Rosa María Sardà i Támaro (30 July 1941 – 11 June 2020) was a Spanish actress. Her career in theater ranks her as one of the leading actresses of the Spanish scene.

Early life

Sardà was born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

in 1941, and grew up in the Sant Andreu district of the capital, where her career as a stage actress began. She was the elder sister of the journalist and writer .

Career

Self-taught, Sardà began to do amateur theater in her hometown,

Horta Horta may refer to: People * Horta (surname), a list of people Places * Horta, Africa, an ancient city and former bishopric in Africa Proconsularis, now in Tunisia and a Latin Catholic titular see * Horta, Azores, Portugal, a municipality a ...

. In 1962, she made the leap to professional theater in the Dora Santacreu and Carlos Lucena company with the play ''Cena de matrimonios'' by

Alfonso Paso Alfonso Paso (12 September 1926 – 10 July 1978) was a Spanish dramatist. He wrote over a hundred plays, mainly light comedies, sometimes laced with black humour and tragedy. There were also police dramas and examples of what he called "social the ...

; she then moved to the

Alejandro Ulloa Alejandro Ulloa (22 October 1910 – 27 April 2004) was a Spanish actor. He was born in Madrid on 22 October 1910. He owned a theater company and in 1943, while working as a voice actor, he was the director of Metro Goldwin Mayer in Barcelona. H ...

company and, later, to that of Pau Garsaball, with the work ''En Baldiri de la Costa''. In the 1970s, she starred in various theatre productions, such as ''

The House of Bernarda Alba ''The House of Bernarda Alba'' () is a play (theatre), play by the Spain, Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. Commentators have often grouped it with ''Blood Wedding (play), Blood Wedding'' and ''Yerma'' as the Rural Trilogy. García Lorc ...

''. Later, she worked in television, in 1975, starring in ''Una vella, coneguda olor'', by

Josep Maria Benet i Jornet Josep Maria Benet i Jornet (; 20 June 1940 – 6 April 2020), also known as "Papitu", was one of the most renowned Catalan playwrights, considered one of the main renewers of Catalan theater. Biography He was born in a tiny Barcelona apartment ...

and in 1979, leading the program ''Festa amb Rosa Maria Sardà''. She also started doing movies with ''El vicari d'Olot'' (1981), by

Ventura Pons Ventura Pons Sala (; 25 July 1945 – 8 January 2024) was a Spanish film director. He mainly directed films in Catalan language, Catalan but also in Spanish language, Spanish and English language, English. Pons directed 32 feature films and is ...

. During the 1980s, she presented the television show ''Ahí te quiero ver''. In 1993, she starred in '' Why Do They Call It Love When They Mean Sex?'', for which she won the

Goya Award for Best Supporting Actress The Goya Award for Best Supporting Actress (Spanish: ''Premio Goya a la mejor interpretación femenina de reparto'') is one of the Goya Awards, Spain's principal national film awards. Since its inception, the award has been given to 31 actresses. ...

. The next year she was awarded the

Creu de Sant Jordi The Creu de Sant Jordi (, in English language, English 'St George's Cross') is one of the highest civil distinctions awarded in Catalonia (Spain), surpassed only in protocol by the Gold Medal of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Gold Medal of the G ...

, but she later returned it in 2017 (see personal life section). In 2001, she starred in ''No Shame'', for which she again won the Goya Award for Best Supporting Actress. The next year, she starred in the comedy ''

My Mother Likes Women ''My Mother Likes Women'' () is a 2002 Spanish comedy film directed by Inés París and Daniela Fejerman. The film stars Leonor Watling, Rosa Maria Sardà, María Pujalte, Silvia Abascal, and Eliska Sirova. ''My Mother Likes Women'' premiered i ...

''. In 2005, she starred in the television series ''Abuela de verano''. Her son, Pol Mainat, starred alongside her. In 2010, she was awarded a Gold Medal from the Spanish Film Academy. In 2016, she was awarded the Feroz de Honor (Feroz of Honour). She was due to receive the

Fotogramas de Plata Fotogramas de Plata are a series of Spanish annual film, theatre and television awards awarded by ''Fotogramas'' film magazine since 1951. The Film Awards -foreign and national- are given by specialized critics and those awarded to the performer ...

award in 2020, but the ceremony was cancelled. She hosted the Goya Awards gala three times throughout her career. Critic Javier Zurro has considered her the best host in the history of the awards.

Personal life

Sardà was married to , a member of the comedy group '.In a 2016 ''El Pais'
profile
it is stated that it was a marriage "without papers". In 1975 they had a son Pol Mainat, who also become an actor. Sardà and Mainat divorced circa 2002. Sardà was always a politically committed person. She defined herself as “radically republican, federalist and socialist." In 2017, Sardà returned her

award, one of the highest decorations of the Catalonian Government, due to her opposition to the Catalan "procés" and the corruption scandal of former Catalan president

Jordi Pujol Jordi Pujol i Soley (, born 9 June 1930) is a retired Catalan politician who was the leader of the party Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC) from 1974 to 2003, and President of the Generalitat de Catalunya from 1980 to 2003. Early life ...

. In 2014, Sardà was diagnosed with

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...

, and later took a hiatus from acting. She died from the disease on 11 June 2020 in Barcelona, aged 78.

Selected filmography

Theatre

Her career at theatre was prolific, below some notable works:Rosa Maria Sardà works and awards (pdf in Spanish)
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Actress

* 1964: ''Los cinco minutos de Margot'' by

Louis Verneuil Louis Jacques Marie Collin du Bocage (14 May 1893 – 3 November 1952), better known by the pen name Louis Verneuil, was a French playwright, screenwriter, and actor. Biography Born in Paris, Verneuil wrote approximately sixty plays and was b ...

. Premiered at ''Teatre Guimerà'' (Barcelona). * 1968: ''Las noches bajas de Ana o mi marido tiene un turca'', by Rafael Richart. At ''Teatre Victòria'' (Barcelona). * 1976: '' Roses roges per a mi'' by

Sean O'Casey Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Hiberno-English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; angli ...

* 1976: '' Terra baixa'' by

Àngel Guimerà Àngel Guimerà i Jorge (; 6 May 1845 or 6 May 1847 or 1849 – 18 July 1924), usually known simply as Àngel Guimerà, was a Catalan Spanish playwright and poet. His work is known for bringing together under romantic aspects the main elemen ...

* 1978: '' Tot esperant Godot'' by

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

* 1978: '' Sopa de pollastre amb ordi'' by

Arnold Wesker Sir Arnold Wesker (24 May 1932 – 12 April 2016) was an English dramatist. He was the author of 50 plays, four volumes of short stories, two volumes of essays, much journalism and a book on the subject, a children's book, some poetry, and ot ...

* 1979: ''Quan la ràdio parlava de Franco'' by

* 1980: ''El balcó'' by

Jean Genet Jean Genet (; ; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels '' The Th ...

* 1982: '' Duet per a un sol violí'' by

Tom Kempinski Thomas Michael John Kempinski (24 March 1938 – 2 August 2023) was an English playwright and actor best known for his 1980 play '' Duet for One'', which was a major success in London and New York City, and much revived since. Kempinski also wr ...

. * 1982: ''Yo me bajo en la próxima, ¿y usted?'' by '

Adolfo Marsillach Adolfo Marsillach Soriano (January 25, 1928 – January 21, 2002) was a Spanish actor, playwright and theatre director. He was born in Barcelona. He was known for his collaborations with playwright Alberto Miralles. He is the father of a ...

* 1985: '' Mare Coratge'' by

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

* 1992: ''L'hostal de la Glòria'' by

Josep Maria de Sagarra Josep Maria de Sagarra i de Castellarnau (Barcelona, 5 March 1894 – 27 September 1961) was a Catalan-language writer from Barcelona, Catalonia. Biography Born in Barcelona in 1894, in the breast of a family of the Catalan nobility being son ...

* 2004: '' Wit'' by

Margaret Edson Margaret "Maggie" Edson (born July 4, 1961) is an American playwright. She is a recipient of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play '' Wit''. She has been a public school teacher since 1992. Background and education Edson was born in Was ...

*2009: ''

La casa de Bernarda Alba ''The House of Bernarda Alba'' () is a play by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. Commentators have often grouped it with '' Blood Wedding'' and '' Yerma'' as the Rural Trilogy. García Lorca did not include it in his plan for a "t ...

'' by

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27, a g ...

* 2012: '' Dubte'' by

John Patrick Shanley John Patrick Shanley (born October 13, 1950) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and director. He won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film ''Moonstruck''. His play, '' Doubt: A Parable'', won the 2005 Pulitzer Pri ...

Director

* 1989: ''Ai carai'', by Josep Maria Benet i Jornet * 1994: ''

Shirley Valentine ''Shirley Valentine'' is a one-character play by Willy Russell. Taking the form of a monologue by a middle-aged, working class Liverpool housewife, it focuses on her life before and after a transforming holiday abroad. Plot Wondering what ha ...

'' by

Willy Russell William Russell (born 23 August 1946) is an English dramatist, lyricist and composer. His best known works are '' Educating Rita'', '' Shirley Valentine'', '' Blood Brothers'' and '' Our Day Out''. Early life Russell was born in Whiston, Lanc ...

* 1994: ''Fugaç'' by Josep Maria Bernet i Jornet * 1996: ''El visitant'' by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt * 1999: ''Cantonada Brossa'', jointly with Josep Maria Mestres, Josep Muntanyès i Lluís Pasqual. ''Crítica de Barcelona'' award

Awards and honors

Notes

References

External links

*
Rosa Maria Sardà works and awards (pdf in Spanish)Archived
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarda, Rosa Maria 1941 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Spanish actresses 21st-century Spanish actresses Actresses from Barcelona Deaths from cancer in Spain Deaths from lymphoma Spanish women comedians Spanish television presenters Best Supporting Actress Goya Award winners Spanish women television presenters Film actresses from Catalonia Television actresses from Catalonia Comedians from Barcelona