Mr. Telenovela
However, he never left the theater, going at it for three full years, learning from the masters, who had connections with “Fotonovelas,” romantic photonovels consisting of still photographs and captions, often starring well-known television and movie stars. Then someone contacted him with Televisa, Latin America’s biggest television empire and the bastion of telenovelas, soap operas that for decades have been exported all over the world in dozens of languages. Yáñez’s first crack at the telenovela world was in 1981 as an extra, playing a barman, in El Hogar que Yo Robé, which was produced by big-time producer Valentín Pimstein and starred Angélica Máría and Juan Ferrara. He was then 21. Yáñez went from being an extra to a role in Quiéreme Siempre, which starred then A-list movie (this was still 1981) and telenovela star Jacqueline Andere and veteran actor Jorge Vargas. He got to play Carlos, the boyfriend of one of Mexico’s future telenovela queens, Victoria Ruffo, the dark-haired beauty who would storm Mexico and later the world with international soaps like Simplemente María. Quiéreme Siempre also introduced Yáñez to the man who would become key in his career and life: Ernesto Alonso. In those days Alonso was already the undisputed king of Mexican soaps. A classically trained actor from Mexico’s golden age cinema (he narrated Luis Buñuel’s Los Olvidados), Alonso turned to telenovelas in 1960. By the 1980s, he was a master at the genre and would go on to produce 157 telenovelas. “He [Alonso] taught me, he disciplined me,” Yáñez says, his voice quivering. “He was like a father to me. I can thank him for what I am today.” Raúl Araiza, a veteran director and Alonso’s righthand man, recalled a few years before his death in 2013 how Yáñez went from being a novice to a pro. He often said that with Alonso’s classical discipline, the young actor learned the basics and honed his craft. “Lalo was educated old-school style, because I used to nag him a lot because he used to be late. He became a very punctual young man,” he told Galavision during 2007 interview. Yáñez needed all the help and discipline he could get, because he would act next to Ernesto Alonso himself, as the master played Enrique de Martino, a millionaire and satanist in El Maleficio. The all-star cast included
“I BELIEVE HE [YÁÑEZ] WAS ONE OF THE PIONEERS IN LEAVING EVERYTHING AND TRYING HIS LUCK IN A DIFFERENT COUNTRY, IN A DIFFERENTE LANGUAGE. I BELIEVE HE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST TO DO THAT, BUT PEOPLE DON’T REMEMBER THAT.”- GABRIEL SOTO, A TELENOVELA STAR OF MEXICO, ABOUT EDUARDO YÁÑEZ.
classical to comedy to musicals are showcased every day, often to full houses. It was during these days, when he worked at a small, neighborhood tortilla factory, that he met Norma Adriana García, a client and a young beauty about his age. She won his heart. In the meantime, he went through Mexico’s basic Army training, which earned him his I.D. card. That, in turn, permitted him to work. He tried getting his foot in the door at a bank, but was disappointed when he did not get the job as a greeter.
EDUARDO YÁÑEZ AND LAURA FLORES, FROM A PUBLICITY PHOTO FROM THE TELENOVELA TÚ EREZ MI DESTINGO, FROM 1984. COURTESY OF TELEVISA
Andere, Norma Herrera, María Sorte, Carmen Montejo, a young and already established Humberto Zurita, Rebecca Jones, teen goddess Erika Buenfil and future star Sergio Goyri. Despite the gorged cast of A-listers, Yáñez managed to steal some scenes as “Diego,” a sports coach. The telenovela was a monster hit, notwithstanding its then-controversial nature due to its horror and occult themes. In 1984, Yáñez, capitalizing on El Maleficio’s success, played in another Alonso production in Tú eres mi destino, next to another teen sensation: Laura Flores. He also got to meet María Félix, the legendary diva.
A big man for the big screen
Many say that the small screen was, well, small for Yáñez, whose physique, charisma and rough around the edges macho nature was tailor made for the big screen. And indeed it was a big screen. Since the 1930s, the Mexican movie industry quickly established itself as the biggest producer of movies in Latin America. Mexico’s golden age gave the Spanish-speaking world many stars, including Cantinflas, María Félix, Pedro Infante and others. But by the 1970s, historians agree, the movie industry in Mexico was on a downward trend. Still, state-financed films produced notable, art house filmmakers like Felipe Cazals, Jorge Humberto Hermosillo and others who paved the way for latinoleaders.com