Nestor Caetano Paiva (June 30, 1905 – September 9, 1966) was an American stage, radio, film and television actor of Portuguese descent. He performed in over 400 motion pictures either as an extra, a bit player, or as a significant supporting character."Veteran Actor Nestor Paiva Succumbs at 61", obituary, Los Angeles Times, September 11, 1966, p. B4. Historical Newspapers (Ann Arbor, Michigan); subscription access through The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library, April 10, 2023. He also appears in such roles in a variety of television series produced during the 1950s and early 1960s. Among his notable screen appearances is his recurring role as the innkeeper Teo Gonzales in Walt Disney's late 1950s televised Spanish Western series Zorro, as well as in its adapted theatrical release The Sign of Zorro (1958). Paiva also appears as the boat captain Lucas in the Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) and in that horror film's sequel Revenge of the Creature (1955).
Early years and stage and radio work Born in California in 1905, Nestor was the tenth of twelve children of Mariana Luísa (née Freitas) and Francisco "Frank" Caetano Paiva."Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910Population", image of original enumeration page, April 22, 1910, Fresno, California, "Nestra" Paiva, son in household of Frank C. Paiva; Enumeration District (ED) 43, sheet 12B, United States Census Bureau, Department of Commerce and Labor, Washington, D.C. Copy of original census page in National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) accessed via FamilySearch, April 9, 2023. Both of his parents were natives of Portugal, who immigrated to the United States from the Azores, a cluster of islands situated in the Atlantic about west of Lisbon. His father arrived in the United States in 1880, at age seven. His mother immigrated much later, in 1896, at the age of 17. That same year she married Frank, who in the coming years supported Nestor and the rest of the growing Paiva family working as the proprietor of a grocery store in Fresno and then, by the late 1920s, as a gardener and laborer of "odd jobs"."Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920Population", January 5–6, 1920, Fresno, California, "Nesto", son in household of Frank C. Paiva; ED 39, sheet 7A, U.S. Census Bureau. Copy of original census page in NARA accessed via FamilySearch, April 10, 2023."Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930Population", April 3, 1930, Berkeley, Alameda County, California, "Nesto", son in household of Frank C. Paiva; ED 1-327, sheet 4A, U.S. Census Bureau. Copy of original census page in NARA accessed via FamilySearch, April 10, 2023.
Frank and Mariana Paiva moved their entire family to Northern California prior to the summer of 1929, resettling in Alameda County, where Nestor attended the University of California, Berkeley. During his studies there he performed in stage productions both on and off campus. In July 1929, as examples, he was cast in the Berkeley Playhouse's presentations of Robert E. Sherwood's comedy The Queen's Husband and in another comedy, Meet the Wife by Lynn Starling."Modern Comedy Is Produced at Local Playhouse", The Daily Californian (Berkeley, California), July 2, 1929, p. 5, col. 1. Cited edition accessed via HathiTrust Digital Library, April 11, 2023."Comedy Will Continue Run At Playhouse", The Daily Californian, July 31, 1929, p. 3, col. 1. Cited edition accessed via HathiTrust Digital Library, April 11, 2023. Paiva also gained experience directing plays at the university. In February 1931, he directed a production of Philip Barry's comedy The Youngest after the previous director resigned due to "ill health". Following graduation, Paiva was soon hired to be director of the Eight o'Clock Players troupe at KLX radio in Oakland, California. He also performed later in CBS's early radio version of Gunsmoke, including in that series' first-season episode "Wild West", which originally aired on July 18, 1953.Barabas, SuzAnne; Barabas, Gabor. "Wild West" (S1E65), radio episode originally broadcast July 18, 1953, Gunsmoke: A Complete History. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 1990. .
Film and television From the 1930s into the 1960s, Paiva was cast in more than 400 feature films and shorts that spanned virtually every genre, including Westerns, comedies, crime and historical drams, adventure stories, horror, and science-fiction films . He also began to work increasingly on television by the 1950s, appearing in such TV series as The Lone Ranger , Zorro, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, Bonanza, Get Smart, I Spy, Family Affair, The Andy Griffith Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, Daniel Boone, and The Addams Family. Later, as a voice actor on television, he provided the voices for a variety of characters in the 26 episodes of Jonny Quest, an animated adventure series produced by Hanna-Barbera from 1964 to 1965.
Personal life and death Paiva married Maxine Yvette Kurtzman in Clark, Nevada in January 1941. The couple had two children, Joseph and Caetana, both of whom performed with their father in the 1956 film Comanche starring Dana Andrews. In 1966, Paiva died of cancer at age 61 in Sherman Oaks, California.
Selected filmography Film
Island Captives (1937) as Taro – Carsons' Servant (uncredited) Blazing Barriers (1937) as CCC Captain (uncredited) The Spider's Web (1938, Serial) as Red (uncredited) Prison Train (1938) as Morose Ride a Crooked Mile (1938) as Leroyd Flying G-Men (1939, Serial) as Emmett (uncredited) Midnight (1939) as Woman's Escort (uncredited) Union Pacific (1939) as Canadian Pacific Conductor (uncredited) The Girl and the Gambler (1939) as Bad-Tempered Gambler (uncredited) Another Thin Man (1939) as West Indies Club Headwaiter (uncredited) Bachelor Mother (1939) as Store Detective (uncredited) The Magnificent Fraud (1939) as Latin Businessman (uncredited) Beau Geste (1939) as Corporal Golas (uncredited) The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) as Man in Street When Gypsies Arrive (uncredited) The Marines Fly High (1940) as Pedro Fernandez Primrose Path (1940) as Bluebell Manager (uncredited) Phantom Raiders (1940) as Policeman at Morris' Office & at Finale (uncredited) The Sea Hawk (1940) as First Slavemaster (uncredited) Boom Town (1940) as Venezuelan Officer (uncredited) He Stayed for Breakfast (1940) as Gendarme (uncredited) They Knew What They Wanted (1940) as Tony's Pal at Table (uncredited) Arise, My Love (1940) as Uniformed Clerk (uncredited) North West Mounted Police (1940) as Half-breed (uncredited) The Devil's Pipeline (1940) as Grunyan – Guard (uncredited) Dark Streets of Cairo (1940) as Ahmend Santa Fe Trail (1940) as Abolitionist Noticing Army Horse Brand (uncredited) The Green Hornet Strikes Again! (1940, Serial) as Rufus – Henchman in Hawaii (uncredited) Tall, Dark and Handsome (1941) as Gold Coast Headwaiter (uncredited) Meet Boston Blackie (1941) as Martin Vestrick (uncredited) Pot o' Gold (1941) as Canadian Guide (uncredited) Hold That Ghost (1941) as Glum (uncredited) Dressed to Kill (1941) as Jack – the Theatre Manager (uncredited) Wild Geese Calling (1941) as Waiter (uncredited) Hold Back the Dawn (1941) as Flores The Kid from Kansas (1941) as Jamaica (uncredited) Rise and Shine (1941) as Captain (uncredited) Johnny Eager (1941) as Tony Luce (uncredited) Fly-by-Night (1942) as Grube (uncredited) The Lady Has Plans (1942) as Portuguese Porter (uncredited) Jail House Blues (1942) as Guard (uncredited) The Adventures of Martin Eden (1942) as Doctor (uncredited) Reap the Wild Wind (1942) as Man with Suspenders (uncredited) Broadway (1942) as Rinalti The Girl from Alaska (1942) as Geroux Ship Ahoy (1942) as Felix – Henchman (uncredited) Timber (1942) as Jules Fabian Flying Tigers (1942) as Missionary (uncredited) King of the Mounties (1942, Serial) as Count Baroni For Me and My Gal (1942) as Nick (uncredited) Road to Morocco (1942) as Sausage Vendor (uncredited) American Empire (1942) as Defense Attorney (uncredited) Pittsburgh (1942) as Barney Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas (1943) as Italian Major (uncredited) The Hard Way (1943) as Max Wade (uncredited) The Crystal Ball (1943) as Stukov (uncredited) The Flying Jalopy (1943, Short) as Ben Buzzard (voice, uncredited) Don Winslow of the Coast Guard (1943, Serial) as The Scorpion Rhythm of the Islands (1943) as Chief Nataro Background to Danger (1943) as Koylan (uncredited) The Fallen Sparrow (1943) as Jake (uncredited) Tornado (1943) as Big Joe Vlochek The Dancing Masters (1943) as Silvio – Ringleader (uncredited) Tarzan's Desert Mystery (1943) as Prison Guard (uncredited) The Desert Song (1943) as Benoit The Song of Bernadette (1943) as Maisongrosse (uncredited) True to Life (1943) as Kapopolis (uncredited) Shine On, Harvest Moon (1944) as Romero (uncredited) Tampico (1944) as Naval Commander (uncredited) The Purple Heart (1944) The Falcon in Mexico (1944) as Manuel Romero Kismet (1944) as Captain of the Police (uncredited) Music for Millions (1944) as Willie – Bartender (uncredited) A Medal for Benny (1945) as Frank Alviso (uncredited) Salome, Where She Danced (1945) as Panatela Nob Hill (1945) as Luigi a Bar Owner (uncredited) A Thousand and One Nights (1945) as Kahim The Southerner (1945) as Bartender Along the Navajo Trail (1945) as Janza Sensation Hunters (1945) as Lew Davis Cornered (1945) as Police Official (uncredited) Road to Utopia (1945) as McGurk Fear (1946) as Detective Shaefer Badman's Territory (1946) as Sam Bass The Well Groomed Bride (1946) as Fernandez (uncredited) Suspense (1946) as Man with Blonde (uncredited) The Last Crooked Mile (1946) as Ferrara Humoresque (1946) as Orchestra Leader The Lone Wolf in Mexico (1947) as Police Capt. Carlos Rodriguez Ramrod (1947) as Curley Shoot to Kill (1947) as Gus Miller Carnival in Costa Rica (1947) as Padre Rafael A Likely Story (1947) as Tiny The Trouble with Women (1947) as 2nd Tony – the Waiter (uncredited) Robin Hood of Monterey (1947) as The Alcalde Road to Rio (1947) as Cardoso Adventures of Casanova (1948) as Prefecture of Police Angels' Alley (1948) as Tony 'Piggy' Locarno Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) as Joe Apollonio Mr. Reckless (1948) as Gus Joan of Arc (1948) as Henri le Royer, Catherine's husband The Paleface (1948) as Patient #2 Alias Nick Beal (1949) as Karl Bride of Vengeance (1949) as Mayor Señor Droopy (1949, Short) as Bullfight Announcer (voice, uncredited) Follow Me Quietly (1949) as Benny Mighty Joe Young (1949) as Brown Rope of Sand (1949) as Ship's Captain (uncredited) Oh, You Beautiful Doll (1949) as Lucca (deleted scenes) The Inspector General (1949) as Gregor (uncredited) Young Man with a Horn (1950) as Louis Galba Guilty of Treason (1950) as Mátyás Rákosi I Was a Shoplifter (1950) as Deputy Sheriff Gomez Larápios (1950) as Deputy Sheriff Gomez Fortunes of Captain Blood (1950) as Spanish Ship Captain (uncredited) The Desert Hawk (1950) as Abdul (uncredited) Flame of Stamboul (1951) as Joe Octavian The Great Caruso (1951) as Egisto Barretto Jim Thorpe – All-American (1951) as Hiram Thorpe (uncredited) A Millionaire for Christy (1951) as Mr. Rapello The Lady Pays Off (1951) as Manuel On Dangerous Ground (1951) as Bagganierri (uncredited) My Favorite Spy (1951) as Fire Chief Double Dynamite (1951) as 'Hot Horse' Harris, the Bookie Phone Call from a Stranger (1952) as Carl – Headwaiter (uncredited) Viva Zapata! (1952) as New General (uncredited) 5 Fingers (1952) as Turkish Ambassador (uncredited) The Fabulous Senorita (1952) as José Rodriguez With a Song in My Heart (1952) as Lisbon Surgeon (uncredited) Mara Maru (1952) as Capt. Van Hoten (uncredited) Diplomatic Courier (1952) as Train Conductor (uncredited) South Pacific Trail (1952) as Carlos Alvarez April in Paris (1952) as Ship Captain (uncredited)