María Carmen Díaz de Mendoza Larrabeiti (December 1, 1927 – March 11, 2018) was a Spanish

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

actress.

Life

Mari Carmen Díaz de Mendoza was born in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

towards the end of 1927. Her parents, and

Carmen Larrabeiti Carmen Larrabeiti Urquiza (2 June 1904 – June 1968) was a stage and screen actress from the Basque region in Spain. Biography Carmen Larrabeiti was born in Bilbao early in the twentieth century. At the age of 17, despite parental oppositio ...

, who were both actors, had married the previous year. He paternal grand parents were also highly successful in the world of theatre. Although Mari Carmen made one or two film appearances, the focus of her own acting career was the theatre. She embarked on her stage career in the 1940s at the

Theatre of María Guerrero The Theatre of María Guerrero (Spanish: ''Teatro María Guerrero'') is a theatre located in Madrid, Spain. It was declared ''Bien de Interés Cultural'' on 1 March 1996. It is the home of the national theatre of Spain, Centro Dramático Nacional. ...

, originally purchased by her grandfather, the theatrical impresario Fernando Díaz de Mendoza y Aguado, back in 1908. In 1944 she appeared in a play based on Dostoyevsky's "

Demons A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, anime, ...

", playing opposite . Another early role was in the Spanish translation of "

Time and the Conways ''Time and the Conways'' is a British play written by J. B. Priestley in 1937 illustrating J. W. Dunne's Theory of Time through the experience of a moneyed Yorkshire family, the Conways, over a period of nineteen years from 1919 to 1937. Wide ...

" by J. B. Priestley, in which she appeared with

Guillermo Marín Guillermo Marín (12 August 1905 – 21 May 1988) was a classic Spanish film and theater actor. He was one of the leading men in Spanish cinema of the 1940s, and in stages in the 1950s. He played several characters in successful films directed b ...

and . A few months later she transferred to the Teatro Español, in June 1945 appearing in "

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

" with Marin and

Mercedes Prendes Mercedes Prendes (14 April 1903 - 2 July 1981) was a Spanish Actor, actress, originally from Asturias. During a long career, notably between 1927 and 1940, she took a number of Film, cinema roles, and towards the end of her career she appeared re ...

. During the next few years she appeared in "Tres de madrugada" by Claudio de la Torre (1946), "Cuento de cuentos" by (1947) and after setting up her own theatre company, in "Víspera de bodas" by Eduardo Manzanos (1948), in which

Milagros Leal Milagros Leal (2 December 1902 – 2 March 1975) was a Spanish actress. Selected theatrical works * ''La estrella de Justina'' (1925) * ''Mariquilla Terremoto'' (1930). * ''Anacleto se divorcia'' (1932). * ''La propia estimación'' (1941) * ''L ...

and also appeared. She was part of the production of

En la ardiente oscuridad ''En la ardiente oscuridad'' (''In the Burning Darkness'') is a play by Antonio Buero Vallejo, written in 1947, which made its debut in The Teatro María Guerrero in Madrid on 1 December 1950. A film of the same name was produced in 1958. Synops ...

by Antonio Buero Vallejo, which had its triumphant premier in December 1950 at the

Teatro María Guerrero Teatro may refer to: * Theatre * Teatro (band) Teatro, Italian for "theatre", is a vocal group signed to the Sony BMG music label. The members of Teatro are Jeremiah James, Andrew Alexander, Simon Bailey and Stephen Rahman-Hughes. Band members ...

. There were other successes during the early 1950s in the theatre that still bore her grandmother's name, including " María Antonieta" (1952) and " El jefe" (1953) by , " Berkeley Square" (1952) by

John L. Balderston John L. Balderston (October 22, 1889, in Philadelphia – March 8, 1954, in Los Angeles) was an American playwright and screenwriter best remembered for his horror and fantasy scripts. He wrote the 1926 play ''Berkeley Square'' and the 1927 Ameri ...

and "Recién llegada" (1953), by Keith Winter. Later in the decade Díaz de Mendoza switched to

Teatro de la Comedia Teatro may refer to: * Theatre * Teatro (band), musical act signed to Sony BMG * Teatro (Willie Nelson album), ''Teatro'' (Willie Nelson album), 1998 * Teatro (Draco Rosa album), ''Teatro'' (Draco Rosa album), 2008 {{disambiguation ...

where she shared the stage with Alberto Closas in " ¿De acuerdo, Susana?" (1955) and appeared in " Mi adorado Juan" (1956) by Miguel Mihura, with

Ismael Merlo Ismael Merlo (1 September 1918 – 10 September 1984) was a Spanish actor. He appeared in 82 films and television shows between 1941 and 1984. He starred in the 1966 film ''La caza'', which won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 16th ...

, as well as featuring with Carlos Muñoz in "En cualquier Puerta del Sol" (1956) by Carlos Llopis and in "48 horas de felicidad" (1956) by

Alfonso Paso Alfonso Paso (12 September 1926 – 10 July 1978) was a Spanish dramatist. He wrote over a hundred plays, mainly light comedies, sometimes laced with black humour and tragedy. There were also police dramas and examples of what he called "social the ...

. In 1957 she was in La malquerida by Jacinto Benavente, a piece which had premiered 45 years earlier, with her grandmother heading up the cast. Towards the end of 1957 she returned to the

for the premier of " El cuervo" by then the young Alfonso Sastre. 1958 was a particularly rich year for Díaz de Mendoza, which included appearances in " Alta fidelidad" by Edgar Neville, " Tránsito de madrugada" by , " Las manos son inocentes" by José López Rubio, " The Teahouse of the August Moon" by John Patrick and "Vida moderna" by Álvaro de Laiglesia. In each of these she starred opposite

Ángel Picazo Ángel Picazo (1 July 1917 – 22 October 1998) was a Spanish film actor. He appeared in 30 films between 1947 and 1980. He was born in Murcia, Spain and died in Madrid, Spain. Selected filmography * '' The Call of Africa'' (1952) * '' Two ...

. A year later, after playing in a theatrical version of

La vida en un hilo ''Life on a Thread'' (Spanish:''La vida en un hilo'') is a 1945 Spanish comedy film written, directed and produced by Edgar Neville.Mira p.225 Neville later modified the film for the stage, with an adaptation of the same name. It was remade twic ...

by Edgar Neville, she retired from the stage. She bore no children and died on 11 March 2018.

Personal

Mari Carmen Díaz de Mendoza was married in September 1959 to José Beltrán de Heredia, a professor of civil law initially at Salamanca and later in Madrid. He died in 1992, however.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz de Mendoza, Maria Carmen Spanish stage actresses Actresses from Madrid 1927 births 2018 deaths Spanish actresses