He was the eighth son of Alfredo Delano and Emma Frederick. Born in
Santiago, Chile, in 1909 he joined the Naval School but remained there
for only one year, after purposely fracturing his nose in order to get
out.
In 1911 Jorge Delano was accepted into the "Instituto Nacional", the
most prestigious school in Chile. In 1913, he commenced his studies of
painting at the "Escuela de Bellas Artes" with Fernando Alvarez
Sotomayor. In the same year, Delano wrote and filmed his first movie,
"El Billete de Loteria" (he also acted in the movie, but under a
pseudonym, in order to hide the fact that he had skipped class several
times in order to film).
Coke began his professional career as a caricaturist in the "Diario
Ilustrado", which became an opposition paper to the government of
Arturo Alessandri Palma. Then he worked in the newspaper "La Nacion"
until 1931, where he created one of his most important caricatures,
"Juan Verdejo Larrain".
In 1929, he went to California, USA, with a scholarship given by the
chilean government, to study sound cinematography techniques. He never
received the scholarship money, so he supported his family by making
art exhibits and acting as an extra.
He later returned to Chile, whee he filmed "La Calle del Ensueno" and
then "Norte y Sur", the first movie with sound in South America.
In 1942, Delano hosted Walt Disney's visit to Chile, with whom he
developed a close friendship. In the short "Saludos Amigos" by Walt
Disney, "Pedrito" the plane carries a letter from Mendoza (Argentina)
to Santiago, and the recipient is Jorge Delano.
In 1931, he founded along with Joaquin Blaya and Jorge Sanhueza, the
political satire magazine, "Topaze", which was very well received by
the public.
In 1964, he was given the National Prize fro Journalism. He published
three books: "Yo Soy Tu", "Botica de Turnio y Kundalini", and "El
Caballo Fatidico". He also portrayed Pedro Aguirre Cerda, Arturo
Alessandri Palma, Carlos Balmaceda Saavedra, and Luis Barros Borgono.
