Salvador Nájar

**Salvador Nájar Rodríguez** (born January 4, 1944) is a Mexican actor and voice actor.

He has been acclaimed and honored in the world of Spanish-speaking dubbing for more than sixty years of uninterrupted trajectory in voice dubbing and above all, thanks to his contributions documenting the history of dubbing, both the origins of the technique throughout the world, such as the history of dubbing in Mexico through his book El doblaje de voz, published as a virtual book for the first time in 2007.

He is currently semi-retired from dubbing, doing it only occasionally. He is also an acting teacher at the CCAudiovisual training center and at the Lomas Estrella Cultural Center, in the Mexican capital.

## Biography

He was born in Zacoalco de Torres, Jalisco, on January 4, 1944. He arrived in Mexico City in 1950.

His beginnings in acting and dubbing coincide with the birth of Latin American television. On January 30, 1953, while still a child, he joined the XEW, XEB and XEQ as a singer, commentator and child actor, while working for the Children's Theater and Zarzuela Company of Televicentro, in addition to belonging to the theater company of the veteran Spanish actor Enrique Rambal. In the same way, due to the great sympathy that the pioneer businessman of radio and TV in Mexico, Mr. Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta, professed him, he had the opportunity to venture into the prestigious radio soap operas of the XEW.

Along with the bachelor Álvaro Gálvez y Fuentes, he also became the presenter of the advertising testimonies of the first commercials on Mexican television, broadcast at that time by channel 4 (XHTV), the first television channel in Latin America.

He was one of the pioneering actors to work in the first companies dedicated exclusively to dubbing in Latin America, such as Rivatón de América, R. K. Tompkins y Asociados, Servicio Internacional de Sonido and CINSA. In 1965, due to the great recognition he had as a voice actor, he began to work as a director, translator and adapter in several of the aforementioned companies.

At the RK Tompkins y Asociados company, at that time the person in charge of dubbing the productions of the Disney company for Spanish-speaking countries, it was where Salvador met Edmundo Santos, who would make him part of the select group of actors to his I send. For his performance, in 1956 he was invited by Walt Disney and his representative Edmundo Santos to travel to Los Angeles, California, to visit the recently opened Disneyland amusement park. In 1960 he filmed his first film appearance in the film "Los Jóvenes" by Luis Alcoriza and performed a monologue in theater of the famous play "El corazón revetor" by Edgar Allan Poe. In 1965 he began directing dubbing at the CLADSA company.

In 1972, Nájar founded the National Youth Directorate of the National Association of Actors and a year later he began a long and successful career in comedy theater, which kept him on the bill for more than thirteen years in two stages, as well as in nightclubs and tours. He also acquired a lot of prestige as a commercial announcer. In January 1977 he traveled to Hollywood, California, as CEO of Sonomex Los Angeles, the first Spanish-speaking company dedicated to voice dubbing in the United States of America. At the same time that he worked in said company, he dedicated himself to the comic theater aimed at the Mexican public in the city of Los Angeles.

Towards the end of the seventies and the beginning of the eighties, he participated in Mexican television as a comedian actor in the series "El mundo de Luis de Alba", reuniting with his old partner and friend Luis De Alba, where he played many characters, among them, a musician from the bolero trio of "Juan Penas" and a Greek philosopher, whose character would later be taken up by Jorge Arvizu in the same series. After this, he has sporadically ventured as an actor in other TV programs.

Academically, his degrees and studies include History, Dramatic Literature and Theater, (both at the National Autonomous University of Mexico) Scenic Direction, Music and Singing (at the Escuela Libre de Música de México) Electronic (at the Instituto Radiotécnico de México, incorporated to the National Polytechnic Institute), Languages ​​(French and English), Philosophy, Psychology, Didactics and Sociology. He directed and acted in university theater at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where he developed the concept and practice of "Dramatized Readings" at the Rodolfo Usigli Center for Theater Research (CITRU, 1990) and devoted himself to research and teaching, devising new courses. Today he continues to write and collaborate for a specialized magazine.

For a time he participated as host, alongside Carlos Segundo, of the Internet radio program Toonlandya transmitted by Digital Media Radio station, however his commitments and personal matters forced him to leave the broadcast.

Salvador Nájar has been the object of various distinctions, medals and recognitions for his more than sixty years of uninterrupted work in various simultaneous activities. In 2016, together with Francisco Colmenero, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Premios Auris al Doblaje Mexicano event and at the Premios Atril event for more than sixty years in active voice dubbing. Today, he is more dedicated to teaching, giving courses and acting workshops in various public and private institutions.

## Involvement in *Duluth*

In the Latin American Spanish dub of *Duluth*, he voices Michipicoten (Stewart and the Magic Harbor).