Tony Martinez was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico on January 27 1920. It was in 1942 that he moved to New York City. There he studied music at Julliard. He was the bassist for pianist Noro Morales's band, while at the same time being educated in music by Juan Tizol, a trombonist in Duke Ellington's orchestra. It was about this time, in 1943, that he met the legendary Tito Puente at the Stork Club.
It was in 1945 that Tony Martinez moved from New York City to Hollywood. There he became a conguero with the Dezi Arnaz Orchestra. By the early Fifties Tony Martinez would go out on his own. As the leader of the Tony Martinez Quintet, he released several singles, starting with "Hollywood Mambo" in 1954. The Tony Martinez Quintet would continue releasing singles throughout much of the Fifties. In 1959 Tony Martino released the album The Many Sides of Pepino (as mentioned above, Pepino was his character on The Real McCoys). As Tony Martino & his Orchestra, he released the single "The Black Sheep" and in 1960 an album with Eddie Cano & Jack Costanzo, Dancing on the Sunset Strip.
Of course, today Tony Martinez is best known as an actor, and even trained at the Pasadena Playhouse. He made his film debut in a bit part as a bellboy in Angel on the Amazon in 1948. In 1950 he appeared in the film Barricade and the Mexican film El ciclón del Caribe. It was the year 1952 that would see the most significant role of his career so far. He played Go-Go, a friend of the protagonist Tommy in the movie The Ring (1952). The Ring is significant in being one of the first movies centred on Chicanos and one of the first to portray the racism they faced in 1950s Los Angeles. It also featured Rita Moreno in her first lead role.
Tony Martinez would follow The Ring with an uncredited appearance in Second Chance (1953) and the role of Vicente in the Western The Naked Dawn (1955). He also made guest appearances on the TV shows The Colgate Comedy Hour and The Lone Wolf. It was in 1956 that he made his most significant appearance in a film besides The Ring, although it was primarily as a musician. He appeared as himself in the rock 'n' roll musical Rock Around the Clock (1956). There Tony Martinez and His Band performing several songs, including "Mambo Capri," "Solo Y Triste," and "Bacalao Con Papa." If a band performing mambo appearing in a rock 'n' roll musical sounds odd, keep in mind that from the late Forties into the early Fifties there was a mambo craze in the United States, and as late as 1956 mambo was still seen as a rival to rock 'n' roll. Not only did this craze provide a boost to Tony Martinez's career, but also the careers of Machito, Noro Morales, Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez, and others.
Following Rock Around the Clock, Tony Martinez appeared in an uncredited role as a filling station attendant in You Can't Run Away from It (1956). Tony Martinez and his band were playing at a club on the Sunset Strip when he was noticed by television producers Irving and Norman Pincus. It was then that he was cast as Mexican farmhand Pepino Garcia on the sitcom The Real McCoys. Pepino was something of a stereotype, and he even took the surname "McCoy" when he became a United States citizen. Even so, Pepino was one of the few Latino characters on American television in the Fifties, perhaps the only others of any significance being Ricky on I Love Lucy and later Hey Soos on Rawhide. Tony Martinez would get a chance to perform two songs on The Real McCoys. In the October 27 1960 episode "Pepino McCoy" he performed the songs "Cuanto La Gusta" and "Pepino." Both songs had been included on Tony Martinez's 1959 album, The Many Sides of Pepino. While
Tony Martinez's acting career slowed after The Real McCoys, and consisted of guest appearances on television shows. He guest starred on the shows The Man From U.N.C.L.E., F Troop, My Favorite Martian, Accidental Family, and Storefront Lawyers. In 1967 he joined the national company of the play The Man from La Mancha. He would go onto play Sancho Panza in over 2,245 performances of the play, including on Broadway. In the Seventies he would write music for a few Mexican movies. He was also the executive director of Artists Variety Co. in Puerto Rico, a government sponsored program to help people break into entertainment. In the early Eighties he served as executive director of the Institute of Motion Pictures, the government film commission in Puerto Rico.
Tony Martinez died on September 16 2002 at the age of 82.
While Pepino on The Real McCoys was something of a stereotype, as mentioned above, he was one of the few Latino characters on American television in the Fifties and hence something of a pioneering character. Beyond playing Pepino on The Real McCoys, Tony Martinez also had a role in The Ring, a groundbreaking film in that it focused on Chicanos. As a musician he had a successful career that included performing at many clubs, releasing several records, appearing in the movie Rock Around the Clock, and writing music for Mexican films. Chances are good Tony Martinez will always be best remembered as Pepino, but he did so much more.
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