Silvia Pinal, a respected film and television actress who left an indelible mark on the golden age of Mexican cinema, has died. She is 93 years old.
Pienaar’s death was announced on social media by Mexico’s Culture Minister Claudia Curiel de Icaza and the National Institute of International Interpretation. The Associated Press reported that Pienaar was hospitalized days ago with a urinary tract infection.
During a prolific acting and producing career spanning seven decades, Pienaar achieved international fame starring in three 1960s classics written and directed by Palme d’Or co-winner Luis Buñuel Viridiana (1961), destroy angel (1962) and simon of the desert (1965).
Pienaar began working in theater in the late 1940s, working with Cuban-born director Rafael Banquells, who would become the first of her four husbands. Her breakthrough in the film industry came in 1950, when at the age of 18 she starred opposite two of Mexico’s biggest movie stars, first in a comedy with Germán Valdés (aka Tin-Tan) king of the neighborhood with Mario Moreno (aka Cantinflas) on doorman.
She also worked with famous actor and singer Pedro Infante A corner of heaven (1952).
Still, Pienaar’s most famous role came more than a decade later, when he teamed up with the surrealist genius Buñuel, regarded by many critics as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. ViridianaIt was the first of three she collaborated on with the Spanish-born Helmer, brokered by her second husband, the Mexican producer Gustavo Alatriste, of whom she was a The performance of the blonde newbie who struggles with her faith is arguably the most impressive of her career.
Viridiana The play was banned in Spain by Francisco Franco’s military dictatorship and condemned by the Vatican’s official newspaper for its “blasphemous” criticism of the Catholic Church. The practice was also banned in Pienaar’s native Mexico, but after a visit to France she managed to return home with a print that she often used for private screenings.
exist destroy angelPienaar depicts a guest arriving at the mansion for a dinner party and then being unable to escape.
“A friend of mine made a clever point that I should repeat here: Buñuel invented reality TV. destroy angel“, she told the Criterion Collection in 2006. “What is [the film] What if it wasn’t a reality show about people who couldn’t leave that room?
And within these 45 minutes simon of the desertIn her role, her character attempts to seduce St. Simon Stillit (Claudio Brooke) from his post at the top of the column, where he stayed for six years, six months and six days, To prove his devotion to God.
Of Pienaar’s more than 100 acting credits, she worked mostly in Mexico, although she did appear in several films starring Hollywood stars, including an MGM co-production guns of san sebastian (1968), an action film starring Anthony Quinn, Charles Bronson, and Samuel Fuller shark (1969), starring Burt Reynolds.
On television, Pienaar won over viewers as the show’s host and producer Women, real life examplesa 1986-2007 melodrama based on true stories submitted by viewers. The show, which airs throughout Latin America, explores social themes that received little attention in Mexico during the 1980s and 1990s, including domestic violence, LGBT discrimination and women’s rights.
Pienaar is also a leader in Mexican musical theater. She starred in and produced local versions of Broadway musicals such as Hello Dolly!, chorus line and catshe owns several theaters in Mexico City.
In her later years, she juggled her acting career with her political career. She served as a federal lawmaker in the early 1990s and led the Mexican actors association ANDA from 2010-14.
Pinal was born on September 12, 1931, in the northern Mexican state of Sonora. She was named after her stepfather, journalist and politician Luis G. Pinal, as a tribute to the man who raised her. . Her mother worked in a seafood restaurant and her biological father, Moises Pascual, was an orchestra conductor.
Three of her former spouses work in show business, and their children and grandchildren work in everything from film and television to music and modeling. She has two children with her third husband, pop singer Enrique Guzman, including musician Alejandra Guzman, a A Latin Grammy Award-winning artist with over 30 million albums sold. The family is often referred to as the “Pinard Dynasty” given their many success stories in the entertainment industry.
Her survivors also include child Alejandra Guzman, film and television actress Sylvia Pascual and musician Luis Enrique Guzman.
