MEXICAN YAQUI ACTRESS MARIA FELIX BORN
María de los Ángeles Félix Guereña, born in Álamos, Sonora, Mexico, was of Basque, Spanish, and Yaqui heritage. After a failed marriage, she moved to Mexico City where a movie director spotted her and paved the way for her first role, in El peñón de las ánimas (1942). Her film Doña Bárbara (1943) established her stardom. She was thereafter referred to as “La Doña.” For three decades Félix was a major box-office draw, not only with Mexican films, including Enamorada (1946) and Río escondido (1948), but also with Argentine, French, Italian, and Spanish movies, such as French Cancan (1955), La cucaracha (1958), and La Fièvre monte à El Pao (1959). Her final film was La generala (1970), and she then appeared in the television series La constitución (1970). Her autobiography, Todas mis guerras, was published in 1993. Her succession of husbands and famous lovers gave her an offscreen life that rivaled characters she portrayed in her films. She died in Mexico City.
Source: “Maria Felix,” Encyclopedia Brittanica. Retrieved 1/26/2020, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Maria-Felix Photo: Author unknown, 1947. Likely Public Domain, otherwise Fair Use.
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