Carlos Balá (born Carlos Salim Balaá on August 13, 1925 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine actor who specialized in children's entertainment. Descended from Lebanese and Croatian immigrants, he was born in 1925 in the Chacarita neighborhood. His father, Mustafá Balaá (of Lebanese descent), was a butcher and his mother was Juana Boglich (of Croatian descent).
His trademarks were his particular bowl cut hairstyle and catch phrases with a nonsense flavor, repeated in many gags:
Q: ¿Qué gusto tiene la sal? ("What does salt taste like?") A: ¡Salada! ("Salty!")
Q: ¿El chupete es..? ("The pacifier is..?") A: "¡Feo!" ("Ugly!") (to discourage toddlers from using them)
¡Mirá cómo tiemblo! ("See me shaking", mocking fear)
¡Te pasaste, Petronilo! ¡Pegá la vuelta! ("Petronilo, you're off the charts! Get back down!")
Mamá... ¿cuándo nos vamos? ("Mommy, when do we leave?" - used by Balá's insufferable kid character to signal his impatience)
¿Un gestito de idea? ("Strike a clever pose!" - meaningless in Spanish as well)
Ea-ea-a pe-pé
¡Zumbu-drule! (while Balá's hand hovers over his unsuspecting opponent's head like a spider)
On TV, Carlitos had a supposedly invisible dog named Angueto; Balá would be pulled around by a taut leash, with no dog at the end.
He also starred in movies, most notably in the Canuto Cañete series in the 1960s, and in other family-oriented films that opened during school vacations. He toured Argentina with many theatrical acts, and had many successful summer runs in the vacationing city of Mar del Plata. Some years, the act was embedded in a circus.
In the years before cable television, Balá had a weekly TV show every year, cementing his status at the top of children entertainment, on par with Piluso and Pepitito.