Dolores del Rio
Dolores del Río (Spanish pronunciation: [doˈloɾez ðel ˈrio]; born María de los Dolores Asúnsolo López-Negrete; August 3, 1905 – April 11, 1983), was a Mexican film actress. She was a Hollywood star in the 1920s and 1930s, and was one of the most important female figures of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema in the 1940s and 1950s. She was the first Latin American female star to be recognized internationally. During the 1920s and in Hollywood, Dolores was considered one of the most beautiful women of her time, in parallel to Rudolph Valentino. Her career flourished until the end of the silent era, with success in films such as Resurrection (1927) and Ramona (1928). She was one of the few superstars of the silent era to adapt to the talkies in Hollywood. In the 1930s, she was noted for her participation in musical films of the Pre-Code era like Bird of Paradise (1932), Flying Down to Rio (1933) and Madame Du Barry. When her Hollywood career began to decline, del Río decided to return to her native country and join the Mexican film industry, which at that time was at its peak. When del Río returned to Mexico she became the most important star of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. A series of films like Flor silvestre, María Candelaria (1943), Las Abandonadas and Bugambilia (1944) are considered classic masterpieces of the Mexican Cinema. Del Río was in force in the cinema of her country during the next three decades and returned to Hollywood only sporadically. Her long career also spanned theater and television. Along with Lupe Velez, Katy Jurado and Salma Hayek, del Rio completes the group of successful Mexican actresses in Hollywood.