
Nestor Paiva
Highest Rated: 100% Five Fingers (1952)
Lowest Rated: 22% Revenge of the Creature (1955)
Birthday: Jun 30, 1905
Birthplace: Fresno, California, USA
Over the course of his long and varied career, Nestor Paiva used his ethnic features and his ability to handle various accents to portray villains and shady characters of every background imaginable. After developing an interest in theater while studying at the University of California at Berkeley, Paiva embarked on a decade-long successful stage career, appearing in many Los Angeles-area productions. Although he broke into film in the late '30s, often portraying devious villains and foreign authority figures in films like the crime caper "Angels' Alley" and the assassination drama "Bride of Vengeance," it was his memorable role as a crusty boat captain in the 1954 low-budget horror movie "Creature from the Black Lagoon" that garnered the stocky actor his biggest accolades yet. After reprising his role in the sequel, "Revenge of the Creature," Paiva landed guest roles on such series as the western adventures "Sugarfoot" and "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin," which is about an orphaned boy and his loyal dog who are adopted by the troops of a small army outpost. In 1957, he was memorably cast as the beleagured Spanish innkeeper Theo Gonzales in the popular Disney TV series "Zorro," later appearing as a French bailiff in the Frank Sinatra musical romance "Can-Can" and as an Italian criminal in "The Case Against Brooklyn," based on the true story of police corruption in 1950s New York.
Photos
Highest Rated Movies
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | 38% | Let's Kill Uncle | Steward (Character) | - | 1966 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Ballad of a Gunfighter | Padre (Character) | - | 1964 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | California | Gen. Micheltorena (Character) | - | 1963 |
No Score Yet | 50% | The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse | Miguel (Character) | - | 1962 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Wild Westerners | Governor John Bullard (Character) | - | 1962 |
No Score Yet | 47% | Can-Can | Bailiff (Character) | - | 1960 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Pier 5, Havana | Lopez (Character) | - | 1959 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Lady Takes a Flyer | Childreth (Character) | - | 1958 |
90% | 54% | The Left Handed Gun | Pete Maxwell (Character) | - | 1958 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Deep Six | Pappa Tatos (Character) | - | 1958 |
100% | 71% | Les Girls | Spanish Peasant (uncredited) (Character) | - | 1957 |
No Score Yet | 50% | Comanche | Puffer (Character) | - | 1956 |
43% | 27% | The Mole People | Prof. Etienne Lafarge (Character) | - | 1956 |
94% | 51% | Tarantula | Jack Andrews (Character) | - | 1955 |
22% | 33% | Revenge of the Creature | Lucas (Character) | - | 1955 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Desperado | Captain Jake Thornton (Character) | - | 1954 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Four Guns to the Border | Greasy (Character) | - | 1954 |
No Score Yet | 81% | Casanova's Big Night | Gnocchi (Character) | - | 1954 |
79% | 73% | Creature From the Black Lagoon | Lucas (Character) | - | 1954 |
100% | 90% | Five Fingers | Turkish Ambassador (uncredited) (Character) | - | 1952 |
67% | 62% | With a Song in My Heart | Lisbon Surgeon (uncredited) (Character) | - | 1952 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Fabulous Senorita | José Rodriguez (Character) | - | 1951 |
No Score Yet | 55% | Jim Thorpe, All American | Hiram Thorpe (Character) | - | 1951 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Flame of Stamboul | Joe Octavian (Character) | - | 1951 |
No Score Yet | 63% | The Great Caruso | Egisto Barretto (Character) | - | 1951 |
No Score Yet | 32% | Double Dynamite | "Hot Horse" Harris (Character) | - | 1951 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | A Millionaire for Christy | Mr. Rapello (Character) | - | 1951 |
80% | 71% | Young Man With a Horn | Louis Galba (Character) | - | 1950 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Desert Hawk | Abdul (Character) | - | 1950 |
95% | 64% | Mighty Joe Young | Brown (Character) | - | 1949 |
No Score Yet | 48% | Alias Nick Beal | Karl (Character) | - | 1949 |
No Score Yet | 57% | Follow Me Quietly | Benny (Character) | - | 1949 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Rope of Sand | Ship's Captain (Character) | - | 1949 |
88% | 54% | Joan of Arc | Henri le Royer (Character) | - | 1948 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Angel's Alley | Tony "Piggy" Locarno (Character) | - | 1948 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Lone Wolf in Mexico | Police Capt. Carlos Rodriguez (Character) | - | 1947 |
No Score Yet | 50% | Ramrod | Curley (Character) | - | 1947 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | A Likely Story | Tiny McBride (Character) | - | 1947 |
No Score Yet | 50% | Badman's Territory | Sam Bass (Character) | - | 1946 |
No Score Yet | 14% | Fear | Detective Shaefer (Character) | - | 1946 |
100% | 75% | Road to Utopia | McGurk (Character) | - | 1945 |
No Score Yet | 55% | Cornered | Police Official (uncredited) (Character) | - | 1945 |
No Score Yet | 48% | A Thousand and One Nights | Kahim (Character) | - | 1945 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Club Paradise | Lew Davis (Character) | - | 1945 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Along the Navajo Trail | Janza (Character) | - | 1945 |
No Score Yet | 33% | The Falcon in Mexico | Manuel Romero (Character) | - | 1944 |
No Score Yet | 77% | The Hard Way | Max Wade (uncredited) (Character) | - | 1942 |
No Score Yet | 48% | Pittsburgh | Barney (Character) | - | 1942 |
100% | 77% | Hold Back the Dawn | Fred Flores (Character) | - | 1941 |
No Score Yet | 64% | Arise, My Love | Uniformed Clerk (Character) | - | 1940 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Marines Fly High | Pedro Fernandez (Character) | - | 1940 |
93% | 88% | Midnight | Woman's Escort (uncredited) (Character) | - | 1939 |
TV
Credit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
87% | No Score Yet | Mystery Science Theater 3000 | Unknown (Character) | 1997 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Family Affair | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1966 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | I Spy | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1966 |
100% | 97% | The Addams Family | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1966 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Get Smart | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1965 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Gunsmoke | Daller (Guest Star) | 1965 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Lucy Show | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1964 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Beverly Hillbillies | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1964 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | McHale's Navy | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1964 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Bonanza | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1964 1960-1961 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Wagon Train | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1963 1960-1961 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Andy Griffith Show | Big Jack Anderson (Guest Star) | 1963 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Have Gun -- Will Travel | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1962-1963 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Target: The Corruptors | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1962 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | 77 Sunset Strip | Brother Jonathon (Guest Star) | 1962 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Timmy & Lassie | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1962 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Lassie | Michael Zolenko (Guest Star) | 1962 1957 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Rawhide | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1962 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Cheyenne | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1962 1956-1957 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Perry Mason | Nico (Guest Star) | 1961 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Laramie | Charlie (Guest Star) | 1961 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The David Niven Show | Anton Pickman (Character) | 1959 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Zorro | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1959 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Death Valley Days | Rossetti (Character) | 1959 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Behind Closed Doors | Unknown (Character) | 1959 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Restless Gun | Jack Denton (Guest Star) | 1958 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Sugarfoot | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1957 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Jeff's Collie | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1957 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Showcase 39 | Unknown (Character) | 1956-1957 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Climax! | Unknown (Character) | 1956 1954 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Gene Autry Show | Uncle Luis Corelli (Guest Star) | 1955 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Stage 7 | Max Zachary (Character) | 1955 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Lone Ranger | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1954 1950 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Four Star Playhouse | Max Zachary (Character) | 1954 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Superman | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1953 |
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