Félix, María (1914–2002)
Félix, María (1914–2002)
María Félix (b. 8 April 1914; d. 8 April 2002), Mexican film actress. Born near Alamos, Sonora, as a young girl Félix moved to Guadalajara, where she completed her early schooling. She made her film debut in 1942 in the classic El penon de lasánimas. One year later, she starred in Doña Bárbara, a screen adaptation of the famous Venezuelan novel. The character Félix portrayed in that film epitomized the dominant, self-assured, strong-willed, and seductive heroine that became the actress's screen persona. Among her greatest and best-known films are Enamorada (1947), La diosa arrodillada (1947), Maclovia (1948), Río escondido (1949), Doña Diabla (1951), El rapto (1954), Tizoc (1957), La cucaracha (1959), and Juana Gallo (1961). The Mexican film academy awarded Félix the Ariel for best actress for the films Enamorada, Río Escondido, and Doña Diabla. Known as La Doña, Félix was a living legend and symbol of Mexican beauty, femininity, and strength, and was arguably the greatest screen presence of twentieth-century Mexican cinema. In 1985 she won a lifetime achievement award and the Mexico City Prize for her lifelong contribution to arts and culture. In 1996 the French government named her commandeur de l'orde des arts et des lettres, making her the first Latin American woman to win this honor. She died on 8 April 2002.
See alsoCinema: From the Silent Film to 1990 .
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Luis Reyes De La Maza, El cine sonoro en México (1973).
E. Bradford Burns, Latin American Cinema: Film and History (1975).
Carl J. Mora, Mexican Cinema: Reflections of a Society: 1896–1980 (1982).
John King, Magical Reels: A History of Cinema in Latin America (1990).
Additional Bibliography
Cluzet, Enrique Mourigan. María Félix a todo color: Los secretos mejor guardados de la Doña. México: Debolsillo: Random House Mondadori, 2005.
Philippe, Pierre. María Félix. New York: Assouline, 2006.
Taibo, Paco Ignacio. María Félix: 47 pasos por el cine. México, DF: Ediciones B. México, 2004.
David Maciel