Bélgica Castro

Bélgica Castro Sierra ([ˈbelxika ˈkastɾo]; 6 March 1921 – 6 March 2020) was a Chilean stage, film, and television actress.

Bélgica Castro
Castro in November 2009
Born
Bélgica Castro Sierra

(1921-03-06)6 March 1921
Concepción, Chile
Died6 March 2020(2020-03-06) (aged 99)
Santiago, Chile
NationalityChilean
OccupationActress
Years active1939–2020 (her death)
Spouse(s)
  • Domingo Tessier (divorced)
​
​
(m. 1961; died 2020)​
ChildrenLeonardo Mihovilovic
Awards

During her career she participated in more than 100 plays.[1] She also acted in numerous Chilean films, including Hollywood es así (1944) by Jorge Délano and The Good Life (2008) by Andrés Wood. Under the direction of Ricardo Larraín she participated in Chile puede (2008), where she played a Russian scientist, a role for which she received the Paoa Award of the Viña del Mar International Film Festival for Best National Lead Actress and the APES Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also won the 1995 National Prize for Performing and Audiovisual Arts.

Biography

Bélgica Castro, the daughter of Spanish anarchist parents,[2] was born in Concepción[3] and studied in Temuco. In 1940, she traveled to Santiago to study Spanish at the Pedagogical Institute of the University of Chile, where she joined the theater group Cadip.[4] Then, along with other young artists led by Pedro de la Barra, she founded the Experimental Theater of the University of Chile in 1941. Hired by the BBC, she spent 1949 in London.[4]

Having retired from the Theater of the University of Chile, she and Alejandro Sieveking formed their own company, El Teatro del Ángel. Subsequently, from 1974 until the end of 1984, they settled in Costa Rica, where she also achieved notable successes with the same company.[4]

She was a teacher of the history of theater at the University of Chile's Theater School for 14 years, and of acting at the Theater School of the Catholic University of Chile and at the University of Costa Rica.[5]

In 1995, she was awarded the National Prize for Performing and Audiovisual Arts. In 2001, she received the APES Award granted by the Association of Entertainment Journalists for her career. In 2007 she was nominated for the Altazor Award for Best Actress in Theater for her role in the play Cabeza de ovni,[6] and won it in 2013 for Todo pasajero debe descender.[7]

She acted in numerous Chilean films, most notably Hollywood es así (1944) by Jorge Délano; El final del juego (1970) by Luis Cornejo; Little White Dove (1973), Days in the Country (2004) and the miniseries La Recta Provincia (2007) by Raúl Ruiz; and El desquite (1999) and The Good Life (2008) by Andrés Wood. Under the direction of Ricardo Larraín she participated in Chile puede (2008), where she played a Russian scientist, a role for which she received the Paoa Award of the Viña del Mar International Film Festival for Best National Lead Actress[8] and the APES Award for Best Supporting Actress.

For her role in the film La vida me mata, the debut of director Sebastián Silva, she won the 2008 Altazor Award for National Arts in the category Best Film Actress.[9] In 2009, she received the same award for her role in Andrés Wood's The Good Life.[10] In 2010, she returned to the big screen in the Sebastián Silva film Old Cats, along with her husband Alejandro Sieveking, Claudia Celedón, and Catalina Saavedra. Her lead role earned her the Best Actress award at the 16th Festivalisimo, the Ibero-Latin American Film Festival of Montreal, and a third Altazor for film acting.[11]

Castro died on 6 March 2020, her 99th birthday, which fell one day after the death of her husband Alejandro Sieveking, who died at age 85 on 5 March.[12]

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards

APES Awards
YearCategoryProductionResultRef.
2001CareerWinner
[20]
2008Best Supporting ActressChile puedeWinner
[21]

Altazor Awards
YearCategoryProductionResultRef.
2007Best Theater ActressCabeza de OvniNominated
[6]
2008Best Film ActressLa vida me mataWinner
[9]
2009Best Film ActressThe Good LifeWinner
[10]
2013Best Theater ActressTodo pasajero debe descenderWinner
[7]
Best Film ActressOld CatsWinner
[11]

Other awards

References
  1. "Chilean Actress Bélgica Castro Dies at 99". Cinema Tropical. 6 March 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  2. "02 Julio 2017: Bélgica Castro" (in Spanish). Canal 13. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  3. "UMCE otorga premio de cultura 'Armando Rubio' a la actriz Bélgica Castro" [UMCE Awards 'Armando Rubio' Culture Prize to the Actress Bélgica Castro]. El Mostrador (in Spanish). 2 October 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  4. "Bélgica Castro, 75 años de teatro" [Bélgica Castro, 75 Years of Theater]. La Tercera (in Spanish). 20 March 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  5. "Bélgica Castro Sierra" (in Spanish). University of Chile. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  6. "'La sagrada familia' y 'Padre nuestro' disputan palmo a palmo el Premio Altazor" ['La sagrada familia' and 'Padre nuestro' Vie for the Altazor Award Inch By Inch] (in Spanish). Radio Cooperativa. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  7. Letelier, Jorge (8 May 2013). "Bélgica Castro, la gran ganadora de los premios Altazor" [Bélgica Castro, the Great Winner of the Altazor Awards]. La Tercera (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  8. "Festival de Cine de Viña ya tiene ganadores" [Viña Film Festival Has Winners]. El Mercurio de Valparaíso (in Spanish). 22 November 2008. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  9. Cera, Sebastián; Gálvez T., Felipe (8 April 2008). "'Sin sangre' y 'La vida me mata', grandes ganadores en los más proselitistas Premios Altazor" ['Sin sangre' and 'La vida me mata', Big Winners in the Most Proselytizing Altazor Awards]. El Mercurio (in Spanish). Santiago. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  10. "Revise los ganadores de Altazor 2009" [Check the 2009 Altazor Winners] (in Spanish). Radio Cooperativa. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  11. "El Reemplazante, NO y Ana Tijoux entre los premiados en Altazor 2013" [El Reemplazante, NO, and Ana Tijoux Among the Winners at Altazor 2013]. El Mostrador (in Spanish). 9 May 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  12. "A los 99 años y un día después del deceso de su esposo muere actriz Bélgica Castro" [At 99 and one day after the death of her husband, actress Bélgica Castro dies]. Radio Bío-Bío (in Spanish). 6 March 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  13. "Sin ceder". Cinechile (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  14. "El hombre que imaginaba". Cinechile (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  15. "Chile puede". Cinechile (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  16. "Viejos amores". Cinechile (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  17. "Teleseries: Juani en Sociedad". ForTech.cl. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  18. "Actriz Bélgica Castro está hospitalizada tras sufrir un accidente cardiovascular". Ibero Americana Radio Chile - FMDOS (in Spanish). 8 June 2017.
  19. Ignacio Lopez-Vicuna; Andreea Marinescu (2017). Raul Ruiz's Cinema of Inquiry. Wayne State University Press. p. 88.
  20. "Entregan nómina de Apes, Bélgica Castro obtuvo premio a trayectoria" [APES Roster is Given Out, Bélgica Castro Gets Career Award] (in Spanish). Radio Cooperativa. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  21. "Los ganadores de los premios Apes" [The Winners of the APES Awards] (in Spanish). Radio Cooperativa. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  22. "Distinción Medalla Rectoral" [Rectoral Distinction Medal] (in Spanish). University of Chile. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  23. "Distinción Medalla al Mérito Cultural Profesor Pedro de la Barra" [Professor Pedro de la Barra Distinction Medal of Cultural Merit] (in Spanish). University of Chile. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  24. "Ceremonia de Condecoración 'Orden al Mérito Artístico y Cultural Pablo Neruda'" [Decoration Ceremony 'Pablo Neruda Order of Artistic and Cultural Merit'] (in Spanish). Office of the President of Chile. 28 April 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  25. "Top Secret". La Segunda (in Spanish). 11 March 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
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