Mauricio Borensztein (27 April 1927 – 11 January 1996), known by the stage name ''Tato Bores'', was an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

film, theatre and television comedian, who specialized in political humor. His ironic TV

monologue In theatre, a monologue (from el, μονόλογος, from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes a ...

s, delivered at a fast pace, became a reference point for generations of

Argentines Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

Biography

He was born into a family of

Polish Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the lon ...

heritage. He took his first steps into the humor field in 1957, after the

fall Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southe ...

Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine Army general and politician. After serving in several government positions, including Minister of Labour and Vice President of a military dictatorship, he was elected P ...

, debuting in state-owned Channel 7. When in character, he wore dress coat, white bow tie and a deliberately badly cut wig, and waved a cigar. Besides the monologues, at some point during each show he pretended to dial the number of the

Casa Rosada The ''Casa Rosada'' (, eng, Pink House) is the office of the president of Argentina. The palatial mansion is known officially as ''Casa de Gobierno'' ("House of Government" or "Government House"). Normally, the president lives at the Quinta de ...

and speak to the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

(whoever it was at the time), asking pointed questions or commenting on uncomfortable news. Near the end of his life, Borensztein abandoned the weekly show format and resorted to "special programmes" every month or sometimes more often. In one of these, he appeared as Dr. Helmut Strasse, "argentinologist", an

archeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts ...

specialized in the lost land of Argentina, which had sunk into the Atlantic Ocean 500 years before the fictional time frame of the show. The show was a humorous

mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on c ...

about the downfall of Argentina where Borensztein, speaking in a mixture of

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

and some odd words in Spanish,

overdubbed Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...

into straight Spanish by a narrator, commented on the latest findings and theories while he toured a digging site. Before the broadcast of one of the programmes, federal judge

María Servini de Cubría Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

was warned that the show contained an ironic comment about a ridiculously low fine she had received for mishandling a case. Servini ordered the offending segment to be cut out, and forbade Borensztein to mention her name. This violated

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been ...

, since the programme had not been broadcast and she had not verified it was criminally offensive. Borensztein received overwhelming support from the

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

istic community of Argentina, but respected the judicial order, from then on referring to the judge as "the unnameable" or as ''Jueza Barubudubudía'' (intended as a nonsensical yet transparent rhyme of "Servini de Cubría") until the censorship was lifted.

Professional work

Television

Films

* ''Un pecado por mes'' (1949) * ''La comedia inmortal'' (1951) * ''

The Path to Crime ''The Path to Crime'' (Spanish:''Camino al crimen'') is a 1951 Argentine comedy film directed by Don Napy. Cast *Tito Alonso * Juan Carlos Altavista * Máximo Berrondo * Juan Carlos Bettini ... Director * Tato Bores * José Canosa * ...

'' (1951) * ''Esta es mi vida'' (1952) * ''Mala gente'' (1952) * ''Por cuatro días locos'' (1953) * ''Casada y señorita'' (1954) * ''Vida nocturna'' (1955) * ''Vacaciones en la Argentina'' (1960) * ''

El Asalto ''El Asalto'' ("") is a 1960 Argentine black-and-white film crime drama film directed and by Kurt Land. The film was based on a book by Enrique Silberstein and premiered in Buenos Aires. It starred Alberto de Mendoza. Plot A group of mobste ...

'' (1960) * ''Propiedad'' (1962) * ''El televisor'' (1962) * ''Viaje de una noche de verano'' (1965) * ''Disputas en la cama'' (1972) * ''Departamento compartido'' (1980) * '' Amante para dos'' (1981)

Family

He is the father of Alejandro Borensztein,

Sebastián Borensztein Sebastián Borensztein (born 22 April 1963) is an Argentine screenwriter and film director, best known for the films '' Chinese Take-Away'' (2011), ''Heroic Losers'' (2019) and the horror television miniseries ''El garante'' (1997). Early life ...

and Marina Borensztein.

Sources