Lamarque, Libertad (1908–2000)

Known as "The Bride of America," this Argentine actress and singer had one of the longest careers of any artist in Latin America. Born in Rosario on November 24, 1908, Lamarque began acting before the age of ten, with her father's support, in the theaters of her native city. She moved to Buenos Aires in 1924 to start her professional career in the theater. Two years later she made her foray into tango, and themes such as "Madreselva," "Besos brujos," and "Gaucho del Sol" paved her way to success and into film. The timber of her voice was unique and lent her singing great expressivity in songs the public valued. In 1933, she was in the cast of Tango, the first talking picture in the history of Argentine film. During the 1930s and 1940s she was one of the most in-demand stars in Argentina, a country whose popular culture scene was then dominated by the tango and a flourishing film industry. In the following years she played in more than twenty films.

During the filming of La Cabalgata del Circo, Lamarque got into a heated argument with one of the other actresses in the cast, Eva (Evita) Duarte, who already had connections with future president Juan Domingo Perón. In the face of political pressures, she emigrated to Mexico, where, in 1947, she appeared in Gran Casino, a film by the Spanish director Luis Buñuel. She began to make trips back to Buenos Aires after 1955, when Perón was no longer in power. Her more than 400 musical recordings are a total unattained by any other Argentine singer. Although she revisited her native country several times to take leading roles in films and to record albums, she would always return to her beloved Mexico. There she spent her most active years and subsequently the final years of her life. She died on December 12, 2000.

See alsoArgentina: The Twentieth Century; Buñuel, Luis; Perón, Juan Domingo; Perón, María Eva Duarte de; Rosario.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lamarque, Libertad. Libertad Lamarque. Buenos Aires: J. Vergara Editor, 1986.

                                             Elena Moreira