In the age of fleeting successes and distracted attention,
the myth of Maria Felix does not lose the stem. Proof of this is that Mattel released as part of its Tribute Collection a Barbie in honor of the protagonist of Doña Barbara, the film adaptation of one of the most significant Spanish-language novels of the 20th century, written by
Venezuelan Romulo Gallegos. A literary character who is also the archetype of a violent and empowered cannibal woman who is a victim of structural poverty and rape.
Maria Felix became a legend not only because of her impressive beauty and refusal to work in Hollywood as a maid or turkey, but also because of the legendary jewelry that Cartier designed under her direction. Two of his most famous pieces are a snake necklace he commissioned for his home in 1968, and a 1975 crocodile necklace inspired by a baby reptile he kept as a pet until its size and danger. were not allowed.
Her myth became universal thanks to her very advanced feminist postulates for that time, especially in Mexico.
macho deposit country which have not yet been eradicated and that, with statistical data in hand, from January to June of this year, the murder of 426 women is being investigated as a femenicide.
Born in Sonora on April 8, 1914, the actress had eleven siblings and one favorite, Pablo, from whom, legend has it, her mother physically separated her to avoid the risk of incestuous liaison. Be that as it may, at just 17 years old, he married
Enrique Alvarez Alatorrewith whom she mothered her son Enrique the only time, in 1935, a relatively successful actor, given that her mother’s shadow was too long, who died in 1996 of a heart attack.
Genius and figure
Maria Felix she quarreled with the priest who was about to perform her funeral and forced upon her the prayers she had learned from her mother when she was a child. Her bond with her son was very strong, considering her husband took her into custody when she was making her way as an actress and vowed that one day he would win him back, as he did years later, becoming a major star in the country.
The relationship with Agustin Lara is marked by love songs and jealousy.
His first marriage lasted “as long as two icefish live in whiskey on rocks,” if Sabina allows us to make a comparison, and the second marriage didn’t last very long either, but it served to confirm his legend. Elena Poniatovskaya claimed of her that “she walks like wild beasts, chasing mysterious waves around her,” and therefore it is not surprising that she was not intimidated by the aggressive Agustin Lara, who revealed his most sentimental side in a pile of written works. melodies to the glory of his wife: “Pretty Maria”, “Two Daggers”, “When You Return”, “Smoke in the Eyes” and chotis “Madrid”. They were not enough to last more than two years together. They were already divorced in 1947. The fault was the artist’s jealousy and a severe attack, which could have ended in an obituary.
The famous toy house Mattel has released a doll in honor of the Mexican actress: Barbie Maria Felix (MATTEL).
The Mexican diva’s love story, between reality and urban legend, in some cases combines very different names, such as businessman Jorge Pasquel, who died in 1955 when his private plane crashed, bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguin, father of Miguel Bose. ; Argentine actor Carlos Thompson, whom she left because she believed they only had physical attraction and marrying as they planned was a bad idea, and singer and actor Jorge Negrete, another patriotic myth she married in 1952. , but the translator of “México lindo y querido” and “Ay, Jalisco no te rajes” died the following year in Los Angeles as a result of internal bleeding secondary to cirrhosis of the liver, from which he had suffered for many years.
A cosmopolitan actress who developed her career in Mexico, Latin America, France, where she filmed La Belle Otero and The Cancan Franchise, commissioned by the iconic Jean Renoir, Italy and Spain, where she participated in films far below her talent, such as “Mare Nostrum” or “Ordinary Woman”, Maria Felix also had a famous relationship with
writer Jean CoJean-Paul Sartre’s secretary. Their quarrels were as violent as their reconciliations. She was also associated with Suzanne Bolet, known as Frédé, and the manager of the famous Le Carroll cabaret on rue de Ponthieu in Paris. When a reporter in the middle of the street dared to ask her if she was a lesbian, she angrily replied: “If all men were like you, then of course they would be.”
Mexico City Metro promoter and crush on artist 31 years younger
Emulating multi-married Hollywood divas such as Elizabeth Taylor or Zsa Zsa Gabor, Maria married a Romanian-born French banker for the fourth time.
Alexander Berger, whom he met in the 40s, when they were both married and their relationship was not viable. They were together from 1956 until his death from lung cancer in 1974. The actress assured that he was not the person she loved most, but she respected him very much and organized a party to say goodbye to him.
stately funeral at Notre Dame in Paris. La Doña boasted that she was able to convince Berger to become the promoter of Mexico City’s first subway line, as she wanted the nation’s capital to be modern and adapt to changing times.
His last partner was
Russian-French artist Antoine Zapoff., 31 years her junior, who she says was not the man who loved her the most, but the one who loved her the most. They both shared a passion for depicting indigenous cultures and decorating. No wonder the artist who led the reconstruction
Maria Felix mansion in Cuernavaca. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune in 2014, the artist stated that at some point the age difference really became a problem and became platonic ground.
Her other great lover was the muralist Diego Rivera, who, as legend has it, proposed to her several times without finding an answer. “Portrait of Maria Felix”, a picture that he painted for the greater glory of the actress, did not please him at all. To the extent that it prevented his public exhibition at the National Institute of Fine Arts in Mexico City. As the picture showed
her bare chest and she was not at all satisfied with the result, she asked the bricklayer who worked in her house to cover this part of her body with plaster. It’s hard to beat this gesture of separation.
We can’t end this story about the actress without reflecting on her deep feminism, which she revealed in an interview she gave to the publication.
Veronica Castro, for which he demanded to transfer the furniture from his own house to the TV. Among the many statements worthy of carving in marble, we are left with his justification of women, in a context very different from today, in 1996: “In a world of such men, I want to warn you to be careful. This is the revenge of women. When we are in the majority, we will rule. And in order to command, one must be informed and learn, be prepared. That is why women need to educate themselves. Look, there won’t be many programs like this – a nod to the Veronica Castro space. So, women who have been abused, learn, learn, learn about everything.”
Maria Felix died in her sleep on April 8, 2002. According to her driver and universal heir,
Luis Martinez de AndaOn the day he was 88, he didn’t want anything special because he hated surprises. To fulfill her last wish, she was buried at home, but her remains were later transferred from her home in Polanco’s Colonia to the Palacio de Bellas Artes so that her admirers could say goodbye to her for the last time. La Doña rests in the family crypt of the French Pantheon of San Joaquin.