Actor
Manuel Padilla Jr.
July 13, 1955 · Los Angeles, California, USA
In the 1960s, Padilla was a popular child actor, usually playing the Mexican or Indian boy in TV westerns such as "Rawhide," "Bonanza" and "Gunsmoke". He was a regular in the 1960s TV series "Tarzan", with actor Ron Ely, in dozens of episodes as native boy 'Jai', and as also a semi-regular in the TV series, "The Flying Nun", with actress Sally Field. In featured films, as an adult, Padilla made appearances in the films, "The Great White Hope", "American Graffiti", "A Man Called Horse", and "Scarface", among others.
Padilla died unexpectedly at age 52, just after making a public appearance at the Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, California, in January 2008.
Notable work
Often works with
Ron Ely
4 titles together
Tarzan, Tarzan's Deadly Silence, Tarzan's Jungle Rebellion
Charles Martin Smith
3 titles together
American Graffiti, More American Graffiti, Cotton Candy
Robert DoQui
3 titles together
Tarzan, Tarzan's Deadly Silence, Taffy and the Jungle Hunter
Ron Howard
2 titles together
American Graffiti, More American Graffiti
Paul Le Mat
2 titles together
American Graffiti, More American Graffiti
Cindy Williams
2 titles together
American Graffiti, More American Graffiti
Full filmography · 21
Scarface
as Kid #2
19838.2
More American Graffiti
as Carlos
19795.2
Cotton Candy
as Julio Sanchez
1978
American Graffiti
as Carlos
19737
Tarzan and the Perils of Charity Jones
as Jai
1971
The Great White Hope
as Paco
19706.3
Tarzan's Deadly Silence
as Jai
1970
A Man Called Horse
as Leaping Buck
19706.4
Cutter's Trail
as Paco Avila
1970
The Mountains of the Moon
as Jai
1967
Tarzan's Jungle Rebellion
as Jai
1967
Tarzan and the Great River
as Pepe
1967