María Esther Fernández González (23 August 1915 – 21 October 1999) was a Mexican actress.

Life and career

Esther Fernández began her career as an extra in the film '' La Mujer del Puerto'' (1934). Her first starring role was in the early horror film ''El baúl macabro'' (Miguel Zacarías, 1936). Her beauty and charisma drew the attention of film director

Fernando de Fuentes Fernando de Fuentes Carrau (December 13, 1894 – July 4, 1958) was a Mexican film director, considered a pioneer in the film industry worldwide. He is perhaps best known for directing the films ''El prisionero trece'', ''El compadre Mendoza'', a ...

, who gave her the female lead role of Crucita in the rural musical '' Allá en el rancho Grande'' (1936), opposite Tito Guizar. Some critics consider the unexpected success of this film throughout Latin America as marking the start of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. During the rest of the 1930s, Fernández played mostly ingénues in movies like ''Mi candidato'' (1938), with Joaquín Pardavé and Pedro Armendàriz, and ''Los de abajo'' (1939), with Isabela Corona and

Emilio Fernández Emilio "El Indio" Fernández Romo (; 26 March 1904 – 6 August 1986) was a Mexican film director, actor and screenwriter. He was one of the most prolific film directors of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema in the 1940s and 1950s. He is best know ...

. She caught the attention of

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

, which had already contracted Tito Guizar, and earned her a contract to work in Hollywood. Though she trained for two years as a starlet, the Paramount studio executives never cast her in a movie and she returned to Mexico. In 1943 Fernández was cast to play the title character in the second sound version of the classic Mexican film '' Santa'', directed by

Norman Foster Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank (born 1 June 1935) is an English architect. Closely associated with the development of high-tech architecture, Lord Foster is recognised as a key figure in British modernist architecture. Hi ...

and co-starring Ricardo Montalbán, then at the start of his film career. The couple and the director reunited to make '' The Escape'' (1944), based on a Guy de Maupassant story. In 1946 Fernández was finally able to star in a Paramount film ''

Two Years Before the Mast ''Two Years Before the Mast'' is a memoir by the American author Richard Henry Dana Jr., published in 1840, having been written after a two-year sea voyage from Boston to California on a merchant ship starting in 1834. A Two Years Before the Mast ...

.'' She played a Mexican-American woman returning to California from Spain for an arranged marriage. However, although it was the only important female character, the adventure film focused on the male cast, headed by

Alan Ladd Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns. He was often paired with Veronica Lake in ...

and

Brian Donlevy Waldo Brian Donlevy (February 9, 1901 – April 6, 1972) was an American actor, who was noted for playing dangerous and tough characters. Usually appearing in supporting roles, among his best-known films are '' Beau Geste'' (1939), '' The Great ...

Brian-Donlevy-Esther-Fernandez-Alan-Ladd-Two-Years-Before-the-Mast

Fernández continued her career in Mexico, starring in films like ''Flor de durazno'' (1945), '' Ramona'' (1946), '' Cantaclaro'' (1947), ''Solo Veracruz es Bello'' (1948), '' Doña Perfecta'' (1950), playing the daughter of Dolores del Rio, and ''Los Hijos del Rancho Grande'' (1956). Fernández became romantically involved with the actor and singer Antonio Badú and during this period often co-starred with him. She was absent from acting for two years, due to hepatitis. When she returned, the producers had forgotten her and stopped offering her movies. During her retirement years, she was dedicated to painting. In 1989, Fernández returned to stardom in the Mexican

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar Drama (film and television), drama genres around the w ...

'' Simplemente María''. In 1992, she returned to the cinema with the film ''Los Años de Greta'', opposite Beatriz Aguirre and Meche Barba. Her last appearance was in the film ''Reclusorio II'' (1997).Agrasánchez Jr. (2001), p. 42-45 Fernández died of natural causes in 1999.

Partial filmography

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Esther 1915 births 1999 deaths Mexican film actresses Mexican television actresses 20th-century Mexican actresses Actresses from Jalisco Mexican expatriate actresses in the United States Golden Age of Mexican cinema