Joaquín Pardavé was born into the theatrical milieu, the son of a pair of stage actors. He was a popular stage actor and appeared in several silent films and some early sound features, but achieved his greatest fame in the early 1940s in films like México de mis recuerdos (1944) and El baisano Jalil (1942) (which was also the first picture he directed). In addition to acting, Pardavé directed and wrote films and also wrote songs, although he could not read music. Although many of his early roles were comedic in tone, he was also capable of drama, as in Ojos de juventud (1948). Pardavé married Soledad Rebollo in 1925, but the couple had no children. He suffered a stroke and died in July 1955.