The Valdés brothers; Ramón (gray suit, first on the left), Antonio (plaid shirt), Germán (gray suit, center) and Manuel (black suit, last in the second row from the right) in 1958
Manuel Valdés was born on 21 January 1931 in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua.[1] His parents were Rafael Gómez-Valdés Angellini and Guadalupe Castillo. Valdés had eight siblings: Rafael, Germán, Guadalupe, Pedro, Armando, Ramón, Cristóbal, and Antonio.[1]
Near the end of his life he clarified that his last name was actually double-barrelled (being Gómez-Valdés) but that he and his family decided to take off the Gómez part in order to not confuse the audience into thinking Valdés was their mother's maiden name (per Spanish naming customs.)
The Valdés-Castillo family moved to Nuevo Laredo when Manuel was seven years old because the elder Valdés worked for the Mexican customs agency and had to move frequently. Germán Valdés was already successful as Tin-Tan. He wanted to buy the family a house, but his father turned him down and they moved to Mexico City.[1]
At the age of 13, Manuel had his first film experience, working as an extra in El hijo desobediente and receiving a payment of 12 pesos. He took up dancing and at the age of 19 and became a dancer with Televicentro. His first experience as a comedian was on Variedades de medio día alongside Héctor Lechuga. "El Loco" Valdés is considered the first true television comedian.[1]
Valdés had twelve children, including Norma, Arcelia, Manuel, Jorge, Fernando, Alejandro, Norma, Oscar, Marcos, and Cristian.[1] Cristian is the son of actress Verónica Castro.[4]