Henry Calvin played the often befuddled, warm-hearted Sgt. Miguel Demetrio Lopez Velasquez Garcia on Zorro. Cheerful, rotund Henry Calvin was one of Hollywood's foremost character actors. The likeable Calvin credited his ability to win key roles to his fiercely competitive spirit, which may or may not have stemmed from the fact that he was a Texan born and bred. His birth place was Dallas in 1917, and that's where he was educated and first earned a living. The son of Wimberly C. Goodman, Sr. and Alma Goodman, Henry attended Winnetka Grade School and Sunset High School, and subsequently studied at Southern Methodist University.

Calvin also was active with the Baptist Church in Dallas, and it was through the church that Henry was introduced to show business. He sang in churches throughout the Dallas area every Sunday, and, as a result, was given a few parts in semi-professional stock companies.

In 1939, Calvin went to New York and obtained a job as bass baritone soloist at Radio City Music Hall. His expanding entertainment career was interrupted by World War II, however, and the burly Texan joined the army. He rose from the rank of private to first lieutenant in the Field Artillery, and served in the Pacific Theater through 1945.

The war over, Calvin took up where he left off, and soon won top Broadway parts in such shows as Chocolate Soldier with Billy Gilbert, Sally with Willie Howard and Kismet with Alfred Drake. This adaptation of Kismet opened at the Philharmonic Auditorium in Los Angeles on August 17th, 1953 and at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York on December 3rd, 1953. Henry played both the fun and evil Wazir. (Click photo to the right to hear Henry sing Was I Wazir?).

Calvin had never found jobs hard to come by, and he had sandwiched in numerous radio, television and motion picture assignments during his career. Two of his films were Crime Against Joe, starring Julie London, and Broken Star with Howard Duff. Later came two more Disney films, "Babes in Toyland" and "Toby Tyler." Both also featured Henry's "Zorro" co-star, Gene Sheldon. Henry died at the age of 58 on October 6th, 1975.