María Félix

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María Félix (born María de los Ángeles Félix Guerreau in Sonora, Mexico) was a Mexican actress of Basque and Yaqui origin.

Commonly known, particularly in her later years, by the honorific La Doña she was one of the leading figures of the golden era of the Cinema of Mexico.

Her father, Bernard Felix, was a descendant of Yaqui Indians and her mother, Josefina Guerreau, was of Spanish blood, educated in a convent at Pico Heights, California.

Her beauty and flamboyant personality propelled her to international fame and icon status, in movies like Woman Without a Soul and La Generala.

Although she worked in French and Italian films as well as in the Mexican cinema, her poor command of the English language prevented her from working in Hollywood. She therefore lost the leading role of Pearl Chavez in the 1945 film Duel in the Sun, which was written with her in mind, to Jennifer Jones; as a result, she never achieved the fame in the USA that she achieved in Latin America and Europe.

According to historian John A. Crow in The Epic of Latin America, her intimate relationship with married Mexican president Miguel Aleman Valdes created somewhat of a scandal. She was active in the women's auxiliary of the PRI.

She died on April 8 2002 in Mexico City of congestive heart failure.

The ever immortal "Maria Bonita" is the song that Agustin Lara wrote for her, of which she was married to the great Composer, while Juan Gabriel wrote Maria de Todas Las Marias for her.

1 Film career
2 Date of birth
3 Quote
4 External links

[edit] Film career

Felix's legendary career started in 1940, when she was discovered by Fernando Palacios, who cast her in his film, El Peñón de las Animas. Despite the fact that she believed she was not prepared for the role, she accepted.

El Peñón de las Animas, which placed her alongside Jorge Negrete, the number-one actor in Mexico at the time, catapulted her to fame. Throughout her long career she acted in 47 movies.

[edit] 1940 – 1945

El Peñón de las Animas
María Eugenia
Doña Bárbara
La China Poblana
La Mujer sin Alma
La Monja Alférez
Amok
El Monje Blanco
Vértigo

[edit] 1946 – 1949

La Devoradora
La Mujer de Todos
Enamorada
La Diosa Arrodillada
Río Escondido
Que Dios Me Perdone
Maclovia
Doña Diabla
Mare Nostrum
Una Mujer Cualquiera

[edit] 1950 – 1954

La Noche del Sábado
La Corona Negra
Hechizo Trágico
Mesalina
Reportaje
Camelia
El Rapto
French Can-Can
La Pasión Desnuda

[edit] 1955 – 1959

La Bella Otero
Los Héroes Están Fatigados
La Escondida
Canasta de Cuentos Mexicanos
Tizoc: Amor Indio
Flor de Mayo
Faustina
Miércoles de Ceniza
Café Colón
La Estrella Vacía
La Cucaracha
Sonatas
Los Ambiciosos

[edit] 1960 –

Juana Gallo
La Bandida
Si Yo Fuera Millonario
Amor y sexo
La Valentina
La Generala

[edit] Date of birth

There is an ongoing dispute regarding Ms. Félix's date of birth. There is a large (but not unanimous) opinion (shared by IMDb) that she was born on April 8 1914, which means that she died on her 88th birthday. However, her obituary in the New York Times states that she was born on May 4 1914, which would have made her 87 at the time of her death.

[edit] Quote

Upon being asked her age by a female journalist:

Mire, señorita, yo he estado muy ocupada viviendo mi vida y no he tenido tiempo de contarla. ("Look, young lady, I have been very busy living my life and I've not had time to count it.")