Within 33 days of the tragic death of the great Argentine capocómico, who after a life full of characters who made the whole country laugh, tragically died on March 5, 1988 when he fell from an 11th-floor balcony of a Marplatense building.
Until 1960, Olmedo had worked in television but I moved everything. The recognition and absolute fame for the rosarino came thanks to Captain Piluso, the hero of the children.
This was a children’s television show broadcast on Channel 9, released in 1960, which ran until the ’70s. Olmedo, the captain, performed alongside his friend and screenwriter Humberto Ortiz, who played the character of Coquito, a sailor, his naive adventure partner.
Captain Piluso was a character who defied evil without weapons. He respected the boys, treated them like equals, made them complicit in their follies.
The charisma of the character was immense and the children followed him, copied him. One day he said, “Guys, today I’m going to tell you how to disarm a phone.” The next day a scandal broke out because the boys in their homes had broken a lot of phones.
Olmedo has been pointed out and questioned in recent times by the sexist, sexist and homophobic character that made him so famous in the ’80s. Also because of the fatphobia he showed in his relationship with Jorge Porcel, his partner and great friend.
But to judge it, one must first consider the historical context, which does not take away his guilt, but explains why that humor worked so well. At that time, what was called the “uncover” was lived in Argentina.
At the time, the growing display of female semi-naked bodies in graphic and television advertisements, the thematicization of sexual content and the incorporation of explicit sex scenes into commercial cinema intensified.
