Libertad Lamarque

Libertad Lamarque was born in Rosario, Santa Fe Province, Argentina to Gaudencio Lamarque (1874-1947), an Uruguayan of French descent, and a widow of Spanish origin, Josefa Bouza (1863-1932).[http://www.terapiatanguera.com.ar/Notas%20y%20articulos/libertad_lamarque_tino.htm Libertad Lamarque] (Spanish) She was named Libertad (which means "Liberty") because at the time of her birth, her father, an anarchist, was imprisoned and pleading for release.

At the age of 7, Lamarque won first prize in a stage competition,{{cite news|last1=Moran|first1=Julio|title=Viva Libertad: Entertainment: Magazine honors Latina star for 70 years in film and music. She became a living legend in Mexican cinema.|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-10-23-me-48964-story.html|access-date=18 May 2015|work=Los Angeles Times|date=23 October 1993|location=Los Angeles, California}} and participated with a group of street singers that made tours of nearby cities.{{cite news|last1=Pinsón|first1=Néstor|title=Libertad Lamarque|url=http://www.agenciaelvigia.com.ar/libertad_lamarque.htm|access-date=18 May 2015|publisher=Agencia el Vigia|location=Buenos Aires, Argentina|language=es}} In 1923, she appeared in her first professional role, the stage show Madre Tierra.

Her local acclaim convinced her parents that the family should relocate to Buenos Aires, where her chances of a career would be better. The family hung their hopes on a letter of introduction from a local journalist to the owner of the National Theatre, Pascual Carcavallo. It proved successful, as in 1926 Libertad was hired to sing in the choir and given a one-year contract. Her debut was in a play called La muchacha de Montmartre (The Girl from Montmartre) by José A. Saldías, where she sang as part of a trio with Olinda Bozán and Antonia Volpe, to the guitar accompaniment of Rafael Iriarte. Within a couple of months, she had begun singing on Radio Prieto, and was signed for record production with Victor Records, which released her first album, Gaucho Sol, on 26 September 1926, as well as the single Chilenito.

In 1929, she began working in Alberto Vaccarezza's, El conventillo de la Paloma ("The Tenement of the Dove"), which was about the life of a girl Doce Pesos, living in an immigrant tenement house. After two years and 1,000 performances, Lamarque quit the show to focus on her music career. She traveled through several provinces of Argentina and through neighboring Paraguay accompanied by three. In 1930,{{cite news|last1=Nudler|first1=Julio|title=Murio en Mexico Libertad Lamarque, "La Novia de America"|url=http://www.pagina12.com.ar/2000/00-12/00-12-13/pag29.htm|access-date=18 May 2015|newspaper=Página/12|date=13 December 2000|location=Buenos Aires, Argentina|language=es}} following this tour she entered a competition held at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, won first prize for her performances of the tangos "La cumparsita" and "Tocaneando",{{cite news|title=Libertad Lamarque|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1378213/Libertad-Lamarque.html|access-date=18 May 2015|work=The Telegraph|date=14 December 2000|location=London}} and earned the title "Queen of Tango". She capped this cycle by performing Oscar Straus's Tres valses (Three Waltzes), an adaptation of the operetta, with Chilean singer Choly Mur.

File:Lamarque_comienzos.jpg

In the mid-1930s Lamarque was accompanied by a trio of musicians including bandoneon player Héctor María Artola, violinist Antonio Rodio, and pianist, Alfredo Malerba, who would become her second husband. She shone in works that were painful and romantic, such as En esta tarde gris (In this gray afternoon), Sombras, nada más (Shadows, nothing else), Tristezas de la calle Corrientes (Sorrows of Corrientes Street) or Caserón de tejas (Mansion of Tiles), Canción desesperada (Desperate Song) and Sin palabras (Without words). Many of her best songs were by composer Enrique Santos Discepolo because they particularly suited her style.

File:Ayudameavivir.jpg

She filmed Adiós, Argentina, which was directed by Italian Mario Parpagnoli in 1929, which was released the following year, and the first Argentine film with sound ¡Tango! in 1932, which resulted in her being the first singer to be recorded for a sound film in Argentina. Lamarque was a light soprano with a vocal range from approximately middle C (C4) to "high A" (A5).{{citation needed|date=May 2015}} After ¡Tango!{{'}}s release in 1933, a string of films followed, including El alma del bandoneon (1935), Ayúdame a vivir (1936), Besos brujos (1937), La ley que olvidaron (1937), Madreselva (1938), Puerta cerrada (1939), Caminito de la gloria (1939), La casa del recuerdo (1940), Cita en la frontera (1940), Una vez en la vida (1941), Yo conocí a esa mujer (1942), En el viejo Buenos Aires (1942), Eclipse de sol (1942), El fin de la noche (1944), La cabalgata del circo (1945) and many more.{{cite news|last1=Lechner|first1=Ernesto|title=Libertad Lamarque, recordando a la novia de América|url=http://www.aarp.org/espanol/entretenimiento/expertos/ernesto_lechner/info-2014/libertad-lamarque-biografia.html|access-date=19 May 2015|publisher=AARP|date=12 September 2014|language=es}}

File:Peron-Lamarque.jpg and Libertad Lamarque in film La cabalgata del circo (1945)]]

Legend has it that Lamarque left Argentina because she had been blacklisted by its First Lady Eva Perón.{{cite news|last1=Romero|first1=Simon|title=Libertad Lamarque, Mexican Star, Dies at 92|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/25/arts/libertad-lamarque-mexican-star-dies-at-92.html|access-date=18 May 2015|newspaper=The New York Times|date=25 December 2000|location=New York City}} Marysa Navarro and Nicholas Frasier, authors of Evita: The Real Life of Eva Perón, however, contend this is unlikely. They argue that Lamarque moved to Mexico, where she was adored by the audiences because Mexican cinema was in a better state during the 1940s and 1950s than Argentine cinema. The authors add that Lamarque traveled freely between Argentina and Mexico during the lifetime of Eva Perón and beyond, which does not support the blacklisting legend.{{cite book|last1=Fraser|first1=Nicholas|last2=Navarro|first2=Marysa|title=Evita: The Real Life of Eva Perón|date=1996|publisher=W.W. Norton|location=New York|isbn=978-0-393-31575-2|page=202|edition=Norton paperback|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5oWaILNrsHIC|access-date=18 May 2015}}

Lamarque denied during her lifetime certain aspects of the legend, especially the reports that she had slapped Eva on the set of La cabalgata del circo. In her 1986 autobiography, she flatly denied the allegations and explained that she was simply mortified by Eva's lack of discipline during production of the film.{{cite book|last1=Pigna|first1=Felipe|title=Evita|date=2007|publisher=Planeta|location=Buenos Aires|isbn=978-950-491-798-4|page=275|edition=1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SWx9AAAAMAAJ|access-date=18 May 2015}}

According to Lamarque, Eva refused to take her work seriously and always arrived late or stalled the filming for trivial or personal reasons. Complaints to either the producer or the director produced no result as they were giving Eva preferential treatment as the girlfriend of Juan Perón.{{cite news|last1=García Blaya|first1=Ricardo|title=Libertad Lamarque y Eva Perón: dos muñecas bravas|url=http://www.agenciaelvigia.com.ar/libertad_lamarque.htm|access-date=18 May 2015|publisher=Agencia el Vigia|location=Buenos Aires, Argentina|language=es}}

By 1946, Eva and Juan Perón were ensconced in the Presidential Palace,{{cite news|title=Homenaje continental a Libertad Lamarque|url=http://www.cronica.com.mx/notas/2008/399826.html|access-date=18 May 2015|agency=EFE|publisher=La Crónica|date=24 November 2008|location=Mexico City, Mexico|language=es}} rumors circulated that Evita had forbidden radio stations and film studios to play Lamarque's music or hire her, and Lamarque's films, music and publicity in Argentina seemed to have come to an end.

File:Libertad Lamarque.jpg

Between January and February 1946, Lamarque appeared in her first tour of Cuba, which was listed as the artistic event of the season. On 7 January, she debuted in the Teatro América with a varied repertoire, but closed the show with "Facundo" by Cuban composer Eliseo Grenet to much applause. She performed shows daily, sometimes twice a day and on her final performance at Teatro América, 20 January, she held three performances. She performed at Camagüey, Ciego de Ávila, Santa Clara, Holguín, and Santiago de Cuba; visited hospitals and schools; and her farewell performance at the Municipal Amphitheatre of Havana was said to have been attended by 20,000 fans.{{cite news|last1=Ortega|first1=Josefina|title=La verdadera novia de América|url=http://www.lajiribilla.co.cu/2012/n581_06/581_14.html|access-date=18 May 2015|publisher=La Jiribilla|date=29 June 2012|location=Havana, Cuba|language=es}} It was on this trip that the Cuban press first dubbed her "America's Sweetheart."

Just before the Cuban trip, Hollywood had offered Lamarque a seven-year contract but she refused it as she did not speak English and was afraid she would be taken advantage of. Despite her fears of working in the U.S., Lamarque sold out Carnegie Hall for a 1947 performance.{{cite web|title=Libertad Lamarque|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/40113/Libertad-Lamarque/biography|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150523114433/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/40113/Libertad-Lamarque/biography|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 May 2015|access-date=18 May 2015|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=The New York Times|author=Hans J. Wollstein|date=2015|location=New York City}} When Mexico, on the other hand, offered her a picture deal to appear with legendary Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel, she agreed,{{cite book|last1=Acevedo-Muñoz|first1=Ernesto R.|title=Buñuel and Mexico: The Crisis of National Cinema|year=2003|pages=49–53|url=http://documenta_pdf.jmir.dyndns.org/BUNUEL.AND.MEXICO_2003.pdf|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley, California|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150520224937/http://documenta_pdf.jmir.dyndns.org/BUNUEL.AND.MEXICO_2003.pdf|archive-date=20 May 2015}} and moved to Mexico in 1946. The picture, Gran Casino, co-starring Jorge Negrete was a flop, but other roles followed, such as Soledad (1947), La dama del velo (1948), Huellas de un pasado (1950), Mujeres sin lágrimas (1951), Nunca es tarde para amar (1952), Ansiedad (1952), and Rostros olvidados (1952).{{cite news|title=Muere famosa actriz argentina Libertad Lamarque|url=http://www.emol.com/noticias/magazine/2000/12/12/40697/muere-famosa-actriz-argentina-libertad-lamarque.html|access-date=18 May 2015|publisher=Emol – El Mercurio|date=12 December 2000|location=Santiago, Chile|language=es}} Some of her best work during this period was in Otra primavera, filmed in 1949, La loca (1951) and Cuando me vaya (1953); for each of these she was nominated for an Ariel Award for Best Actress in 1951, 1953, and 1955, respectively.

Some of her last movies included Bodas de oro (1955), Amor de sombra (1959), Yo pecador (1959), Rosas blancas para mi hermana negra (1969), with Cuban singer Eusebia Cosme{{cite news|last1=Espinosa Domínguez|first1=Carlos|title=Con vida negra y pureza propia|date=26 August 2011|access-date=18 May 2015| url=http://www.cubaencuentro.com/cultura/articulos/con-vida-negra-y-pureza-propia-267440|publisher=Cuba Encuentro|location=Madrid, Spain|language=es}} and her last two Argentine films, La sonrisa de mamá (1972) and La mamá de la novia (1978).{{cite news|title=Libertad, la "Novia de América"|url=http://www.lacapital.com.ar/ed_vecinosycomunas/2010/7/edicion_25/contenidos/noticia_0007.html|access-date=19 May 2015|newspaper=La Capital|date=29 July 2010|location=Buenos Aires, Argentina|language=es|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402095912/http://www.lacapital.com.ar/ed_vecinosycomunas/2010/7/edicion_25/contenidos/noticia_0007.html|archive-date=2 April 2015}} But as she wound down her movie career, she began touring with music again. In the late 1950s, she did a concert tour with Puerto Rican singer Jesús Quiñones Ledesma{{cite web|title=Jesús Quiñones Ledesma|url=http://jesusquinonesledesma.com/about.html|website=Jesús Quiñones Ledesma|access-date=18 May 2015}} and worked in Chile, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and returned to Cuba to do theater and record several albums.

She returned to Argentina after Evita's death and was the first person to bring a Spanish version of Hello Dolly to Latin audiences{{citation needed|date=May 2015}} at a 1967 performance at the Teatro Nacional in Buenos Aires,{{cite news|last1=Cosentin|first1=Olga|title=El final de un sueño|url=http://edant.clarin.com/diario/2000/12/13/c-00611.htm|access-date=18 May 2015|newspaper=Clarín|date=13 December 2000|location=Buenos Aires, Argentina|language=es}} which she also later performed in Mexico in 1968 staged by Manolo Fabregás.{{cite journal|last1=Carrera|first1=Claudio|title=Remembering Mexico's 'Mr. Theatre,' Manolo Fabregas|journal=Playbill|date=3 February 1998|url=https://playbill.com/features/article/remembering-mexicos-mr.-theatre-manolo-fabregas-101107/print|access-date=18 May 2015|location=New York City|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518224645/http://playbill.com/features/article/remembering-mexicos-mr.-theatre-manolo-fabregas-101107/print|archive-date=18 May 2015|url-status=dead}}

In 1982, she starred in the musical revue, Libertad Lamarque, ¿es una mujer de suerte? at the Teatro Lola Membrives in Buenos Aires. She wrote the script, which was adapted by Nicolás Carreras under the musical direction of Oscar Cardozo Ocampo. In 1988, Lamarque participated in the season at Mar del Plata's Teatro Opera with the musical A todo tango II under the direction of José Colángelo.

In the 1960s she appeared in several episodes of a television show called Saturday Circular with Nicholas Mancera and in 1961, she filmed Así era mi madre, her only Spanish film. Her first venture into soap operas came in Venezuela, when she was offered a role in Esmeralda in 1972. That was followed by another Venezuelan production called Mamá.

File:Libertadlamarque.jpg

In 1980, she began the first of her Mexican telenovelas, Soledad, followed by her role in Carita de Angel at the age of 91 where she played a Mother superior. Her last role, as la abuela Piedad in La Usurpadora (The Usurper) was in 1998 – two years before her death.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}}

Lamarque received an award in 1978 from Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez for her contributions to Latin American culture and in 1980 she shared a Critic's Choice Award with María Félix. In 1985, she received the Konex Platinum Award for Best Tango Singer in Argentina. In 1988, she put her hand prints on the "Walk of Fame of the Hermitage Hotel".{{citation needed|date=February 2018}}

In 1989, she was honored at the Festival of San Sebastián, Spain, for her film achievements and was recognized by the Caesar Awards given by the Association of American theater to Latin American artists in Los Angeles. That same year, a tile bearing her name was placed in the "Sidewalk of Latin Stars" in Miami and a tribute was held for her at the Autumn Festival of Paris.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}}

She was appointed "Illustrious citizen of the city of Buenos Aires" in 1990 and on 15 November 1991, a few days before her birthday, the Municipal Council of Rosario granted her a similar distinction. Lamarque was honored in 1993 by Celebrando Magazine, a Spanish-language publication which is nationally distributed in the U.S., for her 70 years in film, theater and music and her philanthropy.

In 1998, she was appointed as Honorary Cultural Advisor and designated as a Cultural Legend in Buenos Aires.{{cite news|title=Adiós a la estrella de América|url=http://www.lanacion.com.ar/44735-adios-a-la-estrella-de-america|access-date=19 May 2015|newspaper=La Nacion|date=13 December 2000|location=Buenos Aires, Argentina|language=es}}

In 1996 Libertad moved to the United States and settled in her Coral Gables home in Miami, Florida. She often flew to Mexico City and Buenos Aires to attend her professional appointments as well. Her daughter, grandsons and great-grandsons lived in Argentina.

In 1998 Lamarque was featured in the soap opera La usurpadora, which was a huge success in Mexico and in many countries in Latin America. Her last role on TV was on the telenovela Carita de Ángel, where she played Mother Superior.

In early December 2000, Libertad Lamarque was rushed to Santa Elena Hospital in Mexico City, after feeling sick and experiencing breathing difficulties. She died aged 92 on 12 December 2000 in Mexico City, Mexico from pneumonia. Her daughter, Mirtha Libertad Lamarque Romero Deluca, died on 19 October 2014, aged 86.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}}

In 1926, Lamarque married Emilio Romero and had a daughter, Mirtha, with him before divorcing in 1945. Divorce was not possible at that time in Argentina and although the marriage was quickly over, it took 12 years to officially be ended. In 1935, she suffered several personal crises which led to a suicide attempt in Chile. She attempted to throw herself out of a hotel window, but an awning broke her fall. Shortly thereafter, her estranged husband kidnapped their daughter and took Mirtha to Uruguay. A group of friends, including Alfredo Malerba, and her attorney were able to help her regain custody.{{cite news|title=Homenaje a Libertad Lamarque|url=http://www.terra.com.mx/entretenimiento/articulo/206965/Homenaje+a+Libertad+Lamarque.htm|access-date=19 May 2015|publisher=Terra|date=9 April 2007|location=Mexico City, Mexico|language=es}} Lamarque's second husband was Alfredo Malerba, with whom she was married for nearly 50 years, until his death.

• Best Foreign Actress, Puerta cerrada, 1940, Zagreb WON
• Best Actress, Otra primavera, 1951, Ariel nomination{{cite web|title=Ariel – Ganadores y nominados – Libertad Lamarque|url=http://www.academiamexicanadecine.org.mx/ver_ariel.asp?tipo=ariel&idPersona=3460|website=Academia Mexicana de Cine|access-date=18 May 2015|location=Mexico City, Mexico|language=es}}{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• Best Actress, La loca, 1953, Ariel nomination
• Best Actress, Cuando me vaya, 1955, Ariel nomination
• Critic's Choice Award, Won shared award with María Félix, 1980
• Konex Platinum Award, Best Tango Singer, 1985, Argentina WON
• Lifetime Achievement, 2000 Ariel WON

File:DelCarril-Lamarque.jpg in La cabalgata del circo (1945)]]

File:Libertad Lamarque - Famosos de la canción, radio y televisión, 1963.png

• ¡Tango! (1933)
• Musical Romance (1947)

{{div col|colwidth=22em}}

• Gran Casino – 1946
• Soledad – 1947
• The Lady of the Veil – 1948 ... Andrea del Monte
• Another Spring – 1949 ... Amelia
• La marquesa del barrio – 1950 ... Cristina Payares/La Marquesa
• Traces of the Past – 1950
• Te sigo esperando – 1951 ... Elena Montenegro
• La loca – 1951 ... Elena Prim viuda de Villaseñor
• Woman Without Tears – 1951 ... Consuelo
• Ansiedad – 1952 ... María de Lara
• Nunca es tarde para amar – 1952 ... Malisa Morales
• Acuérdate de vivir – 1952 ... Yolanda
• Forgotten Faces – 1952 ... Rosario Velazquez
• If You Came Back to Me – 1953 ... Alejandra
• When I Leave – 1953 ... María Grever
• La Infame – 1953 ... Cristina Ferrán
• Anxiety – 1953
• Reportaje – 1953
• La mujer X – 1954
• Bodas de oro – 1955
• Música de siempre – 1955
• Historia de un amor – 1955 ...Elena Ramos
• Escuela de música – 1955 ... Laura Galván
• Bambalinas – 1956
• Mis padres se divorcian – 1957 ... Diana Váldes
• A Few Drinks – 1957 ... Eugenia Pavel
• The Woman Who Had No Childhood – 1957 ... Rosaura
• Sabrás que te quiero – 1958 ... Amelia Rey/Mónica/Gabriela
• Love in the Shadows – 1959 ... Claudia
• Yo, pecador – 1959 ... Doña Virginia
• El pecado de una madre – 1960 ... Ana María
• La cigüeña dijo sí – 1960
• El cielo y la tierra – 1962 ... Sor Lucero/Sister María de la Luz
• Canción del alma – 1963 ... María Maragón
• Los hijos que yo soñé – 1964 ... Mariana
• Canta mi corazón – 1964 ... Luisa Lamas
• Arrullo de Dios – 1966 ... Luz
• El hijo pródigo – 1968 ... Alegría Román
• Rosas blancas para mi hermana negra – 1969 ... Laura
• Hoy he soñado con Dios – 1971 ... Lina Alonso
• La loca de los milagros – 1973 ... Aurora Durban
• Negro es un bello color – 1973 ... Eugenia

{{div col end}}

• Lovely Memory – 1961 ... Lucy

• "Gaucho sol" – LP (1926)
• "Chilenito" – single (1926)
• "Botellero" / "Mi Caballo Jerezano" – single (1927)
• "Mate Amargo" / "Idilio Trunco" – single (1928)
• "La Dolores" / "Tanita De La Proa" – single (1929)
• "Sol De Mi Tierra" / "No Seas Así" – single (1929)
• "El Niño De Las Monjas" / "Doña Nicanora" – single (1930)
• "No Has Perdido La Vergüenza" / "Goya" – single (1930)
• "Soñar Y Nada Más" / "Tristeza Marina" – single (1943)
• "Delicias Musicales" – LP (?)
• "Delicias Musicales (Volumen II)" – LP (1958)
• "Chansons Du Film Mon Ami Joselito" – EP (1962)
• "Ayúdame A Vivir / Caminito / Besos Brujos / Madreselva" – EP (1969)
• "Libertad Lamarque Canta Los Tangos De Agustín Lara" – LP (1969)
• "Somos Novios" – LP (1973)
• "Los Tangos de Agustin Lara" – LP (1977)
• "Delicias Musicales" – LP (1985)
• "Libertad Lamarque Sings Songs Of Maria Grever" – LP (1986)
• "En 1988 !Canta Así!" – LP (1990)

• Esmeralda – 1970 ... Sister Piedad
• Mamá – 1975 ... Soledad
• Soledad – 1980 ... Soledad González/Cristina Palermo
• Amada – 1983 ... Amada
• La Usurpadora – 1998 ... Doña Piedad Vda. de Bracho
• Carita de Ángel – 2000 ... Mother Superior Piedad de la luz

• Lamarque, Libertad. Libertad Lamarque, Javier Vergara Publishing: Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1986 (in Spanish) ({{ISBN|950-1-505-995}})

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{commons category}}

• {{IMDb name|0482840}}
• [http://www.unsiglodelibertad.blogspot.com Un Siglo de Libertad] Blog-Homenaje a Libertad Lamarque
• {{Cinenacional name|id=libertad-lamarque|old_id=3200}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20091111031655/http://www.todotango.com/english/Creadores/llamarque.html Libertad at TodoTango]
• [http://www.discogs.com/artist/392782-Libertad-Lamarque Partial Discography]
• [https://hmvdigital.com/search/releases?q=libertad%20lamarque Partial Discography]
• [http://www.fundacionkonex.org/b901-libertad--lamarque Konex Foundation, discography/filmography/awards]
• [https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105305 Libertad Lamarque recordings] at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamarque, Libertad}}

Category:1908 births

Category:2000 deaths

Category:Actresses from Rosario, Santa Fe

Category:Argentine emigrants to Mexico

Category:Argentine film actresses

Category:Argentine people of French descent

Category:Argentine people of Galician descent

Category:Argentine people of Uruguayan descent

Category:Argentine radio actresses

Category:Ariel Award winners

Category:Expatriate actresses in Mexico

Category:Golden Age of Mexican cinema

Category:Golden Ariel Award winners

Category:Mexican film actresses

Category:Mexican telenovela actresses

Category:Mexican television actresses

Category:Naturalized citizens of Mexico

Category:Singers from Rosario, Santa Fe

Category:Tango singers

Category:Women in Latin music

Category:20th-century Argentine actresses

Category:20th-century Argentine women singers