Libertad Lamarque

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Libertad Lamarque de Bouza , (born November 24, 1908 in Rosario ( Argentina ), † December 12, 2000 in Mexico City ) was an Argentine actress and singer who was best known as an interpreter of tangos . She was one of the icons of the golden era of Argentine and Mexican cinema and is still considered to be the most successful foreign film actress in Argentina.

Live and act

Libertad Lamarque was born in Rosario , in the province of Santa Fe, as the daughter of Gaudencio Lamarque (1874 to 1947), a Uruguayan of French descent and a widow of Spanish descent, Josefa "Pepa" Bouza (1863 to 1932). She was called Libertad ("Freedom") because at the time of her birth her father - an anarchist - was imprisoned and requested to be released.

First career steps

The daughter of a Spanish immigrant and a Uruguayan from France showed great acting and, above all, singing talent even in her childhood, which is why she supported her mother as much as possible. At the age of 7, Lamarque won first prize in a stage competition and joined a group of street singers who toured nearby towns. When she was 15 years old, she was hired by José Constanzó to tour the south of the province of Buenos Aires with a small theater company. First they performed at the Teatro Argentino in La Plata, where they met Azucena Maizani , and then in cities like Azul, Tandil , Bahía Blanca and Coronel Pringles. At one of her performances, the audience was so enthusiastic about her interpretation of the tango El huérfano that she went back on stage to a standing ovation to sing it again. Her brother Pedro also took part in this tour as an actor.

In 1923 Lamarque appeared in her first professional role in the play Madre Tierra by Alejandro Berruti. The recognition her portrayal received convinced her parents that the family should move to Buenos Aires, where their career prospects would be better. The family linked their hopes to a letter of recommendation from a local journalist addressed to the owner of the Teatro El Nacional (National Theater), Pascual Carcavallo. This proved to be successful, because in 1926 Libertad was hired as a singer in the choir and received a one-year contract. She made her debut in a play entitled La muchacha de Montmartre (The Girl of Montmartre) by José A. Saldías, which she sang in a trio with Olinda Bozán and Antonia Volpe, accompanied on guitar by Rafael Iriarte. Only a few months later she sang on Radio Prieto and was signed to RCA Victor for a record production . On September 26, 1926, Lamarque was just 18 years old, her first album, Gaucho Sol , appeared with the single Chilenito .

In 1929 she appeared in Alberto Vaccarezza's El conventillo de la Paloma (The Dove's House), a show about the life of a girl named Doce Pesos who lived in an immigrant apartment building. After two years and 1,000 appearances, Lamarque left the show to focus on her music career. Tita Merello took over her part . The following year, 1930, she took part in a competition at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, won first prize for her performances of the tangos La cumparsita and Tocaneando, and earned the title of La Reina del Tango (Queen of Tango). She ended this cycle with the performance of Oscar Straus' Tres valses (Three Waltzes), an adaptation of the operetta, together with the Chilean singer Choly Mur. In her private life she fell in love with Emilio Romero († 1945), and her daughter Mirtha was born in 1928. Over time, the couple became estranged and she wanted a divorce, which was very difficult to achieve at the time.

Then, out of depression and desperation, Lamarque attempted suicide by throwing herself out the window of a hotel in Santiago de Chile , but luckily an awning stopped her fall. Soon after, her ex-husband kidnapped their daughter to Uruguay.

Lamarque was accompanied to Montevideo by the police and some friends to get her daughter. However, this did not affect her career.

Confrontation with Eva Perón

A dispute with Eva Perón allegedly led Lamarque to leave Argentina in 1946 and go to Mexico with her second husband . She is said to have been blacklisted by the Argentine first lady. Marysa Navarro and Nicholas Frasier, the authors of Evita: The Real Life of Eva Perón , consider this unlikely, however. They argue that Lamarque moved to Mexico, where she was already admired by audiences, because Mexican cinema was in better shape than Argentine cinema in the 1940s-1950s. The authors add that during Eva Perón's lifetime - and beyond - Lamarque freely traveled between Argentina and Mexico, which the blacklisted legend does not support.

In particular, Lamarque himself denied reports that she slapped Eva in the set of the film La cabalgata del circo (The Circus Riding ). In her 1986 autobiography, she flatly denied the accusation, stating that she was ashamed of Perón's lack of discipline during the production of the film. According to Lamarque, Eva Perón refused to take her job seriously and was always late or stopped filming for trivial personal reasons. Complaints to the producer or director did not lead to any result, as they preferred Eva as a friend of Juan Perón.

From 1946 Eva and Juan Perón moved into the presidential palace. Rumors circulated that Evita had banned radio stations and film studios from playing or engaging Lamarque's music, and Lamarque's involvement in films, music and advertising in Argentina seemed to have come to an end.

Even in old age, Lamarque's relationship with Evita was a recurring topic in the news. She used to say: “Thanks to my fight with Evita, I somehow conquered America. If not, my name would have remained anonymous ”.

Cuba: "La novia de América"

Lamarque's version of the tango La morocha in the film Puerta cerrada (1939)

After completing her last film production, Romance Musical , which was released in theaters in 1947, Lamarque went on a foreign tour through several Latin American countries on January 2, 1946. The tour was organized by the radio station RHC-Cadena Azul (Radio Habana Cuba-Cadena Azul).

In Cuba she was greeted by a crowd, the tour was considered the event of the year. There she performed on January 7th at the Teatro América, where her song El tumbaíto , the lyrics of which referred to the lack of soap in Havana, was very popular. She ended the performance with great applause with the song Facundo by the Cuban composer Eliseo Grenet . She performed daily, sometimes twice a day, and the last time she performed at the Teatro América on January 20, she had three performances. She performed in Camagüey , Ciego de Avila , Santa Clara , Holguín and Santiago de Cubaon, attended hospitals and schools. Her farewell performance at the Anfiteatro Municipal de La Habana is said to have been attended by 20,000 fans.

Her performances were popular with the public and earned her the nickname "La novia de América" ​​(America's Sweetheart / The American Bride) in the Cuban press. She then traveled to the Dominican Republic to perform, where she was greeted with similar enthusiasm. In Puerto Rico she appeared in La Voz del Yuna , a radio series in which she played six tangos with her orchestra. The mayor Antonio Avíla enthusiastically referred to her as the “adopted daughter” of the island of Vieques .

The tour continued in Venezuela, according to Lamarque, not quite as successfully as expected, as the theater entrepreneurs had increased ticket prices in line with the success in other Latin American countries. At the end of the tour, she stopped in Mexico and performed at El Patio , one of the most renowned cabarets in the country. Her two-week contract was extended to three months, and at the end of that period she embarked on another tour of interior Mexico, which she continued in Guatemala , Honduras , El Salvador , Nicaragua , Costa Rica and Panama .

Critic Robert Sylvester posted a note titled How To Make Money In Show Business, citing Lamarque as an example, who was performing at the Puerto Rico Theater in one of the poorer areas of New York at the time. The theater grossed $ 40,000 in gross receipts in its first week of sold-out, and the actress made $ 17,000 from it, which was $ 2,000 more than what famous actress Kay Thompson got at The Roxy theater . The income from the Teatro Puerto Rico prompted Lamarque to extend his contract for a second week.

Moved to Mexico

Shortly before her tour of Cuba, Hollywood had offered Lamarque a seven-year contract, but she turned it down as she did not speak English and feared that she might be exploited. Despite her reservations about working in the United States, she managed to sell out Carnegie Hall entirely for a performance in 1947. When Mexico, on the other hand, offered her a film contract with Spanish director Luis Buñuel , she agreed. She moved to Mexico in 1946. The film Gran Casino, with Jorge Negrete in the lead role, was a flop, but other roles followed, in films such as Soledad (1947), La dama del velo (1948), Huellas de un pasado (1950),Mujeres sin lágrimas (1951), Nunca es tarde para amar (1952), Ansiedad (1952) and Rostros olvidados (1952). Some of her best works from this period were Otra primavera (filmed in 1949), La loca (1951) and Cuando me vaya (1953); for each of these works she was nominated for the Premio Ariel as best actress in 1951, 1953 and 1955 .

Her last films were Bodas de oro (1955), Amor de sombra (1959), Yo pecador (1959), Rosas blancas para mi hermana negra (1969), the latter with the Cuban singer Eusebia Cosme , as well as her last two Argentinian films, La sonrisa de mamá (1972) and La mamá de la novia(1978). After the end of her film career, however, Lamarque went on tour with music again. In the late 1950s she toured in concert with the Puerto Rican singer Jesús Quiñones Ledesma and worked in Chile, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras and returned to Cuba to play theater and several Record albums.

After Evita's death, she returned to Argentina and appeared in 1967 in a performance at the Teatro Nacional in Buenos Aires, which she later showed again in Mexico in a production by Manolo Fabregás in 1968, for the Latin American audience as the first interpreter in a Spanish version of Hello Dolly ! on.

Late years and death

In 1996, she decided to settle in Miami , Florida, accompanied by her assistant Irene Lopez. Her daughter Mirtha, her son-in-law, five grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren stayed in Buenos Aires.

At 92, Lamarque was still active, fun-loving and happy when she got an appearance on the telenovela A Usurpadora . In 2000 she was awarded the Mexican Ariel de Oro Film Prize for her life's work .

She felt ill one morning and had to be admitted to an accident hospital in Mexico City, where she died on December 12, 2000 after ten days. Her body was cremated and her ashes scattered off the coast of Miami.

At the time of her death, she had appeared in 67 films (21 in Argentina, 45 in Mexico and one in Spain) and in 6 telenovelas . She had recorded over 800 songs and had numerous stage appearances.

Awards

  • 1931 Title La Reina del Tango ( Tango Queen) in a singing competition at the Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires
  • 1940 Best foreign actress in Puerta cerrada , Zagreb
  • 1951 Premio Ariel of the Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas (AMACC), nominated as best leading actress for Otra primavera
  • 1953 Premio Ariel, nominated as best leading actress for La loca
  • 1955 Premio Ariel, nominated for best leading actress Cuando me vaya
  • 1980 Critics' Choice TV Award New York, together with María Félix
  • 1985 Konex Platinum Award for Best Tango Singer, Argentina
  • 2000 Premio Ariel de Oro (Lifetime Achievement Prize) from the Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas

Filmography

In Argentina

  • 1933 ¡Tango!
  • 1936 Ayúdame a vivir
  • 1938 Besos brujos
  • 1938 Madreselva
  • 1939 Puerta cerrada
  • 1940 La casa del recuerdo
  • 1941 Una vez en la vida
  • 1942 Yo conocí a esa mujer
  • 1945 La cabalgata del circo
  • 1947 Romance musical

In Mexico

  • 1946 Gran Casino
  • 1947 Soledad
  • 1948 La dama del Velo, role: Andrea del Monte
  • 1949 Otra primavera, role: Amelia
  • 1950 La marquesa del barrio, role: Cristina Payares / La Marquesa
  • 1950 Huellas del pasado
  • 1951 Te sigo esperando, role: Elena Montenegro
  • 1951 La loca, role: Elena Prim
  • 1951 La mujer sin lágrimas, role: Consuelo
  • 1952 Ansiedad, role: María de Lara
  • 1952 Nunca es tarde para amar, role: Malisa Morales
  • 1952 Acuérdate de vivir, role: Yolanda
  • 1952 Rostros olvidados, role: Rosaria Velazquez
  • 1953 Si volvieras a mi, role: Alejandra
  • 1953 When I Leave, role: María Grever
  • 1953 La Infame, role: Cristina Ferrán
  • 1953 Anxiety
  • 1953 Reportaje
  • 1954 La mujer X
  • 1955 Bodas de oro
  • 1955 Música de siempre
  • 1955 Historia de un amor, role: Elena Ramos
  • 1955 Escuela de música, role: Laura Galván
  • 1956 Bambalinas
  • 1957 Mis padres se divorcian, role: Diana Váldes
  • 1957 Cuatro copas, role: Eugenia Pavel
  • 1957 La mujer que no tuvo infancia, role: Rosaura
  • 1958 Sabrás que te quiero, role: Amelia Rey / Mónica / Gabriela
  • 1959 Love in the Shadows, role: Claudia
  • 1959 Yo, pecador, role: Doña Virginia
  • 1960 El pecado de una madre, role: Ana María
  • 1960 La cigüeña dijo sí
  • 1962 El cielo y la tierra, role: Sor Lucero / Sister María de la Luz
  • 1963 Canción del alma, role: María Maragón
  • 1964 Los hijos que yo soñé, role: Mariana
  • 1964 Canta mi corazón, role: Luisa Lamas
  • 1966 Arrullo de Dios, role: Luz
  • 1968 El hijo pródigo, role: Alegría Román
  • 1969 Rosas blancas para mi hermana negra, role: Laura
  • 1971 Hoy he soñado con Dios, role: Lina Alonso
  • 1973 La loca de los milagros, role: Aurora Durban
  • 1973 Negro es un bello color, role: Eugenia

In Spain

  • 1961 Lovely Memory, role: Lucy

Series

  • 1970 Esmeralda, role: Sister Piedad
  • 1975 Mamá, role: Soledad
  • 1980 Soledad, role: Soledad González / Cristina Palermo
  • 1983 Amada, role: Amada
  • 1998 La Usurpadora, role: grandmother Piedad Bracho
  • 2000 Carita de Ángel, role: Mother Superior Piedad de la luz

further reading

  • Dieter Reichardt : Tango. Denial and grief . 1st edition Frankfurt am Main, Suhrkamp 1984, ISBN 3-518-37587-3 , pp. 109-132.
  • Libertad Lamarque: Autobiografia. Libertad Lamarque. Javier Vergara Publishing, Buenos Aires 1987, ISBN 9789684971509 .
  • Horacio Salas and Lato: Tango: melancholy that one can dance . Edition Elke Heidenreich at C. Bertelsmann, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3570580219 , p. 80.

Web links

Commons : Libertad Lamarque  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Obituaries: Libertad Lamarque. In: telegraph.co.uk - The Telegraph. December 14, 2000, accessed June 13, 2020 .
  2. ^ A b Simon Romero: Libertad Lamarque, Mexican Star, Dies at 92. In: nytimes.com. December 25, 2000, accessed June 13, 2020 .
  3. ^ Tino Diez: Libertad Lamarque. In: terapiatanguera.com.ar. Retrieved June 13, 2020 (Spanish).
  4. ↑ a b c d Julio Moran: Viva Libertad: Entertainment: Magazine honors Latina star for 70 years in film and music. She became a living legend in Mexican cinema. In: latimes.com. October 23, 1993, accessed June 13, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Néstor Pinson: Libertad Lamarque. In: todotango.com. Retrieved June 13, 2020 (Spanish).
  6. ↑ Ernesto Schoo: A los 92 años: Libertad Lamarque murió como consecuencia de problemas respiratorios. Doña Liber, diva de la escena argentina con toda justicia. In: lanacion.com.ar. December 13, 2000, accessed June 13, 2020 (Spanish).
  7. ^ Libertad Lamarque: Autobiografia. Libertad Lamarque . Ediciones Javier Vergara, Buenos Aires 1987, ISBN 978-968-497-150-9 , pp. 115-118 .
  8. ↑ a b Julio Nudler: Murio en Mexico Libertad Lamarque, “La novia de América”: El largo adiós a la trabajadora del tango. In: pagina12.com.ar. December 13, 2000, accessed June 13, 2020 (Spanish).
  9. ↑ Nicholas Fraser, Marysa Navarro: Evita: The Real Life of Evita Peron . Norton Paperback, New York 1996, ISBN 978-0-393-31575-2 , pp. 202 .
  10. ↑ Felipe Pigna: Evita . Planeta, Buenos Aires 2010, ISBN 978-950-49-1798-4 , pp. 275 (English).
  11. ^ Ricardo García Blaya: Libertad Lamarque y Eva Perón: dos muñecas bravas. In: todotango.com. Retrieved June 13, 2020 .
  12. ^ Blas Matamoro: El cine de Libertad Lamarque. In: Cualia.es. July 14, 2019, accessed August 15, 2020 (Spanish).
  13. ^ Libertad Lamarque, una leyenda de novela y tiempos de oro. In: La Capital On Line. December 13, 2000, accessed August 15, 2020 (Spanish).
  14. ^ Lamarque: Biografía . S. 226 (Spanish).
  15. ↑ a b c Josefina Ortega: Libertad Lamarque: La verdadera novia de America. In: lajiribilla.co.cu. Retrieved June 13, 2020 (Spanish).
  16. ↑ a b c Olga Cosentin: Adios a Libertad Lamarque: Murio ayer en Mexico, a los 92 años. The final de un sueño. In: clarin.com. December 13, 2000, accessed June 13, 2020 (Spanish).
  17. ^ Lamarque: Biografía . S. 239 .
  18. ^ Lamarque: Biografía . S. 240 .
  19. ^ Lamarque: Biografía . S. 251/256 .
  20. ^ Lamarque: Biografía . S. 231-233 .
  21. ^ Ernesto R. Acevedo-Muñoz: Buñuel and Mexico: The Crisis of National Cinema . University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, London 2003, ISBN 978-0-520-93048-3 , pp. 47 ff . ( google.de [accessed on August 15, 2020]).
  22. ↑ Manuel Desdin: Con vida negra y pureza propia. In: cubaencuentro.com. August 26, 2011, accessed August 15, 2020 (Spanish).
  23. ^ Claudio Carrera: Remembering Mexico's' Mr. Theater, 'Manolo Fabregas. In: playbill.com. February 4, 1998, accessed August 15, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Lamarque, Libertad
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lamarque de Bouza, Libertad (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Argentinian actress and singer
DATE OF BIRTH November 24, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Rosario
DATE OF DEATH December 12, 2000
Place of death Mexico city