Maria Alba

María del Pilar Margarita Casajuana Martínez (28 December 1905 – 26 October 1999), known professionally as Maria Alba, was a Spanish-American film actress.

Maria Alba
Born
María del Pilar Margarita Casajuana Martínez

(1905-12-28)December 28, 1905
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
DiedOctober 26, 1999(1999-10-26) (aged 93)
San Diego, California, U.S.
Other namesMaria Casajuana
OccupationActress
Years active1928–1946
Spouse(s)
David Todd
​
​
(m. 1931; div. 1937)​

Richard J. Burk
​
​
(m. 1950; died 1996)​
Children3

Biography

Signed by the Fox Film Corporation after winning Fox Film contest in Spain, Maria Casajuana came to the United States in 1927 a second cabin class passenger on the S/S Suffern, which sailed from the Port of Le Havre, France, on 16 April, and arrived at the Port of New York, 26 April 1927.

Originally billed as Maria Casajuana, she appeared in 25 feature films, starting with Road House in 1928 and ending with La morena de mi copla in 1946. Her most notable appearances (as Maria Alba) were probably as "Saturday" in the 1932 Douglas Fairbanks film Mr. Robinson Crusoe, and as the exotic "Princess Nadji" in the Bela Lugosi serial The Return of Chandu. Other Latin actresses working in films, like Lupe Vélez or Dolores del Río, became fluent in English, but Maria Alba spoke English with a thick accent, which limited her casting opportunities.

Publicity materials for The Return of Chandu, published in 1934, disclosed that Maria Alba's married name was Mrs. David Todd. On July 9, 1950, she married Richard J. Burk; the couple had three children.[1]

Partial filmography

References
  1. Internet Movie Database
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