Rosita Fornés (née Rosalía Lourdes Elisa Palet Bonavia; February 11, 1923June 10, 2020) was a

Cuban-American Cuban Americans ( es, cubanoestadounidenses or ''cubanoamericanos'') are Americans who trace their cultural heritage to Cuba regardless of phenotype or ethnic origin. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of Cubans, Cuban desc ...

singer and film actress. She was noted for her multifaceted career in the entertainment industry of Cuba. She worked in cinema, the theater, radio, television and cabaret.

Early life

Fornés was born on February 11, 1923, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and moved to Cuba as a child. Her parents were immigrants from Spain. Her father was

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

and her mother was from

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 ...

. They eventually divorced and her mother remarried when Fornés was approximately five. She took her stepfather's name. When she was ten, the family moved to Spain, where they lived for three years before returning to Cuba.

Career

Fornés made her stage debut in 1938, when she featured in the musical comedy ''La corte suprema del arte''. She subsequently appeared in two Cuban films before moving to Mexico, where she starred in several films during 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 ...

. These included '' The Desire'', ''

Del can-can al mambo Del, or nabla, is an operator used in mathematics (particularly in vector calculus) as a vector differential operator, usually represented by the nabla symbol ∇. When applied to a function defined on a one-dimensional domain, it denotes th ...

'', ''Cara sucia'', and ''Se acabaron las mujeres''. She returned to Cuba in 1952, and appeared on Cuban television. Fornés was lauded for being one of the pioneers of Cuban television. Her versatility meant that she was able to perform in various areas of the Cuban entertainment industry. These included cinema, the theater, radio, television and cabaret. She gave her final performance in 2019, one year before her death. It took place at a tribute concert for Meme Solis held at the Miami-Dade County Auditorium.

Personal life

Fornés' first marriage was to

Manuel Medel Manuel Medel (1906 – 1997) was a Mexican film actor.Mraz p.125 A comedian, during the late 1930s he teamed up with the rising star Cantinflas for three films. Selected filmography * ''Such Is My Country ''Such Is My Country'' ( es, ¡Así es m ...

. They resided in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and had one daughter together, Rosa María. She moved back to

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

in 1952 after they divorced. She subsequently married

Armando Bianchi Armando Bianchi (born 20 November 1954) is an Italian former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is a naturalized French citizen. Career In 1976, Bianchi signed for Paris Saint-Germain, one of France's most successful clubs, af ...

. They moved to Spain, where they worked for the Barcelona Comic Theater, the Madrid Theater and the Alcázar Theater from 1957 until 1959, before he died in 1981. Fornés died on June 10, 2020, at a hospital in the

Miami metropolitan area The Miami metropolitan area (also known as Greater Miami, the Tri-County Area, South Florida, or the Gold Coast) is the ninth largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States and the 34th largest metropolitan area in the world with a ...

. She was 97, and had suffered complications from

emphysema Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...

Selected filmography

Source: * '' A Dangerous Adventure'' (1939) * ''

Musical Romance Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

'' (1941) * ''

The Flesh Commands ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' (1948) * '' The Desire'' (1948) * ''

'' (1951) * ''

Women of the Theatre ''Women of the Theatre'' (Spanish:''Mujeres de teatro'') is a 1951 Mexican musical film directed by René Cardona and starring Emilia Guiú, Rosita Fornés and María Victoria.Agrasanchez p.259 The film's art direction Art director is the titl ...

'' (1951) * ''

The Unknown Mariachi ''The Unknown Mariachi'' (Spanish:''El mariachi desconocido'') is a 1953 Mexican comedy film directed by Gilberto Martínez Solares and starring Germán Valdés, Rosa de Castilla and Gloria Mange.Agrasanchez p.26 The film's sets were designed by t ...

'' (1953) * ''Me Gustan Todas'' / ''Hotel Tropical (1954) Dir: Juan J. Ortega. País: México-Cuba * ''No me olvides nunca'' (1955) Dir: Juan J. Ortega. Country: México-Cuba * ''Palmer ha muerto'' (1960) Dir: Juan Fortuny. Country: Puerto Rico-España * ''Se permuta'' (1984) Dir:

Juan Carlos Tabío Juan Carlos Tabío (3 September 1943 – 18 January 2021) was a Cuban film director and screenwriter. His film ''Strawberry and Chocolate'' (1994), which he co-directed with Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, won a Silver Bear - Special Jury Prize at the 44 ...

. País: Cuba * ''Plácido'' (1986) Dir: Sergio Giral. País: Cuba * ''Hoy como ayer'' / ''El bárbaro del ritmo'' (1987) Dir: Constante "Rapi" Diego / Sergio Véjar. Country: Cuba-México * ''Papeles Secundarios'' (1989) Dir: Orlando Rojas. Country: Cuba-España * ''Quiéreme y verás'' (1994) Dir: Daniel Díaz Torres. Country: Cuba * ''Las noches de Constantinopla'' (2001) Dir: Orlando Rojas. Country: Cuba-España * ''Al atardecer'' (2001) Dir: Tomás Piard. Country: Cuba * ''Tin Tan, un documental de Francesco Taboada Tabone.'' (2010) Country: México * ''Mejilla con mejilla'' (2011) Dir: Delso Aquino. Country: Cuba

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fornes, Rosita 1923 births 2020 deaths Cuban film actresses 20th-century Cuban women singers Cuban people of Spanish descent Cuban people of Catalan descent Cuban emigrants to the United States Mexican vedettes Singers from New York City Cuban expatriates in Spain 21st-century Cuban women singers