Andrea Palma

Andrea Palma (April 16, 1903 – October 6, 1987) was a Mexican film actress. She was considered The First Diva of Mexican and Latin American Cinema after her role in the Mexican film La Mujer del Puerto (1934).

Early life

Guadalupe Bracho Pérez-Gavilán was one of eleven children of Julio Bracho Zuloaga, born in Durango, a wealthy land and textile factory owner who lost all his possessions during the Mexican revolution. One of her brothers was the director Julio Bracho. Her cousin was the Hollywood actress Dolores del Río. Bracho moved his family to Mexico City, where Andrea became interested in theater during her school years, and later in fashion and hat design. She entered the hat business in the early 1920s and opened her own shop, called Casa Andrea (from where she took her first name as an actress, adding the last name of one of her clients, the elegant Mrs. Palma.) Known in the theater world, she had her first opportunity replacing her friend Isabela Corona when the actress gave birth to a child.

Career

She closed the shop and remained with the theater company and traveled to the United States, where she stayed until the early 1930s, helped by a young and struggling Cecil Kellaway, having small roles in the films of her cousins Dolores del Río and Ramón Novarro and as hat and make-up consultant for Marlene Dietrich, when the German diva arrived in Hollywood. When she was called from Mexico and offered the part of Rosario, it was Dietrich's style that inspired her in creating her character. Palma was Dietrich's stunt double in Blonde Venus.

La Mujer del puerto (1934) became an instant success and Palma became a superstar, practically overnight. In the succeeding years, she was much in demand: her next movie was completely opposite to Rosario, playing the famous 17th century poet, playwright and nun Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz; she returned to Hollywood to make two "Latin films", took a four-year break doing theater and in 1943 she was directed by her brother Julio Bracho in the classic melodrama Distinto amanecer (1943). She played Julieta, a frustrated wife during the day and a prostitute during the night. She appeared in other movies, including a Tarzan vehicle, Tarzan and the Mermaids (1948) starring Johnny Weissmuller. She travelled to Spain to perform in a play and during rehearsals she met actor Enrique Díaz, whom she married. When she returned to Mexico, she was no longer considered a young leading lady and became specialized in character roles.

In the 1950s she was in two classic "pecadoras" productions and huge commercial successes starring Cuban superstar Ninón Sevilla and directed by Alberto Gout, playing a mean brothel owner in Aventurera (1950), a suffering wife in Sensualidad (1951), and worked with Luis Buñuel in Ensayo de un crimen (1955).

Although she worked in the Mexican film industry until the 1970s, Andrea Palma concentrated in television and theater since the late 1950s, including her weekly appearance as hostess of the popular series La novela semanal, based on literature classics, until her retirement in 1979 due to an illness. Her last role was with her niece and goddaughter Diana Bracho in the series Ángel Guerra (1979).

Filmography (Selected)

• Girl of the Río (1931)
• Blonde Venus (1932)
• La Mujer del Puerto (1934)
• Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz (1935)
• Ave sin Rumbo (1936)
• Amapola del Camino (1937)
• La Inmaculada (1939)
• Distinto Amanecer (1943)
• El Rosario (1944)
• La Casa de la Zorra (1945)
• Los buitres sobre el tejado (1946)
• Bel Ami (1947)
• Tarzan and the Mermaids (1948)
• Aventurera (1950)
• Por la puerta falsa (1950)
• Sensualidad (1951)
• Mujeres sin mañana (1951)
• La Mentira (1952)
• Eugenia Grandet (1952)
• Ensayo de un crímen (1955)
• La mujer que no tuvo infancia (1957)
• Miercoles de Ceniza (1958)
• ¿Adonde van nuestros hijos? (1958)
• Mi esposa se divorcia (TV) (1959)
• Espejo de Sombras (TV) (1960)
• Teresa (1961)
• Janina (TV) (1962)
• La Familia Miau (TV) (1963)
• La Piel de Zapa (TV) (1964)
• Juicio de Almas (TV) (1964)
• Puente de cristal (TV) (1965)
• El proceso de Cristo (1966)
• El Baron Brokola (1967)
• Lucía Sombra (TV) (1971)
• Muñeca (TV) (1967)
• Mundo de juguete (TV) (1974)
• Pobre Clara (TV) (1975)
• Pasiones Encendidas (TV) (1978)
• Angel Guerra (TV) (1979)