María Luisa Merlo Colomina (born 6 September 1941) is a Spanish film, theatre and television actress. Merlo, with more than 60 years of artistic career, has received the prestigious

Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts The Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts () is awarded by the Ministry of Culture and Sport of Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featurin ...

from the Spanish Ministry of Culture. She is the mother of actors Luis Merlo and .

Early life

Merlo was born in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

in 1941. She is the daughter of actors Ismael Merlo Piquer and María Luisa Colomina Domingo. She was raised following her parents theatre company, as a result, she was able to attend school for less than two years.

Career

Merlo made her debut as a dancer in the 1957 show ''Te espero en el Eslava'' by Luis Escobar Kirkpatrick. She made her cinema debut in 1959 with José María Forqué in the film ''De espaldas a la puerta''. Other titles followed during the first half of the sixties, such as ''Siempre es domingo'' (1961) by Fernando Palacios, ''Cuidado con las personas formales'' (1961) by Agustín Palacios, ''Más bonita que ninguna'' (1965) by Luis César Amadori, with

Rocío Dúrcal María de los Ángeles de las Heras Ortiz (4 October 1944 – 25 March 2006), better known as Rocío Dúrcal (), was a Spanish singer and actress with a career spanning more than four decades. She performed pop music, bolero, mariachi and romanti ...

, and ''De cuerpo presente'' (1967) by Antonio Eceiza. However, from 1965 onward, she focused more on her theatre and television career. Since the mid-sixties she has become a regular face on Spanish television, playing dozens of roles in ''Primera fila'', ''Novela'' and ''

Estudio 1 ''Estudio 1'' was a long-running Spanish television anthology series by Televisión Española presenting many classic plays for the home audience since 1965. It was equivalent to ' (1966–1985) on TF1 and ''Play of the Month'' (1965–1983) on ...

''. In 1973, she starred alongside her then-husband Carlos Larrañaga in the TVE comedy ''Compañera te doy''. 13 years later, she played alongside her daughter, Amparo Larrañaga, in the series ''Media naranja''; in 2006, she did the same with her son, Luis Merlo, in ''Aquí no hay quien viva''. She has also appeared in the series ''Aquí hay negocio'' (1995), ''Luna negra'' (2003), ''Mis adorable vecinos'' (2004), ''Supervillanos'' (2006), ''Los Serrano'' (2008) and ''Somos cómplices'' (2009). At the end of 2007, she participated in the sixth edition of the television contest ''¡Mira quién baila!'' In July 2013, she starred in the short film ''Betiko'', directed by Arantza Ibarra, together with the actor Javier Pradera in the caves of Zugarramurdi.

Personal life

Merlo was married to the actor

Carlos Larrañaga Carlos Larrañaga Ladrón de Guevara (11 March 1937 – 30 August 2012) was a Spanish actor. Biography Personal life Larrañaga was born in Barcelona to actress María Fernanda Ladrón de Guevara, and was the half-brother of actress Amparo ...

for 15 years; they separated in 1975 and obtained a divorce in November 1983. Besides a son, Juan Carlos, from Carlos previous marriage, they had three children: Amparo Larrañaga, Luis Merlo and Pedro. In 1992, she married university professor Michael Kenton, with whom she divorced five years later. An authoritative biography of Merlo, ''María Luisa Merlo: Más allá del teatro'', was published in 2003 by playwright Pedro Víllora.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Her career on the stage is marked by the performance of works of all genres, from drama to comedy, including musicals. In 1986 she joined the ''Compañía Nacional de Teatro Clásico''.

Awards

In 1967, Merlo was awarded with the ''Antena de Oro de Televisión Prize''. She was awarded the ''Ercilla Theatre Prize'' in 2009 for her career in theatre. In 2013, she was awarded the ''Distinction of the Generalitat Valenciana for Cultural Merit''. The Spanish Ministry of Culture awarded Merlo the ''

'' in 2017.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Merlo, María Luisa 1941 births Living people Actresses from Valencia Spanish film actresses Spanish stage actresses 20th-century Spanish actresses 21st-century Spanish actresses