About Joaquín Rodríguez Ortega
Joaquín Rodríguez Ortega (Spanish: [xoaˈkin roðˈɾiɣeθ oɾˈteɣa]; 17 February 1903 – 1 January 1984), professionally known as Cagancho (Spanish: [kaˈɣantʃo]), was a Spanish bullfighter much of whose career was spent in Mexico, although he did sometimes perform in his native Spain, and one of his performances there, in Almagro, Ciudad Real in 1927 even gave rise to a now well known expression in the Spanish language. Rodríguez also found himself appraised in English when he and his craft were described by Ernest Hemingway in his non-fiction work Death in the Afternoon, along with many other Spanish bullfighters of the early 20th century. == Early life == Rodríguez was born on 17 February 1903 at Calle Evangelista no. 4 in Seville's Triana neighbourhood into a family that had a long line of Romani artists. His father was Joaquín Rodríguez Vargas, a blacksmith, and his mother was Amparo Ortega Bermúdez, a cigar seller. Along with his cousin, Francisco Vega de los Reyes, "Gitanillo de Triana" ("Little Gypsy from Triana"), he began learning about bullfighting. Rodríguez did not have a difficult childhood and did not grow up in poverty; so he did not find himself drawn towards bullfighting out of economic need, as was so for so many would-be bullfighters at that time. Instead, bullfighting seemed for him to be almost inborn, although it was helped along by his friendship with Francisco. He was determined to fight bulls professionally. He slew his first cow at the age of 15 at the Venta de Guadaíra.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.