Nestor Paiva

Nestor Paiva
Born	Nestor Caetano Paiva June 30, 1905(1905-06-30) Fresno, California
Died	September 9, 1966(1966-09-09) (aged 61) Hollywood, California
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Years active	1937–1967
Spouse	Maxine Kuntzman (1941-1966) (his death) 2 children

Nestor Paiva (June 30, 1905 - September 9, 1966) was an American actor of Portuguese descent who portrayed Theo Gonzales the innkeeper on Walt Disney's live-action television series Zorro by ABC and its feature film The Sign of Zorro which was shot in Burbank's Walt Disney Studios.

Career

Nestor appeared in motion pictures and television shows from the 1930s to the 1960s such as Get Smart, Bonanza, I Spy, Family Affair, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, Daniel Boone, The Beverly Hillbillies, and The Addams Family. In 1943, he played the Italian Major in the 20th Century Fox wartime movie Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas. He played the part of Lucas (the boat captain) in the 1954 horror film The Creature from the Black Lagoon starring Ben Chapman as the title monster; Paiva would reprise this role in that film's sequel Revenge of the Creature the following year. He appeared in more than 250 movies. Paiva married in 1941 and had two children, Joseph and Caetana, who appeared with him in the 1956 movie Comanche with Dana Andrews.

Paiva died of cancer in 1966.

Selected filmography

• Dark Streets of Cairo (1940)
• Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas (1943)
• Mr. Reckless (1948)
• The Great Caruso (1951)
• The Bandits of Corsica (1953)
• Tarantula (1955)
• Comanche (1956)
• The Left Handed Gun (1958)
• The Three Stooges in Orbit (1962)
• Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962)

Selected television appearances

• I Spy (1966)
• The Addams Family (1966)
• Get Smart (1965)
• Burke's Law (1965) (TV series)
• Gunsmoke (1965)
• Daniel Boone (1965)

External links

• Nestor Paiva at the Internet Movie Database