Henry Darrow (b. Enrique DelGado, 1933) is best known for his role as Manolito Montoya on the hit tv western The High Chaparral (1967-1971). The good looking Darrow was one of tv’s first Latino stars (obviously not the first, since Leo Carillo, Desi Arnez, and others had come before him.) But Darrow was the first Puerto Rican to co-star in a series (ironic, since he was playing a Mexican vaquero). What makes Darrow significant is that he didn’t downplay the fact that he was Latino (as Webb, and certain stars like Rita Hayworth had). NOR did he play a stereotype, as Carillo and, to a lesser extent Arnez, had (let’s face it, Desi got a lot of laughs out of his accent). By contrast, Darrow’s character was just a Mexican guy — one of the first to come out of Hollywood who was not a villain. Later, Darrow went on to play hundreds of other roles in film and tv (notably in The Hitcher and The New Zorro) and on stage as well.
Get his whole story in his new (semi?) autobiography, co-penned by Jan Pippins. It’s full of insight, anecdote, incident and cool photos! Darrow is one of those guys who seems to have been on every show, and worked with every one, and they all seem to respect and admire him, so there’s a lot of rewarding detail in this well-written book; it ends up being a chronicle not only of the life of this pathbreaking actor, but of his times.
Here’s how to get one for yourself: http://www.henrydarrowbook.com/
(Travalanche) 