Rosa María Juana Martínez Suárez (born 23 February 1927), known by her stage name Mirtha Legrand (″Legrand″ being a portmanteau for the French , "the great") is an Argentine actress and television presenter. With an 80-year career, Legrand is one of the most recognized entertainment figures in Argentina. Despite having appeared in 36 films and 20 theatrical performances, Legrand is best known for her interview television programme ''Almorzando con las estrellas'' that first aired in 1968 on Alejandro Romay's channel 9. The show was later renamed ''Almorzando con Mirtha Legrand''.

Early life and career

Reapertura del Teatro Colón - Mirtha Legrand

Legrand was born on 23 February 1927 in

Villa Cañás Villa Cañás is a small city in the south of the , some 370 km from the provincial capital and not far from Venado Tuerto. It has about 9,400 inhabitants as per the . The city was founded in 1902 by Juan Cañás, and acknowledged as a ''co ...

. She and her twin sister

Silvia Silvia () is a female given name of Latin origin, with a male equivalent Silvio and English-language cognate Sylvia. The name originates from the Latin word for forest, ''Silva'', and its meaning is "spirit of the wood"; the mythological god of ...

were born to José Martínez, a librarian, and Rosa Suárez, a school teacher. They had a sibling named José Antonio. Their parents were Spanish. When they separated in 1934 Rosa moved to

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous ci ...

with her three children, where the Legrand sisters took classes of singing and dancing. In 1936 they moved to the

La Paternal La Paternal or Paternal ( en, The Paternal) is a ''neighborhood'' or district in the centre of Buenos Aires city, Argentina. It was founded in 1904 by a city decree (''decreto'') and was named 'La Paternal' after the train station in the neighbour ...

neighborhood in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. Legrand began her career in the

carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

of 1939 when she participated in a contest organised by the ''Diario de Cine'' programme (''Cinema Diary'') at ''Belgrano Radio''. She rose to fame in the late 1930s and early 1940s, during the golden era of the Argentine film industry that resembled the Hollywood one. Rosa María's stage name ''Mirtha Legrand'' was coined by her agent Roberto Cerebello when she was 14 years old. Legrand's film debut was in ''

Educating Niní ''Educating Niní'' (Spanish:''Hay que educar a Niní'') is a 1940 Argentine comedy film directed by Luis César Amadori and starring Niní Marshall, Francisco Álvarez and Pablo Palitos. The film's sets were designed by the art director Raúl ...

'', which also had the participation of

Niní Marshall Marina Esther Traveso (June 1, 1903 – March 18, 1996), known by her stage name Niní Marshall, was an Argentine humorist, comic actress and screenwriter; nicknamed ''The Chaplin with a skirt'' and ''The Lady of Humour''. Life and work S ...

and Legrand's sister Silvia.

Personal life

While filming ''Cinco besos'' in 1945, Legrand met

Daniel Tinayre Daniel Tinayre (14 September 1910 – 24 October 1994) was a French-born Argentine film director, screenwriter and film producer. Moving to Buenos Aires at a young age, Tinayre directed some 23 films between 1934 and 1974, directing films such ...

, a director of French origin. Legrand married Tinayre on 18 May 1946. They had two children, Daniel Andrés, born in 1947, and Marcela, born in 1950. Legrand and Tinayre were married until Tinayre's death in 1994. Tinayre had been diagnosed with

hepatitis B Hepatitis B is an infectious disease caused by the ''Hepatitis B virus'' (HBV) that affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. It can cause both acute and chronic infection. Many people have no symptoms during an initial infection. Fo ...

in September 1994 and died a month later. Their son Daniel died from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

in 1999.

Selected filmography

Her cinematographic career spanned more than 25 years from 1939 to 1965. She participated in 36 films of Argentina and Spain, including: * ''

'' ( es, Hay que educar a Niní) * ''El viaje'' ( es, The journey) * ''Un Beso en la Nuca'' ( es, A kiss on the neck) https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0499464/ * ''El espejo'' ( es, The mirror) * ''Cinco besos'' ( es, five kisses) * ''El retrato'' ( es, The portrait) * ''La vendedora de fantasías'' ( es, Seller of fantasies) * ''

Los martes, orquídeas ''Los martes, orquídeas'' (''On Tuesdays, Orchids'') is a 1941 Argentine black and white comedy film directed by Francisco Múgica and starring Mirtha Legrand, Enrique Serrano, Juan Carlos Thorry and Nuri Montsé. It won the Argentine Best Pic ...

'' (1941)

Awards

Nominations

* 2013

Martín Fierro Awards The Martín Fierro Awards ( es, Premios Martín Fierro) is the name of the most prominent awards for Argentine radio and television, granted by APTRA, the Association of Argentine Television and Radio Journalists. History The awards were first g ...

** Best female TV host

References

External links

*
Mirtha Legrand
at

cinenacional.com Cinenacional.com is a web portal and World Wide Web, web-based database about Cinema of Argentina, Argentine cinema. It is the most comprehensive site for information about the Argentine film industry, with a vast array of information on films, tel ...

Biography of Mirtha Legrand
{{DEFAULTSORT:Legrand, Mirtha 1927 births Living people 20th-century Argentine actresses People from General López Department Argentine film actresses Argentine radio actresses Argentine stage actresses Argentine television actresses Illustrious Citizens of Buenos Aires Golden Martín Fierro Award winners Argentine twins Argentine people of Spanish descent