Mauricio Garcés

Mauricio Feres Yázbek (December 16, 1926 – February 27, 1989), known professionally as Mauricio Garces, was a Mexican actor and comedian.

Garcés was of Lebanese descent and was born in the Mexican port of Tampico, Tamaulipas.

With the support of his uncle, the producer José Yázbek, he was included in the production of La Muerte Enamorada ("Death In Love", 1950), a comedy starring Miroslava and Fernando Fernández. After that film, Mauricio adopted the artistic last name "Garcés", believing the letter "G" would bring good luck and turn him into a star at the level of his idols Clark Gable, Gary Cooper and Cary Grant.

His famous image as elegant, worldly, and gallant arose thanks to the vision from the producer Angélica Ortiz, mother of the actress Angélica María, who hired Mauricio to star in Don Juan 67 (1966), the first of a series of films in which he played his alter-ego "Mauricio Galán". El matrimonio es como el demonio ("Marriage is like the Devil", 1967), Click, fotógrafo de modelos ("Click, photographer of models", 1968), El criado malcriado ("The ill-bred servant", 1968), Departamento de soltero ("Bachelor's apartment", 1969), Fray Don Juan ("Friar Don Juan", 1969) and Modisto de señoras ("Ladies' fashion designer", 1969) are some of the most popular films of the extensive filmography of the "Zorro Plateado" ("The Silver Fox").

The fact that Garcés lived with his mother and never had any known sentimental relationships led some in Mexico and in greater Latin America to believe that he actually was gay. Garcés, however, always called Silvia Pinal, a Mexican actress, the love of his life. In addition, Garcés had some gambling problems, which led him to lose almost all of his money on betting.