Enrique Riveros Fernandez (1906–1954), was a Chilean actor who worked primarily in films in France, most notably with directors

Jean Renoir Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent film, silent era to the end of the 1960s. ...

and

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the su ...

, before retiring from the screen and moving back to Chile to raise his children.Documental “UN ACTOR”
/ref>

Early life and career

Riveros was born in

San Fernando, Chile San Fernando is the capital of the province of Colchagua, in central Chile, and the second most populated urban center of the O'Higgins Region. Located close to the Tinguiririca River (a tributary of the Rapel) in a fertile valley, San Fernando ...

, the eldest son of prominent businessman Enrique Riveros and Mrs. Hortensia Fernández Prado. As a teenager he traveled to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1922 to study

agronomy Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation. Agronomy has come to include research of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and ...

, but promptly and against his family's wishes, became involved in the Parisian art world and

avant-garde film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many experimental films, parti ...

scene of the era, mingling with:

Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

, ManRay,

Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the Allegheny West neighborhood and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris ...

Coco Chanel Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel ( , ; 19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971) was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post-World War I era with popularizing a sporty, c ...

Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish-Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico, and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians, and directors to be one of the greatest and m ...

Lee Miller Elizabeth "Lee" Miller, Lady Penrose (April 23, 1907 – July 21, 1977), was an American photographer and photojournalist. She was a fashion model in New York City in the 1920s before going to Paris, where she became a fashion and fine art ...

, the Viscount de Noailles, among others, that formed the social circle that unfolded for ten years and where he developed his acting career.

Later career and retirement

Enrique Riveros worked in Europe as a leading man in more than fifteen films, which include ''Spökbaronen'' directed by

Gustaf Edgren Gustaf Edgren (1 April 1895 – 10 June 1954) was a Swedish screenwriter, film director and producer.Historical Dictionary of Scandinavian Cinema p.327 Selected filmography * '' 40 Skipper Street'' (1925) * '' First Mate Karlsson's Sweethearts'' ...

(1927), ''Majestät schneidet Bubiköpfe'' directed by Ragnar Hyltén-Cavallius (1928), ''Le tournoi dans la cite'' (1928) and ''Le bled'' (1929), directed by

, obtaining the latter film the award of the French Government at the time. In 1930, Riveros appeared as the protagonist of ''

The Blood of a Poet ''The Blood of a Poet'' (french: Le sang d'un poète) (1930) is an avant-garde film directed by Jean Cocteau, financed by Charles de Noailles and starring Enrique Riveros, a Chilean actor who had a successful career in European films. Photograp ...

'', the first film by the artist and French intellectual

, this avant-garde film is considered one of the highlights of surrealism. Some of his other roles of the decade were works in films by:

Alberto Cavalcanti Alberto de Almeida Cavalcanti (February 6, 1897 – August 23, 1982) was a Brazilian-born film director and film producer, producer. He was often credited under the single name "Cavalcanti". Early life Cavalcanti was born in Rio de Janeiro, ...

, ''Dans une île perdue'' (1931), ''À mi-chemin du ciel'' (1931) and ''

Wine Cellars ''Wine Cellars'' (Spanish: ''La bodega'') is a 1930 French-Spanish film directed by Benito Perojo and starring Colette Darfeuil, Valentín Parera and Enrique Rivero. It was originally made as a silent film, with sound added later. Based on the ...

'' (1930) directed by Benito Perojo, with the actress and singer

Concha Piquer María de la Concepción Piquer López (13 December 190612 December 1990), better known as Concha Piquer (and sometimes billed as Conchita Piquer), was a Spanish singer and actress. She was known for her work in the '' copla'' form, and she perfor ...

as co-star and ''

Nicole et sa vertu ''Nicole and Her Virtue'' (French: ''Nicole et sa vertu'') is a 1932 French drama film directed by René Hervil and starring Alice Cocéa, André Roanne and Paulette Duvernet.Crisp p.392 Cast * Alice Cocéa as Nicole Versin * André Roanne ...

'' (1932) by Rene Hervil, among others. Before the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Enrique Riveros returned to Chile, where he worked on a couple of film projects and starred in the film ''El hombre que se llevaron'' (1946) by Jorge "Coke" Delano, with the role of defendant Alberto Rivero received the prize for Best Actor National Film. Riveros died in 1954, leaving a legacy all but forgotten. His fame and success were so bright at the time, continuously contained in the European film magazine covers, being a gallant comparable with

Rudolph Valentino Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor based in the United States who starred ...

. Rivero transcended fame so much in his native Chile, that in 1927 the newspaper ''El Mercurio'' sent a correspondent to interview him in Paris. "And 1927 has brought a surprise to Parisians rise always used to seeing European artists. This year has been a South American, and something even more exotic: a Chilean, Enrique Riveros, who imposes his name on screen, movie posters and magazines in Paris. His films show him as an actor has all the powers required by the filmmaker: his youth that reaches just 20 years old, a slim athletic body, an attractive physical and strong and gifted artistic temperament "

Selected filmography

* ''

The Ghost Baron ''The Ghost Baron'' (Swedish: ''Spökbaronen'') is a 1927 Swedish drama film directed by Gustaf Edgren and starring Fridolf Rhudin, Karin Swanström and Enrique Rivero.Gustafsson p.104 It was shot at the Råsunda Studios in Stockholm. The fil ...

'' (1927) * ''

'' (1930) * '' The Picador'' (1932) * ''

Nicole and Her Virtue ''Nicole and Her Virtue'' (French: ''Nicole et sa vertu'') is a 1932 French drama film directed by René Hervil and starring Alice Cocéa, André Roanne and Paulette Duvernet.Crisp p.392 Cast * Alice Cocéa as Nicole Versin * André Roanne ...

'' (1932)

References

External links

* *
Criterion Collection essay by Jean Cocteau
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riveros, Enrique 1906 births 1954 deaths 20th-century Chilean male actors Chilean male film actors Chilean male silent film actors People from San Fernando, Chile