Esther Fernández

María Esther Fernández González, better known as Esther Fernández (August 23, 1915 in Mascota, Jalisco Mexico – October 21, 1999 in Mexico City, Mexico), was a Mexican film and television actress. She was one of the first female major stars of the "Golden Age of Mexican cinema" in the 1930s and 1940s.

Esther Fernández
Esther Fernández
Born
María Esther Fernández González

(1915-08-23)August 23, 1915
Mascota, Jalisco Mexico
DiedOctober 21, 1999(1999-10-21) (aged 84)
Mexico City, Mexico
Occupationfilm actress
Years active1933–1957, 1988-1997

Life and career

Fernández began her career as an extra in the film La Mujer del Puerto (1934). Her beauty and charisma drew the attention of film director Fernando de Fuentes, who gave her the female lead role of Allá en el Rancho Grande (1936), opposite Tito Guizar. The film is regarded as marking the start of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema.

During the rest of the 1930s, Fernández acted in hit movies including Amapola del Camino (1937), with Andrea Palma and Tito Guizar; Mi Candidato (1938), with Joaquín Pardavé and Pedro Armendàriz; and Los de Abajo, with Isabela Corona and Emilio Fernández. Her popularity caught the attention of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which promoted her films in Latin America and invited her to work in Hollywood.

In 1943 she starred in the second sound version of the classic Mexican film Santa, directed by Norman Foster, opposite Ricardo Montalban. In 1946 she acted in the Hollywood film Two Years Before the Mast, with Brian Donlevy and Alan Ladd.

Fernández with Brian Donlevy and Alan Ladd in Two Years Before the Mast (1946).

Back in Mexico, she performed in successful films like Flor de Durazno (1945), Ramona (1946), Cantaclaro (1947), Solo Veracruz es Bello (1948), Doña Perfecta and Los Hijos del Rancho Grande (1956).

Fernández was linked romantically for a few years with the actor and singer Antonio Badú, and they appearing together in some films.

She was absent from acting for two years, due to hepatitis. When she returned, the producers had forgotten her and stopped offering her movies. During her retirement years she was dedicated to painting.

In 1989, Fernández returned to the stardom in the Mexican telenovela Simplemente María. In 1992, she returned to the cinema with the film Los Años de Greta, opposite Beatriz Aguirre and Meche Barba. Her last appearance was in the film Reclusorio II (1997).[1]

Fernández died of natural causes in 1999.

Partial filmography

References
  1. Agrasánchez Jr. (2001), p. 42-45

Bibliography
  • Agrasánchez Jr., Rogelio (2001). Bellezas del cine mexicano/Beauties of Mexican Cinema. Archivo Fílmico Agrasánchez. ISBN 968-5077-11-8.
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