Sandra Almodóvar ( – 28 May 2023), more widely known as Sandra Montiel, was a Spanish actress and drag queen. She was best known for her
imitations of actress
Sara Montiel.
Life
Montiel was born in the city of
Melilla
Melilla ( , ; ; rif, Mřič ; ar, مليلية ) is an autonomous city of Spain located in north Africa. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was par ...
,
Spain, sometime in the 1950s. At the age of fourteen, she left her hometown and moved to
Málaga
Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...
, where she worked in the hospitality industry and began to pursue art. In 1971, she was at the
Great Raid of the Pasaje Begoña, during which she stated that a police officer held a gun to her head and threatened to kill her.
She was subsequently arrested and incarcerated in the
Badajoz prison, where she suffered abuse from prison guards.
After her release, she pursued a career in
Torremolinos imitating Sara Montiel,
with whom she became friends. Montiel appeared as herself in the film
Bad Education.
She also appeared in ''La vida Chipén''. In 2005, she appeared in ''Sandra o Luis'', a documentary about her life and
transition.
In 2021, she was awarded the Torremolinos medal of honour.
In 2023, the drag queen
Kelly Roller
Francisco José Cabrera Martínez, known by the stage name Kelly Roller, is a Spanish drag queen known for competing on the third season of '' Drag Race España''.
Career
In 2018, Kelly Roller was interviewed by ''Togayther'', a magazine focus ...
performed as Montiel in the third season of
Drag Race España. Montiel also sung a duet, ''Absolutamente'', with Roller.
On the 28th of May, 2023, Montiel's death at age 73 was announced in a Twitter post by Roller.
References
{{Reflist
2023 deaths
1950 births
Spanish transgender actresses
Spanish drag queens