Anita Blanch

Anita Blanch (1910–1983) was a Spanish-born, Mexican actress, who worked in the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. She was nominated for an Ariel Award from the Mexican Academy of Film three times and won the Best Supporting Actress Award from Diosa de Plata (Silver Goddess Award) in 1963.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Blanch and the second or maternal family name is Ruiz.
Anita Blanch
Born
Ana Maria Blanch Ruiz

(1910-07-26)26 July 1910
Sagunto, Valencia, Spain
Died23 April 1983(1983-04-23) (aged 72)
Mexico City, Mexico
Occupationactress
Years active1928-1982

Biography

Ana María Blanch Ruiz was born on 26 July 1910 in Sagunto,[1] Valencia. Ana, who went by the name of "Anita" and her sister, actress Isabelita Blanch, who both had interest in the theater, arrived in Mexico in the 1920s.[2] Blanch specialized in comedic plays and her theatrical debut was in a performance of “La cabalgata de los reyes”.[3] Blanch was the first star of the prestigious "Ideal Theater" in Mexico City.[4] She and her sister founded the Compañía de Teatro Anita Blanch (Anita Blanch Theater Company), hiring artists like Ángel Garasa, Rafael Banquells, and Jose Cibrian, among others.[5] Throughout her career, she had several successful theatrical runs, including works such as: "Quien te quiere a ti" (1928), "El sexo débil" (1930), "Don Juan Tenorio" (1935), "Arsénico y encaje" (1942) and "El escándalo" (1947).

Anita's film debut in the film "Luponini de Chicago" was made in 1935.[4] After terrible reviews, she did not make movies for the next 6 years,[1] but studied her craft on stage with such productions as: “No hables mal de los gitanos” by Enrique Bohorques; “La mujer legitima” by Xavier Villaurrutia; “Doña hormiga” by Alvarez Quintero; “El amor las vuelve locas” by Enrique Suárez, among others.[5] She returned to film in 1941 with "¡Ay, que tiempos, señor don Simón!" and made several successful films: "¿Quién te quiere a ti?", "El conde de Montecristo", "Alejandra", "El abanico de Lady Windermere" and "La barraca". "La barraca" was completed in 1945 and Blanch was nominated for a best actress award from the Ariel Awards.[1]

Despite this success, she was blackballed by the film industry in a labor dispute between the two actor's unions, STPC and STIC.[6] She returned to the stage and in 1945 performed the first presentation ever held at the Teatro Xicohténcatl, in Tlaxcala, with the comedy "Siete mujeres de Navarro y Torrado".[7] In 1951, she performed in the play "Mamá nos quita los novios"[8] Finally in 1951, the labor dispute ended and she and other actresses who had returned to the theater, began filming again. Her first film after her return was "Te sigo esperando" in 1951. She made movies until the early 1980s.[1] Her most successful films in this last period were "Tlayucan" in 1963 for which she won a best supporting actress award from the Diosa de Plata;[9] "Los días del amor" of 1973 and "Presagio" in 1975, both of which she was nominated for an Ariel Award for best supporting actress.[10]

Beginning in 1960 with the telenovela "El Otro" her career turned toward television.[1] The latter half of her acting career largely focused on telenovelas. Two of her most popular were "Mamá campanita" and "En busca del paraíso".[11] Around this time, Blanch met her life partner, the novelist, journalist and film and television screenwriter, Josefina Vicens, with whom she lived until her death.[1]

In 1970 Blanch, along with Socorro Avelar, Dolores del Río, Irma Dorantes, Gloria Marín, Carmen Montejo, Silvia Pinal, and Amparo Rivelles joined to form a group called “Rosa Mexicano” with the intent of protecting actresses and their children.[12] The project had been the brain child of Fanny Schiller,[13] who pushed the National Association of Actors (ANDA) to form nurseries for actress's children. The idea was that by establishing a nursery, actresses could continue working, and by establishing a Montessori education system, their children would receive a strong educational foundation. After operating in temporary spaces, the first stones for the formal location were laid on 30 April 1972.[14]

Blanch died on 23 April 1983 in Mexico City.[15]

Awards and nominations
  • 1947, "La barraca", best actress, nominated for Ariel[10]
  • 1963, "Tlayucan", best supporting actress, Won Diosa de Plata Award[9]
  • 1973, "Los días del amor", best actress co-performance, nominated for Ariel[10]
  • 1975, "Presagio", best actress co-performance, nominated for Ariel[10]

Filmography

Film

Telenovelas

References
  1. Muñoz Castillo, Fernando. "Anita Blanch: mujeres sacrificadas" (in Spanish). Mexico City: Por Esto!.
  2. Peralta Gilabert, Rosa (July–December 2010). "Crónica Teatral de las Compañías Republicanas en México Durante la Guerra Civil Española: Díaz-Collado y Melià-Cibrián" (PDF). Acotaciones (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain: Real Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático. 25: 75–94. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  3. Perete, Ricardo (20 February 2015). "Anita Blanch Rafael Baledón". Uno Mas Uno (in Spanish). Mexico: Uno Mas Uno. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  4. Oliveira, Enrique Sánchez (2003). Aproximación histórica al cineasta Francisco Elias Riuelme (1890 - 1977) (in Spanish). Sevilla: Univ. de Sevilla [u.a.] pp. 209–210. ISBN 84-472-0784-6. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  5. García, Manuel (2014). Memorias de Posguerra (in Spanish). Valendia, Spain: Publicacions de la Universitat de València. p. 179. ISBN 978-84-370-9532-5. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  6. Oliveira (2003), p 241
  7. Montilla Rugeles, Ana Cecilia (2007). "Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes" (PDF). Diagnóstico de infraestructura cultural de México (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico: Sistema de Información Cultural: I.21. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  8. Unger, Roni (2006). Poesía en voz alta (in Spanish) (Rev. ed.). México: UNAM, Dirección General de Publicaciones y Fomento Editorial. p. 27. ISBN 970-32-3052-0.
  9. "1963 Primera Entrega" (in Spanish). Pecime. Archived from the original on 15 December 2009. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  10. "Ariel > Ganadores y nominados > Anita Blanch". Academia Mexicana de Cine (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico: Academia Mexicana de Cine. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  11. "Anita Blanch, actriz española" (in Spanish). El País. 26 April 1983. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  12. Gutiérrez Segura, Eduardo (26 February 2013). "Carmen Montejo pidió un beso, un abrazo de su familia y se fue" (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico: La Crónica. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  13. Noé Murillo, Miguel (January–March 2015). "Tan solo ocho mujeres entre 107 hombres" (PDF). Revista AAPA (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. 1: 51–63. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  14. Fernandez Tinoco, Maria Amalia (December 2003). "La Gestión del Cambio en una Institución Educativa: El caso de la Estancia Infantil de la ANDA 1993-1997" (PDF). Universidad Pedagógica Nacional Tesina (in Spanish). Mexico City: Secretaría de Educación Pública: 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  15. "La niña prodigio Shirley Temple nació hace 82 años" (in Spanish). Cine Forever. 23 April 2010. Archived from the original on 15 November 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
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