María del Carmen García Galisteo (16 October 1930 – 27 June 2023),[1] known professionally as Carmen Sevilla, was a Spanish actress, singer, and dancer. She began her career in the 1940s and became one of the most popular and highest paid stars of Spanish cinema until the 1970s. In 1991, at the age of sixty, she began her career as a television presenter, working for the three major Spanish networks until her retirement in 2010.[2] At the time of her death, she was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Mexican cinema and from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Carmen Sevilla | |
|---|---|
 Sevilla, c. 1955 | |
| Born | María del Carmen García Galisteo 16 October 1930 Seville, Spain |
| Died | 27 June 2023 (aged 92) Majadahonda, Spain |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1947–2010 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 1 |
As an actress, she had leading roles in numerous films, including Imperial Violets (1952), Academy Award nominee Vengeance (1958), Don Juan (1956), and Searching for Monica (1962). She also had supporting roles in English-language epic films including King of Kings (1961) and Antony and Cleopatra (1972). As a singer she released over fifteen studio albums and numerous singles and compilations.
Early life
editMaría del Carmen García Galisteo was born in the Heliópolis neighborhood of Seville on 16 October 1930, daughter of composer Antonio García Padilla and Florentina Galisteo Ramírez, and the eldest sister of three siblings.[3] Decades later she stated that her year of birth was 1931, as she had to add an extra year to her age to be able to work earlier and comply with labor regulations.[4] After the Spanish Civil War, the family moved to Madrid, where her father and grandfather worked as lyricists for the films of Concha Piquer and Imperio Argentina.[5]
As a child, Sevilla was already attracted to the performing arts and soon began to sing and dance. In fact, at the age of twelve she went on stage for the first time with Estrellita Castro, with the show Rapsodia española, starring Paquita Rico.[3] Castro became her artistic godmother, who met her when Carmen went to take some of her father's letters to the theater.[5] She soon formed part of the theater companies of El Príncipe Gitano and of Paco Reyes.[3] In the 1940s, she began her studies at the Conservatory of Music and in dance classes.[4]
Career
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Sevilla made her film debut in 1946 with the documentary Hombres Ibéricos and with a supporting role in Serenata española in 1947.[5][4] That year she participated in the Miss Spain contest.[4] She had her first leading film role in 1948's Jalisco Sings in Seville.[6] Her rise to fame came with her starring role in The Troublemaker (1950) with Tony Leblanc.[7] She then became one of the most popular and highest paid stars of Spanish cinema.[8]
In 1952 she starred in Imperial Violets along with Luis Mariano.[9] Sevilla starred in 1958 in the Juan Antonio Bardem film Vengeance, the first Spanish film to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[5] She also played Mary Magdalene in the American Nicholas Ray's epic film King of Kings (1961).[10]
She also established herself as a singer thanks to the songs she performed in her films. She released over fifteen studio albums, with many songs composed by her then husband Augusto Algueró, including coplas, boleros, and tangos, and performed them on stage and television.[11] On 3 January 1965, she made her first appearance on American television on The Ed Sullivan Show, where she performed live the songs "Mis noches de Madrid" and "Estando contigo", both composed by Algueró.[12]
Thanks to her popularity, she also starred in several important advertising campaigns, including the very first Coca-Cola television commercial in Spain and the campaign for Philips household appliances where she sang a catchy flamenco-yeyé jingle.[13]
In 1972, she played Octavia in the English-language Charlton Heston film Antony and Cleopatra. She also starred in No es bueno que el hombre esté solo (1973), Nadie oyó gritar (1973), and Beatriz (1976).[14] She retired from acting in the late 1970s, making her last film performance in the 1978 film Rostros.[15]
In 1991, at the age of sixty, she began a new career as a television presenter working in different shows and specials for the three major Spanish networks until her retirement in 2010. Her works as presenter include Telecupón (1991–97) on Telecinco, La noche de Carmen (1997–98) on Antena 3, and Cine de Barrio (2004–10) on Televisión Española. She also presented the broadcast of the New Year's Eve clock bell strikes live from Puerta del Sol in Madrid once on each of the three networks, being the only person to have done so on all three networks.[a][16]
Personal life and death
edit
Carmen Sevilla married composer and conductor Augusto Algueró, whom she met in 1956 during the filming of The Taming of the Shrew, on 23 February 1961 in the Zaragoza's Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar.[17] Their only son, Augusto José, was born in 1964.[4] The couple divorced in 1974. Carmen Sevilla remarried in 1985 to Vicente Patuel, whom with she settled on a farm near Herrera del Duque until Patuel's death from a heart attack in 2000.[17][18]
In 2012, she was announced to be in a "very advanced stage" of Alzheimer's disease, with which she was diagnosed three years earlier.[19] In 2015 it was reported that she no longer recognized her home.[20] In 2015, she went to live in a nursing home in Aravaca, Madrid.[21] In 2022, her son announced that his mother's Alzheimer's was already at such an advanced stage that she did not recognize him and could not remember her artistic career.[22]
On 26 June 2023, it was made public that Sevilla had been hospitalised in serious condition at the Puerta de Hierro hospital in Majadahonda (near Madrid) on 25 June 2023, where she died on 27 June from complications of Alzheimer's. She was 92.[23][24][25][26][27][28]
Selected filmography
edit- Jalisco Sings in Seville (1949)[6]
- The Guitar of Gardel (1949) as Carmelilla[14]
- Tales of the Alhambra (1950) as Mariquilla[14]
- The Troublemaker (1950) as Mari Pepa[7]
- The Dream of Andalusia (1951) as Dolores[14]
- Love and Desire (1951) as Lola[29]
- Imperial Violets (1952) as Violeta[14]
- Feather in the Wind (1952) as Héléna Châtelain
- Sister San Sulpicio (1952) as Gloria Alvargonzález / Sister San Sulpicio[14]
- The Beauty of Cadiz (1953) as Maria-Luisa[14]
- You Had to Be a Gypsy (1953) as Pastora de los Reyes[30]
- An Andalusian Gentleman (1954) as Esperanza 'Colorín'[14]
- Congress in Seville (1955) as Carmen Fuentes[31]
- Requiebro (1955)[32]
- Don Juan (1956) as Serranilla[14]
- Desert Warrior (1957) as Princess Amina[14]
- Spanish Affair (1957) as Mari Zarubia[14]
- Vengeance (1958) as Andrea Díaz[14]
- Bread, Love and Andalusia (1958) as Carmen García[14]
- King of Kings (1961) as Mary Magdalene[14]
- The Balcony of the Moon (1962) as Charo[33]
- Searching for Monica as Mónica Durán (1962)[14]
- Road to Rocío (1966) as Esperanza Aguilar[34]
- The Partisan of Villa (1967) as Reyes Mendoza[35]
- A Decent Adultery (1969) as Fernanda[14]
- The Locket (1970) as Virginia / Soledad[14]
- The Boldest Job in the West (1971) as Marion[36][14]
- The Glass Ceiling (1971) as Marta[14]
- Antony and Cleopatra (1972) as Octavia Minor[14]
- La Cera Virgen (1972) as María[14]
- Nadie oyó gritar (1973) as Elisa[37]
- No es bueno que el hombre esté solo (1973) as Lina[14]
- House of the Damned (also known as La Loba y la Paloma) (1974)[38][39]
- Cabaret Woman (1974) as Rita Medina[14]
- Sex o no sex (1974) as Angélica[14]
- English Striptease (1975)[14]
- Muerte de un quinqui (1975)[14]
- La cruz del diablo (1975) as Maria[40]
- Naked Therapy (1976) as Doctora Sol Esteve[41]
- Beatriz (1976) as Carlota[14]
Accolades
editCEC Awards
edit| Year | Category | Film | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Best Main Actress | La fierecilla domada | Won | [42] |
| 1970 | Best Actress | The Glass Ceiling | Won | [43] |
| 2003 | Medal of Honour | Won | [44] | |
Honours
edit- Gold Medal of Merit in Labour (2001)[45]
- Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts (2003)[46]
- Hija Predilecta of the Province of Seville (2007)[47]
Notes
edit- ^ She hosted the welcome of 1994 on Telecinco –along with José María Íñigo–, of 1999 on Antena 3 –with Pedro Rollán–, and of 2004 on Televisión Española –with Ramón García–.
References
edit- ^ "Fallece la actriz Carmen Sevilla a los 92 años". Europa Press. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
- ^ "Carmen Sevilla profile". Andalucia.com. 12 February 2014. Archived from the original on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ^ a b c Alvarez, J. Luis (27 June 2023). "Muere a los 92 años Carmen Sevilla, la belleza natural española". El Correo.
- ^ a b c d e Benito, Alexandra (27 June 2023). "Carmen Sevilla en 75 datos y curiosidades parea recordarla siempre". El Confidencial.
- ^ a b c d Santos, Elena (27 June 2023). "Muere Carmen Sevilla a los 92 años". El Confidencial.
- ^ a b "Jalisco canta en Sevilla". Catálogo de Cine Español. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
- ^ a b "La revoltosa". Catálogo de Cine Español. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
- ^ "Spain's Top Stars Bursting Bounds Of the Economy". Variety. 17 July 1957. p. 13. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
- ^ "VIOLETTES IMPÉRIALES (1952)". BFI. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ "Carmen Sevilla". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ Herrero, Javier (28 June 2023). "Carmen de España, y no la de Mérimée". Diario de Sevilla (in Spanish).
- ^ "Carmen Sevilla "Estando Contigo" on The Ed Sullivan Show". The Ed Sullivan Show. 3 January 1965. CBS.
- ^ Vegas, Valeria (27 June 2023). "Muere Carmen Sevilla a los 92 años: adiós a la novia de España". Vanity Fair Spain (in Spanish).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa "Carmen Sevilla". BFI. Archived from the original on 30 May 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
- ^ Cabrera, Elena (27 June 2023). "Muere Carmen Sevilla, la flamenca yeyé que fue la más moderna de las folclóricas". eldiario.es.
- ^ "De la flamenca yeyé al hip hop: así ha sido el paso de Carmen Sevilla por la historia de la TV". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 15 October 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
- ^ a b Camino, Lucia (27 June 2023). "La historia de amor de Carmen Sevilla y Augusto Algueró". Diario de Sevilla (in Spanish).
- ^ Smith, Harrison (29 June 2023). "Carmen Sevilla, a glamorous queen of Spanish film, dies at 92". The Washington Post.
- ^ "Carmen Sevilla sufre un alzheimer muy avanzado". Telecinco. Mediaset España. 19 July 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ^ "Carmen Sevilla cumple 85 años en una residencia y sin apenas reconocer a los suyos". 20 Minutos (in Spanish). 16 October 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ^ "EXCLUSIVA Así es el día a día de Carmen Sevilla en su residencia". Diez Minutos. 21 October 2020.
- ^ "Augusto Algueró, sobre el estado de su madre, Carmen Sevilla: "Ya no me conoce"". El Mundo. 28 September 2022.
- ^ "Fallece Carmen Sevilla a los 92 años". Madridiario. 27 June 2023.
- ^ "Muere Carmen Sevilla a los 92 años". El Periódico de España. Prensa Ibérica. 27 June 2023.
- ^ "Carmen Sevilla, ingresada grave en el hospital Puerta de Hierro de Madrid a los 92 años". El País (in Spanish). 26 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ "Fallece la actriz Carmen Sevilla a los 92 años". Europa Press (in Spanish). 27 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ Lillo, Jesús (27 June 2023). "Muere Carmen Sevilla, adiós a una estrella de cercanías". ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ Martínez, Luis (27 June 2023). "Muere Carmen Sevilla, la actriz y mito de las mil vidas". El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ "Le Désir et l'amour – Fiche Film". La Cinémathèque française. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
- ^ "Gitana tenías que ser". Catálogo de Cine Español. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
- ^ "Congreso en Sevilla". Catálogo de Cine Español. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ "Requiebro". Catàlogo de Cine Español. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ "El Balcón de la Luna". Catálogo de Cine Español. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ "Camino del Rocío – Adaptaciones de la literatura española en el cine español. Referencias y bibliografía". Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ "La Guerrillers de Villa". Catálogo de Cine Español. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
- ^ "El más Fabuloso Golpe del Far West". Catálogo de Cine Español. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ "Nadie oyó gritar". Catálogo de Cine Español. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ "La LOBA Y LA PALOMA (1973)". BFI. Archived from the original on 5 May 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ "La Loba y la Paloma". Catálogo de Cine Español. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ "La Cruz del Diablo". Catálogo de Cine Español. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
- ^ "Terapia al Desnudo". Catálogo de Cine Español. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
- ^ "Premios del CEC a la producción española de 1955". Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 June 2023.
- ^ "Premios del CEC a la producción española de 1970". Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 June 2023.
- ^ "Los guionistas premian el filme 'Te doy mis ojos', de Icíar Bollaín". ABC (in Spanish). 27 January 2004.
- ^ Aparicio Pérez, Juan Carlos; R., Juan Carlos (7 December 2001). "REAL DECRETO 1399/2001, de 7 de diciembre, por el que se concede la Medalla al Mérito en el Trabajo, en su categoría de Oro, a doña Carmen García Galisteo" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (294): 45759. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
- ^ del Castillo Vera, Pilar; R., Juan Carlos (19 December 2003). "REAL DECRETO 1774/2003, de 19 de diciembre, por el que se concede la Medalla al Mérito en las Bellas Artes, en su categoría de oro, a doña Carmen García Galisteo" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (304): 45377. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
- ^ "Carmen Sevilla, Rafael Escuredo y Rocío Jurado, Hijos Predilectos e Hija Adoptiva de la provincia". ABC (in Spanish). 23 May 2007.
External links
edit- Carmen Sevilla at IMDb
- Carmen Sevilla at Rotten Tomatoes
- Carmen Sevilla discography at Discogs