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Born: 3 August 1905 Durango, Mexico
Died: 11 April 1983 Newport Beach, California, USA. (liver failure)
Real Name: Dolores Martínez Asúnsolo y López Negrete
Height: 5' 3½" (1.61 m)

Dolores del Rio starred with Elvis in Flaming Star as Neddy Burton.

Dolores del Rio was the first Mexican movie star with international appeal and she made an extraordinary career in the 1920s Hollywood (specially for a latin girl on those years).

She was born and raised as an aristocrat in Durango, Mexico, before the Mexican revolution. When her family lost almost everything they owned, Dolores emigrated to Mexico City, where she became a socialité. In 1921, Dolores married Jaime Del Río (or Jaime Martínez Del Río) a rich Mexican with whom she knew Hollywood producer Edwin Carewe. In a not-so-fashionable way for those years, the couple emigrated to Hollywood where they expected to launch careers in movie business (she as an actress and he as a screenwriter).

Eventually they were divorced after Dolores made her first film, Joanna (1925). After that, she was praised as the female Rodolfo Valentino and her career rised until talkies arrived in 1928. After a number of forgetta ble films, Dolores got married with Cedric Gibbons, a famous art director and production designer at Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) studios. Dolores returned to Mexico in 1942. Her Hollywood career was over and a romance with Orson Welles caused her second divorce. Mexican director Emilio Fernández asked her to star in Flor silvestre (1943) and the miracle happened: at 37, Dolores Del Río became the most famous movie star in her country, filming in spanish for the first time. Her association with Fernández' team (Gabriel Figueroa, Mauricio Magdaleno and Pedro Armendáriz) was decissive in creating the so-called Mexican Cinema Golden Era. With films like María Candelaria (1944), Abandonadas, Las (1944) and Bugambilia (1944), Del Río became the prototipe of Mexican beauty in foreign countries. Her career included film, theater and television. In her last years, she was very praised for her work on orphan children. Her last film was Children of Sanchez, The (1978).

Filmography

  • Children of Sanchez, The (1978) .... Grandma
• Hijo de todas, El (1967) ... aka Son of All, The (1967) (International: English title)
• Rio Blanco (1967) .... A Revolutionary
• C'era una volta... (1967) .... Queen Mother ... aka Belle et le cavalier, La (1967) (France) ... aka Cinderella: Italian Style (1967) ... aka More Than a Miracle (1967) (USA)
• Casa de mujeres (1966) ... aka House of Women (1966) (International: English title)
• Dama del alba, La (1966) .... Lady of the Dawn ... aka Lady of the Dawn, The (1966) (International: English title)
• Man Who Bought Paradise, The (1965) (TV) .... Mona
• Cheyenne Autumn (1964) .... Spanish Woman
• Pecado de una madre, El (1962) .... The Mother ... aka Mother's Son, A (1962) (International: English title)
• Flaming Star (1960) (as Dolores Del Rio) .... Neddy Burton
• Cucaracha, La (1958) .... Isabel ... aka Soldiers of Pancho Villa, The (1961) (USA)
• ¿Adónde van nuestros hijos? (1958) .... Rosa
• Señora ama (1955) .... Dominica
• Niño y la niebla, El (1953) .... Marta ... aka Boy and the Fog, The (1953)
• Reportaje (1953) .... María Enriqueta
• Deseada (1951) .... Deseada
• Doña Perfecta (1950) .... Doña Perfecta
• Casa chica, La (1949) .... Amalia Estrada ... aka Love Nest, The (1949) (International: English title)
• Malquerida, La (1949) .... Raimunda
• Historia de una mala mujer (1948) .... Mrs. Erlynne ... aka Story of a Bad Woman, The (1948) (International: English title)
• Fugitive, The (1947) .... An Indian Woman ... aka Fugitivo, El (1948) (Mexico)
• Otra, La (1946) .... Magdalena Mendez/Maria Mendez ... aka Other One, The (1946) (International: English title)
• Selva de fuego, La (1945) .... Estrella ... aka Jungle Fire (1945)
• Bugambilia (1945) .... Amalita de los Robles
• Abandonadas, Las (1945) .... Margarita Perez
• María Candelaria (1944) .... Maria Candelaria ... aka Portrait of Maria (1944) ... aka Xochimilco (1944)
• Flor silvestre (1943) .... Esperanza ... aka Wild Flower (1943)
• Journey Into Fear (1942) .... Josette Martel, Nightclub Singer
• Man from Dakota, The (1940) .... Eugenia 'Jenny' Santord ... aka Arouse and Beware (1940) (UK)
• International Settlement (1938) .... Leonore Dixon
• Lancer Spy (1937) .... Dolores Daria Sunnell
• Devil's Playground, The (1937) .... Carmen
• Accused (1936) .... Gaby Seymour
• Widow from Monte Carlo, The (1935) .... Inez, Duchess of Rye ... aka Present from Margate, A (1935)
• I Live for Love (1935) .... Donna Alvarez ... aka I Live for You (1935)
• In Caliente (1935) .... Rita Gomez, aka La Espanita
• Madame DuBarry (1934) (as Dolores Del Rio) .... Madame 'Jeanette' Du Barry
• Wonder Bar (1934) (as Dolores Del Rio) .... Inez
• Flying Down to Rio (1933) (as Dolores Del Rio) .... Belinha De Rezende
• Bird of Paradise (1932) .... Luana
• Girl of the Rio (1932) .... Dolores ... aka Dove, The (1932)
• Bad One, The (1930) .... Lita
• Evangeline (1929) .... Evangeline
• Red Dance, The (1928) .... Tasia ... aka Red Dancer of Moscow, The (1928) (UK)
• Revenge (1928) .... Rascha
• No Other Woman (1928) .... Carmelita de Granados
• Ramona (1928) .... Ramona
• Trail of '98, The (1928) .... Berna
• Gateway of the Moon, The (1928) .... Chela (Toni)
• Loves of Carmen, The (1927) .... Carmen
• Resurrection (1927) .... Katyusha Maslova
• Whole Town's Talking, The (1926) .... Rita Renault
• What Price Glory (1926) .... Charmaine de la Cognac
• Pals First (1926) .... Jeanne Lamont
• High Steppers (1926) .... Evelyn Iffield
• Joanna (1925) .... Carlotta de Silva

Herself - filmography

• Bronze Screen: 100 Years of the Latino Image in American Cinema, The (2002) .... Herself (archive footage)
• Zelig (1983) (archive footage) (uncredited) .... Herself
• México de mis amores (1979) .... Ella misma ... aka Mexico of My Loves (1979) (International: English title)
• Salsa (1976) .... Herself
• Torero (1956) .... Guest ... aka Bullfighter (1956)
• Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Goes to Mexico (1954) .... Herself
• Ali Baba Goes to Town (1937) (uncredited) .... Herself
• Dream Comes True, A (1935) (uncredited) .... Herself
• Trip Thru a Hollywood Studio, A (1935) (uncredited) .... Herself
• WAMPAS Baby Stars of 1926 (1926) .... Herself

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