Benito Alfonso Bedoya y Díaz de GuzmánSan Antonio Light, Dec. 17, 1957, p. 20 (April 16, 1904 – December 15, 1957) was a Mexican actor who frequently appeared in U.S. films. He is best known for his role in ''The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'', where he played a bandit leader and delivered the "

stinking badges "Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!" is a paraphrase of a line of dialogue from the 1948 film '' The Treasure of the Sierra Madre''. That line was in turn derived from dialogue in the 1927 novel of the same name, which was the basis for t ...

" line, which has been called one of the greatest movie quotes in history by the American Film Institute.

Early life

Bedoya was born in the small town of Vícam, Sonora, Mexico, of

Yaqui The Yaqui, Hiaki, or Yoeme, are a Native American people of the southwest, who speak a Uto-Aztecan language. Their homelands include the Río Yaqui valley in Sonora, Mexico, and the area below the Gila River in Arizona, Southwestern United Sta ...

Indian heritage, to Norberto Bedoya Perea and Ignacia Díaz de Guzmán. He had a nomadic childhood upbringing in Mexico, traveling throughout the country with his parents and 19 siblings. At 14, he emigrated to the United States and was educated in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

.Washington Court House Record-Herald, March 18, 1950, p. 4 He ran away from school and worked as a railroad section worker, dishwasher, waiter, and cotton picker.

Film career

Bedoya found work as a character actor in the US and Mexican film industries in the 1930s to

1940s File:1940s decade montage.png, Above title bar: events during World War II (1939–1945): From left to right: Troops in an LCVP landing craft approaching Omaha Beach on D-Day; Adolf Hitler visits Paris, soon after the Battle of France; The Ho ...

. During that time, he worked in over 175 Mexican films. His last movie, ''

The Big Country ''The Big Country'' is a 1958 American epic Western film directed by William Wyler, starring Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker, Charlton Heston, and Burl Ives. The supporting cast features Charles Bickford and Chuck Connors. Filmed in ...

'', was released in 1958 after his death.

"Stinking badges"

Bedoya is best remembered for his role in John Huston's 1948 adventure film '' The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'' as "Gold Hat", the bandit leader. Bedoya's role includes the famous outburst: "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any stinkin' badges!" The line was ranked number 36 on AFI's 100 Greatest Movie Quotes list, and it has been widely referenced and parodied in TV, film, music, and literature. ''Treasure of Sierra Madre'' was also ranked number 30 on

AFI's 100 Years…100 Movies The first of the AFI 100 Years... series of cinematic milestones, AFI's 100 Years... 100 American Movies is a list of the 100 best American movies, as determined by the American Film Institute from a poll of more than 1,500 artists and leaders in ...

Personal life

Bedoya married Gertrude Elizabeth Larky Karas on March 8, 1950, in Mexico City.Mexico. Civil Registration. Registro Civil del Distrito Federal, México Bedoya completed filming ''

'' in November 1957, in California, and returned to Mexico City on December 8. Eight days later, after a night of partying with manicurist María Lucía Solana Martínez, Bedoya, 53, died of a heart attack in a Mexico City motel room.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bedoya, Alfonso 1904 births 1957 deaths Mexican male film actors Male actors from Sonora 20th-century Mexican male actors Mexican people of Yaqui descent Mexican emigrants to the United States People from Guaymas Municipality Mexican expatriate actors in the United States