us with his pots and pans during the stage shows," said Mary Leighton, manager of the Rex Allen Museum.
"I first met Pedro in the 70s when he was with Rex Sr. It was quite evident then that he had a following in the community," she said.
"I've never heard anyone say anything against Pedro, his character, or his family. He was so proud of his family. It was clearly evident he loved his family very much, just as he loved his family here in Willcox," Leighton said Monday.
"Our heartfelt sympathy and prayers go out to Lee and the children. Pedro was a first-class entertainer and person," Irvin told the Range News Thursday. "He will be missed during Rex Allen Days from now on. I was proud to call Pedro and his wife Lee my friends."
He was born Ramiro Gonzalez Gonzalez, in Aguilaras, Texas, in 1925, and grew up in the entertainment business.
"My mother was a big star in the silent movies in Mexico. She was a Spanish dancer and she danced with her brother and sister. The three of them danced together for Pancho Villa," Gonzalez said during a Range News interview in 1998.
"My father was a trumpet player. He was playing in a theater in San Antonio, Texas, when my mother came from Mexico to dance in the same theater. They fell in love and got married there in that theater," said Gonzalez, adding, "My wife and I also got married in that same theater."
Gonzalez was one of nine children growing up during the Depression. He was delivered by a midwife who did not register his birth. Gonzalez said that when he was 17 he went to register for the draft but there was no record of his birth. He said it took him two years to get a birth certificate, and he only obtained it with the help of two witnesses who were there when he was born.
"One was 72 and one was 80," he said. As soon as his birth was recorded, Gonzalez said he was drafted. Though he had started entertaining very young, the military offered him more opportunities to entertain. He said he began performing comedy in Spanish, but it wasn't until he learned English that he began to be successful.
"I never learned to speak English too good, but the audience liked it like that," he said. Gonzalez also taught himself to play drums, guitar and piano, along with a wide variety of non-traditional musical instruments, such as his famous pots and pans.
When television came along, Gonzalez was one of the first Hispanic entertainers to break into the business.
"In 1953, I performed with Groucho Marx in his biggest television show ever," said Gonzalez, adding that John Wayne saw him in that performance and signed him up after the show to perform with him in more movies than Gonzalez can remember.
"I think I worked in more than 20 movies with John Wayne, but it may have been more like 30," he said. From then on, Gonzalez performed in dozens of movies, including many Walt Disney movies, such as "The Love Bug," and "The Odd Couple."
He met Rex Allen in a studio one day while Allen was there to film "The Frontier Doctor." Allen asked Gonzalez to work with him and the two hit it off.
They remained good friends, though neither one could remember how many times they had worked together.
In his book, "My life, Sunrise to Sunset," Rex Allen wrote, "Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez traveled the country with me for so many years, he is like a brother to me. Every time I needed an act to work on stage with me, I chose Pedro because he is a showman, a hard act to follow. He has never missed a date."
Gonzalez continued performing, sometimes working with his grandson, Clifton Gonzalez Gonzalez, of whom he spoke with great pride.
"My grandson's name was Clifton Craig Collins, but he was getting no work. He called me one day to tell me he was changing his last name to Gonzalez Gonzalez. Then he began to get work," Pedro said.
Clifton Gonzalez Gonzalez has recently performed in movies such as "Rampage: The Hillside Strangler Murders," "Dirty," and "Capote."
Though Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez never went to school and never learned to read or write, he had an exceptional memory. He memorized the scripts his wife, Lee, read to him.
Gonzalez once said he believed that every one of us, "are here in this world to serve. If you have no desire to serve, you have no business being here. I like to see kids laugh, enjoying life. To end a life with drugs is such a tragedy. I just want to say thanks to the world and help to make it a little happier."
"Life goes on, just like it did after my Dad died," Allen told the Range News Thursday. "The wonderful thing is that people will carry Pedro's memory with joy forever. Like my Dad, Pedro believed that children were the most important ones."
"Will Rex Allen Days go on? Yes, but it won't be the same without Pedro," Allen said.
"Maybe now, Willcox will name a street after him."
(Editor's Note: Former Range News staff writer Karen Weston Gonzales contributed to this report.)
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