Cecilia Callejo

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Cecilia Callejo
A smiling young woman with olive skin, dark eyes, wearing a white hat
Cecilia Callejo, from a 1938 publicity photo
Born
Cecilia Lucila Callejo Correa

(1907-10-31)October 31, 1907
Manati, Puerto Rico
DiedAugust 18, 2003(2003-08-18) (aged 95)
Tujunga, California, U.S.
Resting placeSan Fernando Mission Cemetery
Other namesCecilia Callejo Y Correa Presnell, Cecelia Callejo
OccupationActress
Years active1937–1949
SpouseRobert Presnell Sr. (1939–1969; his death)
RelativesRobert Presnell Jr. (stepson)

Cecilia Lucila Callejo Correa (October 31, 1907 – August 18, 2003), known as Cecilia Callejo, was an American actress and dancer, born in Puerto Rico. She appeared in films, including It's a Wonderful World (1939), Passport to Alcatraz (1940), and The Cisco Kid Returns (1945).

Early life[edit]

Callejo was born in Manatí, Puerto Rico and raised in New York, one of the twelve children of composer and musicologist Fernando Callejo Ferrer and his wife Trinidad, a pianist.[1][2] She studied dance with La Argentina.[3][4][5] Musicians Olga Samaroff and Leopold Stokowski helped her make connections in Hollywood.[6]

Career[edit]

Callejo appeared in films in the 1930s and 1940s, including Outlaw Express (1938),[7] The Renegade Ranger (1938),[8][9] Dramatic School (1938),[4] Verbena Tragica (Block Party, 1939),[10] It's a Wonderful World (1939),[11] Passport to Alcatraz (1940),[12] The Falcon in Mexico (1944),[13] Marriage is a Private Affair (1944),[14][15] and The Cisco Kid Returns (1945).[8] In 1948, she coached Jennifer Jones on her Cuban accent for We Were Strangers (1949).[16]

On stage, Callejo danced on a program with Ruth St. Denis and others in 1933,[17] and at a benefit show in Los Angeles in 1937.[18] She appeared in a 1939 Los Angeles production of Desert Song.[19] She had one Broadway credit, in the original cast of the mystery melodrama The Cat Screams (1942).[20]

Personal life[edit]

Callejo married screenwriter Robert Presnell Sr. in 1939,[15][21] as his third wife; he died in 1969. She died in Tujunga, California in 2003, aged 95 years.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "The Callejo-Correa Family Tree: A Diasporic Legacy". Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños, Hunter College. Archived from the original on October 10, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  2. ^ Moss, Linda (July 29, 2016). "Rutherford Aims to Honor Composer, Kin". The Record. pp. L3. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Senorita Callejo Attends Opening of Van Nuys Store". The Van Nuys News and Valley Green Sheet. June 9, 1941. p. 2. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b "Surprise for Star is Girlhood Chum Acting in Scene". Dayton Daily News. December 11, 1938. p. 32. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Fidler, Jimmie (May 28, 1941). "Beautiful Dancer, Foreign Import with Great Record, Signed--to Play Cowgirl". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. 18. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Protege of Stokowski WIll Appear in Movies". The Tampa Tribune. June 4, 1938. p. 13. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Cecilia Callejo and Bob Baker". The Daily News Leader. December 30, 1938. p. 8. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b Within Our Gates: Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911–1960. University of California Press. 1997. pp. 207–208, 751–752, 831–832. ISBN 978-0-520-20964-0.
  9. ^ Hale, Wanda (February 17, 1939). "Rough Ridin' O'Brien in 'Renegade Ranger'". Daily News. p. 607. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Verbena Tragica". Library of Congress. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  11. ^ "Laughs Crowd Loew's Film". Harrisburg Telegraph. June 2, 1939. p. 6. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "At the Rialto". Daily News. June 15, 1940. p. 278. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Hale, Wanda (August 5, 1944). "'Falcon in Mexico' on Rialto's Screen". Daily News. p. 17. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Louella Parsons in Hollywood Says". The Tribune. February 8, 1944. p. 13. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ a b "In Filmland". Siskiyou Daily News. February 9, 1944. p. 2. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Scheuer, Philip K. (September 2, 1948). "George Marshall Gets New Western". The Los Angeles Times. p. 19. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Surprise for Star is Girlhood Chum Acting in Scene". Dayton Daily News. December 11, 1938. p. 32. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "War-Flood Benefit Interest Gains; Many Entertainers Prepare to Help Assure Success of Event". Los Angeles Evening Citizen News. February 24, 1937. p. 10. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Society and Filmland Notables attend Gala Stage and Screen Events". The Los Angeles Times. May 16, 1939. p. 11. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Nathan, George Jean (1975). The Theatre Book of the Year, 1942–1943. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-8386-7946-3.
  21. ^ "Notices of Intention to Wed". The San Francisco Examiner. July 29, 1939. p. 13. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.

External links[edit]

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