Leopoldo Augusto Fernández Salgado

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Comic actor; one of the famous "negritos" of the Cuban stage and creator of the popular characters "José Candelario Tres Patines" and "Pototo". More than half a century after his appearance, his radio broadcasts are still heard in the Caribbean region.

He was born in Jagüey Grande, province of Matanzas. From a very young age he left his studies to contribute to his family's livelihood. He was a bread delivery man, then became a telegraph operator, cigar maker, tobacco factory reader, until in 1926 he founded a theatrical company with some friends. That same year he was hired for a national tour with Blanquita Gómez. After the tour ended he returned to his hometown to rejoin his company, and later traveled to La Habana where he met Candita Quintana, Federico Piñero, Alberto Garrido and Mimí Cal, who would be the Nananina of La Tremenda Corte and who was his wife for sixteen years.

He became known in radio, on the CMBZ station of La Casa Salas. In 1931 –during the golden age of Cuban zarzuela– he made his theatrical debut at the Teatro Martí, in the lyric comedy Frivolina, presented by the Cuban Company of Zarzuelas of the Suárez-Rodríguez company. Fernández temporarily substituted for actor Alberto Garrido, who held the "negrito" roles.

Later he was part, from December 1931 to January 1932, of the Robreño-Grenet Magazine and Zarzuela Company, at the Payret theater. To his acting work he added those of artistic director and dramatic author.

He worked in Venezuela for several years, and in 1941 he presented at the Teatro Hispano in Nueva York his Grand Cuban Company of Leopoldo Fernández, with public and critical success.

Starting in 1942 he starred in the radio program La tremenda corte, from the RHC station, with scripts by Castor Vispo, a Spanish writer residing in Cuba. This program, which reworked the legacy of Cuban bufo theater, gave Fernández the opportunity to create his memorable character of José Candelario Tres Patines, in scripts that he shared with excellent artists: Aníbal de Mar (the Tremendous Judge), Mimí Cal (the mulatta Nananina), Adolfo Otero (the Galician Rudesindo) and Miguel Ángel Herrera (the Secretary).

The delightful scripts by Castor Vispo satirized the performance of the Correctional Courts and had as their main resource language juggling, based on ambiguities and puns, to which were added Fernández's improvisational ability and his excellent chemistry with De Mar. The program achieved high ratings, as it became very popular.

Subsequently, adaptations were made for the theater version of La tremenda corte, and, based on the radio scripts, a film of the same name was also made in 1945. Its success transcended to other countries in the region and, more than half a century later, the original radio version enjoys enthusiastic reception among radio listeners in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Estados Unidos, Panama, República Dominicana, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Peru.

Fernández also popularized during the fifties and early following decade other humorous characters, with great acceptance: the Vigilante Chegoya, from the radio program El Precinto Competidora; Domitilo, in the television production Los Ricachos. But after Tres Patines, the character of Pototo, from the duo Pototo y Filomeno, was what again led him to peaks of popularity.

The program went from radio to television, and at the same time the sought-after characters appeared in the shows of nightclubs in La Habana and in the cinematography of the era. Some of the films starring Leopoldo Fernández were El vigilante Chegoya (1948); Música, mujeres y piratas; Príncipe de contrabando, Hotel de muchachas (all from 1950), ¡Olé…Cuba! (1957) and Surcos de libertad (1959).

His discography, made up of comic dialogues and musical numbers with De Mar, occupied the top places in the hit parades of the era. One of his LPs obtained a Gold Record in 1957.

He continued sharing work in the media with theatrical work. With his companies Tres Patines Follies and Company of Leopoldo Fernández, he presented seasons at the Campoamor, Actualidades, Martí theaters, and others, with enormous public success.

He also had presentations in Puerto Rico, Colombia and República Dominicana.

Between November 1960 and May 1962 he performed daily with the Leopoldo Fernández Magazine Company at the Teatro Estrada Palma (from 1961 Teatro Federico García Lorca).

In 1962 he emigrated to Estados Unidos, where he continued performing on radio and television. He performed theatrical seasons in Miami and Los Ángeles, and appeared in the feature film 3K3, where the character of Pototo appeared as a detective.

In the mid-60s, the XEFB station, of Monterrey, Mexico, presented a television version of La Tremenda Corte, with Leopoldo Fernández and Aníbal de Mar. At the end of the decade he acted for a brief season on Peruvian television.

Filmography
Hotel de Muchachas (1951)
Olé, Cuba! (1957)
Vírgenes de la Nueva Ola (1969)
El Profeta Mimí (1973)
Tres Patines en Acción (1982)