Efrain "Carlos" Tobalina, a man of many talents and endeavors, was born on April 5, 1925, in Peru. Prior to embarking on his American adventure, Tobalina emigrated to Brazil, and later, in the early 1950s, he made his way to the United States, eventually settling in California in 1956.
Carlos Tobalina's professional life was marked by a diverse range of occupations, including working as a used car salesman at various automobile dealerships and simultaneously moonlighting as an announcer on a Spanish language radio station. Additionally, he had a keen entrepreneurial spirit, which led him to start his own film production company, C. Tobalina Productions, Inc., in 1964.
That same year, Tobalina tied the knot with Maria, a bookkeeper, and became a stepfather to her daughter, Gloria. Maria would go on to give birth to another daughter, Linda, in 1966.
Tobalina's foray into the adult film industry began with the softcore feature Infrasexum in 1969. Two years later, he acquired the Mayan Theater on Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles, which would become the primary venue for showcasing his films. Furthermore, Carlos owned not one, but two homes in Corona Del Mar, as well as the Star Theater in La Puente and the X Theater on Hollywood Boulevard.
Tobalina's prolific career in the adult film industry spanned over four decades, during which he produced well over forty X-rated movies, starting from the early 1970s until 1987. Despite facing legal challenges related to his constitutional right to produce and distribute explicit hardcore content, Tobalina remained committed to his artistic vision and fought for his first amendment rights in court.
Tragically, Carlos Tobalina's life was cut short when he took his own life at the age of 63 on March 31, 1989. In a suicide note, he revealed that he was suffering from terminal liver cancer, which had become an unbearable burden.
