THE FEATURES OF CARLOS CASTANEDA

This is a composite sketch drawn by an expert based on the first three descriptions I gave you below, and as you will see further down, it turned out quite well.

Carlos Castaneda remained very secretive and for many years the public did not know what his body and face looked like; the only thing we had were the descriptions given by some people who knew him, and here I am going to regroup them.

JOSÉ GOMEZ

 

The writer José Agustín Ramírez Gómez was a friend of Castaneda and described him as follows:

« Carlos Castaneda was incredibly strong, he looked like he lifted weights, he had truly tremendous musculature.

He was short in stature, he liked to wear suits that made him look like an ordinary person, he had brown skin, a light brown, and his hair was completely curly and very short.

As he aged, his hair turned completely gray, and it had become a bit odder because it was all white, like pure dullness, since he was dark-skinned, and the white hair made him look that way; and then his face was rather square with features that tended towards the square, his eyes were small, very lively, with an intelligence and a sparkling quality that I have only seen in Juan José Arreola, like a mix of mischief and hidden intelligence that doesn't want to show itself, but is there behind it and cannot avoid manifesting itself.

His nose is straight, neither too big nor too small; his mouth is also of average size. He had no fat, no marks, no wrinkles, at least not when we met him, and even later, when he was older and his hair was gray, he still didn't have many wrinkles. »

JUAN TOVAR

The playwright Juan Tovar translated Castaneda's first four books into Spanish and described him as follows:

« Carlos Castaneda is short in stature, of robust build, with a dark complexion, curly hair, and a mestizo appearance. He could plausibly be a native of any Latin American country, but perhaps not so much Brazil (which he claimed to be), as Peru (which he has been said to be), or Mexico (which I heard). »

JUAN VILLORO

The journalist Juan Villoro said the following about Castaneda:

« Carlos Castaneda has a rather Andean appearance; I was told he had an indigenous face, but more like someone from areas of Bolivia, somewhere around there. »

MANUEL CARBALLAL

Researcher Manuel Carballal met Castaneda in 1994 and described him as follows:

« Castaneda commanded a lot of respect. He was very short: one meter fifty-seven, he was of Latin American origin with a very dark skin, his family called him César the black precisely because of the dark tone of his skin, it's not that he was mulatto but he had a markedly Latin skin tone.

He was very magnetic, very wiry, very muscular; you could tell he was a very athletic guy, very physically active.

He was an absolutely irresistible charmer, not only with women but in general. I remember him chatting nonstop, moving energetically all over the stage. »

KEITH THOMPSON

The writer Keith Thompson interviewed Castaneda in 1994 and described him as follows:

« I had heard that Castaneda blends into the woodwork, or resembles a Cuban waiter; that his features are both European and Indian; that his skin is nut-brown or bronze; that his hair is black, thick, and curly. So much for rumor. His mane is now white, or largely so, short and mildly disheveled. If asked to guide a police artist in making a sketch, I would emphasize the eyes – large, bright, lucid. They may have been gray. »

THOMAS ROOP

Reporter Thomas Roop interviewed Castaneda in 1997 and described him as follows:

« Castaneda doesn’t stand out in a crowd. In fact, you’d probably never see him in a crowd. He’s tiny, not much taller than 5 feet, and must weigh less than 90 pounds. His thick hair is mostly gray and combed back. He likes to joke about how people usually describe him: resembling a gardener or chauffeur or a Mexican waiter. »

VERIFICATION

Later, some photos of Carlos Castaneda were discovered, and the description they made of him is correct.