Silvia Elena Santelices Rojas (born 27 June 1940) is a Chilean theater, film, and television actress, a pioneer of

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'' ...

s in her country. She currently serves as councilor for the commune of

Rancagua Rancagua () is a city and commune in central Chile and part of the Rancagua conurbation. It is the capital of the Cachapoal Province and of the O'Higgins Region, located south of the national capital of Santiago. It was originally named Sant ...

Professional career

In 1960 Santelices entered the

Catholic University of Chile The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

to study theater. While still a student, she joined the nascent dramatic department of her alma mater's television station, Canal 13, where she initially participated in televised plays. In 1967 she was part of the cast of the first telenovela shot in Chile, ', in which she shared the screen with actors such as Mirella Latorre, Mario Rodríguez, and . During the 1980s and 90s Santelices participated in numerous soap operas on Canal 13 and

TVN TVN may refer to: * TVN (Australian TV channel), a former horse racing channel * Televisión Nacional de Chile, a public broadcaster * TVN (Indonesia), a former television station; predecessor of Rajawali Televisi * TVN (Norway), or TVNorge, a comm ...

, most notably '' La madrastra'' (1981), '' Los títeres'' (1984), and ' (1999). She also played Lucia Solar, mother of

Teresa of the Andes Teresa of Jesus of Los Andes (13 July 1900 – 12 April 1920), born as ''Juana Enriqueta Josephina de Los Sagrados Corazones Fernández Solar'', ( es, Teresa de Jesús de Los Andes) was a Chilean professed religious from the Discalced Carmelit ...

(played by

Paulina Urrutia Paulina Marcela Urrutia Fernández (born 15 January 1969) is a Chilean actress, academic, director, trade union leader, and politician. She was a State Minister of the first government of President Michelle Bachelet. Biography Born into a middle- ...

) in TVN's miniseries ' (1989). After years of absence from television, in 2005 she participated in the television series '' Brujas'', and has joined other dramatic productions such as ''

Papi Ricky ''Papi Ricky'' is a Chilean television soap opera created by Sebastian Arrau, that aired on Canal 13 from 12 March to 1 October 2007, starring Jorge Zabaleta, Belén Soto, María Elena Swett and Tamara Acosta. Remake *Papi Ricky was remade a ...

'' and '' Veinteañero a los 40''. She is known for having a great stage presence, characteristic smooth voice, and great interpretive power. Since the late 1990s she has lived in the city of

, where she is part of Casa del Arte Theater Company.

Political career

In the 1970s Santelices was a supporter of Popular Unity. The 1973 coup d'état took her by surprise in Venezuela, where she was exiled for five years. She was elected councilor of Rancagua in the municipal elections of 2008 on behalf of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

. In the 2012 elections she returned to obtain a seat on the Municipal Council of Rancagua, receiving 4,533 votes, corresponding to 6.38%, obtaining the third communal majority.

Telenovelas

Other TV series

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Santelices, Silvia 1940 births 20th-century Chilean actresses 21st-century Chilean actresses Actresses from Santiago Chilean stage actresses Chilean telenovela actresses Living people Socialist Party of Chile politicians Pontifical Catholic University of Chile alumni