Arturo Peniche

Arturo Peniche (born March 17, c. 1960) is a famous Mexican telenovela actor who became popular in Latin America during the 1990s.

Peniche struggled as an actor for many years before reaching stardom. Although he graduated from the famous Televisa school of actors, he found himself competing against such other personalities as Ricardo Capetillo, Andres Garcia, Jaime Garza and Salvador Pineda, among others.

Peniche acted in several commercials during that period, experience that would later on help him land top characters at Televisa's soap operas. One of the commercials in which he participated, selling bracelets that were supposed to have special powers, made him somewhat famous in Puerto Rico and other parts of Latin America.

His real break, however, came in 1990, when he filmed a telenovela named "Emperatriza" ("Emperatrix") in Venezuela. Having gained extreme popularity in that South American country, Peniche returned to Mexico with a new contract by Televisa. In 1991, he played the male title character in "Valeria y Maximiliano", his first soap opera in his home country.

His fame increased in 1992 when he participated in "Maria Mercedes", a soap opera which was a huge international hit and that launched the career of Thalia.

Peniche took a break from filming telenovelas after "Maria Mercedes", as his fame had reached levels that even he himself could not expect. From 1993 to 1995, however, he was still constanrtly on the public eye, thanks in part to magazines such as TV Novelas and others.

In 1995, he returned, filming a soap named "[[Morelia}}", which was co-rpoduced by Univision and Televisa. Parts of "Morelia" were filmed in the United States, and it was also a public favorite. He made another soap opera in 1995, "Maria Jose", which was a minor hit when compared to "Maria Mercedes" or "Morelia".

In 1997, he filmed "El Alma no Tiene Color" ("The Soul Has no Color").

In 1998, he participated in another major hit, the internationally acclaimed "La Usurpadora" ("The Impostor"), which marked the beginning of the internationalization of another actress, Venezuelan Gaby Spanic. Peniche followed his work on "La Usurpadora" with another leading role in "Soñadoras" ("(female) Dreamers"), which was also filmed in 1998.

In 1999, he acted in "Mujeres Engañadas" ("Women (who have been) Cheated (on)").

In 2000, he participated in another major international hit, "Siempre te Amare" ("I Will Always Love You"). By then, Peniche was an established international telenovela star. He also filmed a children's soap opera, "Carita de Angel" ("Angel Face") that same year.

In 2001, he co-starred in "La Intrusa", once again, along with Gabriela "Gaby" Spanic. "La Intrusa", which translates to "The Intruder", bacame another important international hit for Televisa, Peniche and Spanic.

2002 was also a busy year for Peniche, who filmed another famous telenovela, "Entre el Amor y el Odio". Contrary to the first time that he became famous, Peniche felt more mature and confortable with fame after his comeback; this helped him continue on landing top characters at Televisa's main soaps.

Peniche took a break off filming soap operas in 2003. In 2004, however, a major scandal broke in the Peniche family, when his brother, who works at Televisa as a maintenance man, was accused of accidentally murdering a stunt man, in a case similar to that of Brandon Lee's. Investigators accused Peniche's brother of accidentally putting a real bullet instead of a fake one inside a gun to be used at a scene. Peniche vehemently defended his brother, and the case still has to be seen in a Mexican court of law.

Amid all the scandal, Peniche was able to make another soap opera, "[[Corazones al Limite (Reto de Juventud)", which loosely translates to ("Hearts on the Limit (Juvenile Challenges)").

Peniche has been both vilified and defended by television viewers for defending his brother about the impending case of the stuntman's mysterious death. He has expressed on various television shows, like "El Gordo y la Flaca", that he does not wish to speak publickly about the case again, and he has insisted on his brother's innocence.