Born in
El Oro, Mexico, Garay came to America at eleven months. He was a well-known radio performer in the 1940s, and opened the popular Copacabana nightclub in September 1941, which was frequented by visiting Hollywood celebrities. He hosted shows in the nightclub and performed in vaudeville, and recorded an album in the mid-40s, "A Night at Joaquin Garay's Copacabana". Garay voiced the Mexican rooster Panchito in 1944, teaming up with
Clarence Nash as
Donald Duck and
José Oliveira as
José Carioca to sing
The Three Caballeros' title song. However, after recording, Garay's speaking voice as Panchito was found to be wanting: Cutting hired a Mexican actor,
Felipe Turich, to be Garay's vocal coach, but for the Mexican Spanish-language version of the film, Cutting decided to simply use Turich as Panchito's speaking voice, with Garay singing. but only for the speaking parts, as Panchito's singing is taken from the Mexican Spanish dub. However, Garay returned to Disney in 1953 to voice the Narrator and the other characters in a
Goofy short,
For Whom the Bulls Toil. In the 1950s, Garay appeared in the films
Crisis (1950)
Saddle Tramp (1950),
Lightning Strikes Twice (1951),
Fast Company (1953) and
Latin Lovers (1953). He also had a small part in an episode of
The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour,"Lucy Goes to Mexico", in 1958. He later moved to Los Angeles. In the 1970s, Garay appeared on television in the TV-movies
Red Sky at Morning (1971) and
The Gun (1974), and in the shows
Sanford and Son ("Pops 'n' Pals", 1973) and
Mannix ("Bird of Prey", 1975). ==Personal life==