The Azteca Theater is an historic Art Deco

Art Deco

Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...

 theater in the Chinatown

Chinatown

A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...

 district of Fresno, California

Fresno, California

Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...

, built by Gustavo Acosta in 1948. The theater was the first Spanish language cinema in the San Joaquin Valley, serving a growing population of Mexican-Americans in California's Central Valley

Central Valley

Central Valley may refer to:*Central Valley *Central Valley, New York*Chilean Central Valley **Central Valley *Costa Rican Central Valley...

.

The theater was designed by Fresno firm, Johnson & Moore Consulting Engineers who designed the Biola

Biola

Biola may refer to:*Biola University, a university in Los Angeles County, California*Biola, California, a small town in Fresno County*Biola , an island in Singapore...

 Theater and Johnson was involved earlier in some of the facade work on the Warnors Theater in Fresno.

In 1956 Acosta leased the Azteca Theater to Arturo Tirado who is closely associated with the theater and entertainment in the Hispanic community into the 1980s when he retired. In 1961 Tirado was President of the Spanish Pictures Exhibitors Association representing 300 movie theaters in the United States. His father Romualdo Tirado was well known in California theater and a Cantinflas

Cantinflas

Fortino Mario Alfonso Moreno Reyes , was a Mexican comic film actor, producer, and screenwriter known professionally as Cantinflas. He often portrayed impoverished campesinos or a peasant of pelado origin...

.

Known as the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema

Mexican cinema

The history of Mexican cinema goes back to the ending of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, when several enthusiasts of the new medium documented historical events – most particularly the Mexican Revolution – and produced some movies that have only recently been rediscovered...

, Cantinflas, Pedro Infante

Pedro Infante

José Pedro Infante Cruz , better known as Pedro Infante, is the most famous actor and singer of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema and is an idol of the Latinamerican people, together with Jorge Negrete and Javier Solís, who were styled the Tres Gallos Mexicanos . He was born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa,...

, María Félix

María Félix

María Félix was a Mexican film actress and one of the icons of the golden era of the Cinema of Mexico and also one of the myths of the Spanish language Cinema for her life style and personality...

, Agustín Lara

Agustín Lara

Agustín Lara was a Mexican singer and songwriter.-Biography:Lara was born in Tlacotalpan, Veracruz. Later, the Lara family had to move again to Mexico City, establishing their house in the borough of Coyoacán. After Lara's mother died, Agustín and his siblings lived in a hospice run by their...

, Pedro Vargas

Pedro Vargas

Pedro Vargas Mata was a Mexican singer and actor, from the golden age of Mexican cinema. He was known as the "Nightingale of the Americas".-Biography:...

, Miguel Aceves Mejía

Miguel Aceves Mejía

Miguel Aceves Mejía was a Mexican actor, composer, and singer.Miguel Aceves Mejía, or "the King of the falsetto" as he was popularly known, was born in Ciudad Juárez in the state of Chihuahua...

, Pedro Armendáriz

Pedro Armendáriz

Pedro Armendáriz was a Mexican actor of the cinema of Mexico and Hollywood.-Early life:Born Pedro Gregorio Armendáriz Hastings in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico to Pedro Armendáriz García-Conde and Adela Hastings . He was also the cousin of actress Gloria Marín...

, Antonio Aguilar

Antonio Aguilar

José Pascual Antonio Aguilar Barraza most commonly known as Antonio Aguilar, nicknamed "El Charro de México", was a Mexican film actor, singer, producer and screenwriter. During his career, he made over 150 albums, which sold 25 million copies, and made 167 movies...

 and José Alfredo Jiménez

José Alfredo Jiménez

José Alfredo Jiménez was a Mexican singer-songwriter in the ranchera style whose songs are considered an integral part of Mexico's musical heritage....

 were among the luminaries seen at the Azteca Theater.

Besides popular films from the Mexican Cinema

Mexican cinema

The history of Mexican cinema goes back to the ending of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, when several enthusiasts of the new medium documented historical events – most particularly the Mexican Revolution – and produced some movies that have only recently been rediscovered...

, singers and theatrical acts frequented the stage. The theater was a rallying point for César Chávez

César Chávez

César Estrada Chávez was an American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who, with Dolores Huerta, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers ....

when he made his march from Delano to Sacramento.

The Azteca closed in the late 1980s and was partially reopening in 1999 with an art gallery and events.

External links

• Azteca Theater official website
• Cinema Treasures Azteca Theater
• EnVision March 2009 Fresno Film Commission