Raquel Olmedo (; born Siomara Anicia Orama Leal on 30 December 1937) is a Cuban-born Mexican actress and singer. She started her career in her native Cuba before moving to Mexico in 1959. She performed in the last years of the

Golden Age of Mexican cinema The Golden Age of Mexican cinema ( es, Época de Oro del Cine Mexicano) is a period in the history of the Cinema of Mexico between 1930 and 1969 when the Mexican film industry reached high levels of production, quality and economic success of its ...

Biography

Olmedo was born in Caibarién,

Las Villas Las Villas is a natural region and ''comarca'' in Andalusia, southern Spain. It is located in the mountainous area at the eastern end of Jaén Province. The main town is Villacarrillo. Together with the Sierra de Cazorla and Sierra de Segura ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, and began her career there in theatre singing opera. In the wake of the 1959

Cuban revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in cou ...

, Olmedo came to Mexico in 1959 as an unknown artist. She did a little work in the movie business before finally landing a small role in the

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 genres around the world include '' teleserye'' ...

'' La sombra del otro'' in 1963. Following a starring role in the 1975

'' Lo Imperdonable'', Olmedo got a record deal with

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

and released her first album, '' Mitad Mujer, Mitad Gaviota''. Her career as a singer proved initially successful, with the title track from this record (written by

Lolita De La Colina Dolores de la Colina Flores (born 26 December 1948, Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico) is a popular singer and songwriter from the 1970s based in Mexico. She has written songs for Manoella Torres, Lupita D'Alessio, Sophy, José José, José Luis Rod ...

) becoming a radio hit. She toured throughout all Latin America in the coming years while continuing her television and film work. In the coming years, she released a total of five albums, her last being the

ranchera Ranchera () or canción ranchera is a genre of traditional music of Mexico. It dates to before the years of the Mexican Revolution. Rancheras today are played in virtually all regional Mexican music styles. Drawing on rural traditional folk music ...

album '' Mañana Ya Ni Vengas'' in 1983, produced by ranchera song arranger Pedro Ramirez, best known for his work with

Javier Solís Gabriel Siria Levario (4 September 1931 – 19 April 1966), known professionally as Javier Solís, was a Mexican singer and actor. He specialized in the musical genres of bolero and ranchera. Early life Gabriel Siria Levario was the first of t ...

and

Vicente Fernández Vicente Fernández Gómez (17 February 1940 – 12 December 2021) was a Mexican singer, songwriter, actor, and film producer. Nicknamed "Chente" (short for Vicente), "El Charro de Huentitán" (The Charro from Huentitán), "El Ídolo de México ...

. Her most recent role on the television series '' Barrera de amor'' proved to be one of her most successful roles. This was also one of the first times she played a villain. For her work in television, Olmedo was inducted into the Paseo de las Luminarias in 1984

Albums

* ''Mitad Mujer, Mitad Gaviota'' (1977) * ''Tu, Siempre Tu'' (1979) * ''No Señora'' (1980) * ''La Fuerza De Una Voz Que Impone El Cambio'' (1982) * ''Mañana Ya Ni Vengas'' (1983) * ''Con el Alma en Cueros'' (2009)

Filmography

Film

Television

, 2018 Amar sin Ley

Awards and nominations

TVyNovelas Awards

References

External links

* * Allmusic.com entry on Raquel Olmedo's "Mañana Ya Ni Vengas" album

1937 births Living people Mexican telenovela actresses Mexican television actresses Mexican film actresses Mexican stage actresses Mexican voice actresses Mexican women singers 20th-century Mexican actresses 21st-century Mexican actresses Cuban people of Spanish descent Cuban emigrants to Mexico People from Caibarién {{Mexico-singer-stub