How did the name “Cantinflas” come about almost 30 years after his death

Mario Fortino Alfonso Moreno Reyes, or better known as Cantinflas, was one of Mexico's most famous histrions, producers, scriptwriters and comedians. Today, April 20, 2022, marks the 29th anniversary of their mourning anniversary.

By itself, his name was recognized throughout Mexico; however, after almost 3 decades of physical absence, his simple notoriety continues to cause rumors and several unknowns. One of the most prevalent controversies around it has been where the name Cantinflas came from.

In an interview for the ABC portal, the comedian referred to the origin of his name. The publication was anonymous for several years until it was published after his death: “It is difficult for people to point out exactly when 'Cantiflas' was born, but I can assure you that it was born with me, although it was until many years later that it gradually took shape,” he stressed in the publication entitled La risa.

This was one of the last interventions where Mario Moreno addressed the subject of his name. Despite this, throughout its history of just over 50 years in which it was enshrined as one of the most important myths in Mexico, history greatly deepened the origin of its name; however, and over time, several of these publications have been put in between.

One of the best-known and, at the same time, most valid versions was issued by another of the most important thinkers in history in Mexico, Carlos Monsiváis, who explained in one of his many works the origin of the name Cantinflas.

The valuable Mexican thinker detailed in his essay, Cantinflas, that was the detail, which is due to the contraction of some words, which were articulated to him by his erratic use of the “cantiflear” language, as well as giving special emphasis to whether the nickname was born in the tent, which were a type of traveling theater that achieved its heyday in the twentieth decade.

“According to a legend, with which he agrees, young Mario Moreno, intimidated by stage fright, once in the tent Ophelia forgot his original monologue. He began to say the first thing that comes to mind in a complete emancipation of words and phrases and what comes out is a brilliant incoherence,” the fellow Mexican lawyer argued in one of his essays.

Another version that was mentioned above in the voice of the interpreter himself, who was once recognized by Charles Chaplin as “the best comedian alive”, it was during his last television interview in 1992 that he alluded his name to desire to remain anonymous for his family.

“I invented it to camouflage my real name, to prevent my family from finding out that I was working on this...”, detailed the iconic interpreter who participated in the multi-award-winning film, Around the World in Eighty Days.

Finally, After many years in remaining the unknown about the name of the creator of the term, cantinflear, Javier Moreno, one of his direct descendants, undermined after several decades about the origin of Cantinflas.

“This story of what 'inflate in the canteen' means was created by the people, something that Mario Moreno was very funny about. The truth of the nickname or nickname or rather the name of the character he produced, only he knew it and took it to his grave,” he argued to followers about Mario Moreno Cantinflas.

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