Jorge Délano

Biography

He was the eighth son of Alfredo Delano and Emma Frederick. Born in Santiago, Chile, in 1909 he joined the Naval School but remained there for only one year, after purposely fracturing his nose in order to get out. In 1911 Jorge Delano was accepted into the "Instituto Nacional", the most prestigious school in Chile. In 1913, he commenced his studies of painting at the "Escuela de Bellas Artes" with Fernando Alvarez Sotomayor. In the same year, Delano wrote and filmed his first movie, "El Billete de Loteria" (he also acted in the movie, but under a pseudonym, in order to hide the fact that he had skipped class several times in order to film). Coke began his professional career as a caricaturist in the "Diario Ilustrado", which became an opposition paper to the government of Arturo Alessandri Palma. Then he worked in the newspaper "La Nacion" until 1931, where he created one of his most important caricatures, "Juan Verdejo Larrain". In 1929, he went to California, USA, with a scholarship given by the chilean government, to study sound cinematography techniques. He never received the scholarship money, so he supported his family by making art exhibits and acting as an extra. He later returned to Chile, whee he filmed "La Calle del Ensueno" and then "Norte y Sur", the first movie with sound in South America. In 1942, Delano hosted Walt Disney's visit to Chile, with whom he developed a close friendship. In the short "Saludos Amigos" by Walt Disney, "Pedrito" the plane carries a letter from Mendoza (Argentina) to Santiago, and the recipient is Jorge Delano. In 1931, he founded along with Joaquin Blaya and Jorge Sanhueza, the political satire magazine, "Topaze", which was very well received by the public. In 1964, he was given the National Prize fro Journalism. He published three books: "Yo Soy Tu", "Botica de Turnio y Kundalini", and "El Caballo Fatidico". He also portrayed Pedro Aguirre Cerda, Arturo Alessandri Palma, Carlos Balmaceda Saavedra, and Luis Barros Borgono.