Silvia Pinal, an actor from Mexico’s Golden Age of cinema and muse to the director Luis Buñuel, has died aged 93.
Pinal got her start in theatre in the 1940s, working with the director Rafael Banquells – the first of her four husbands. She became a star in 1950 aged 18, when she appeared opposite two of Mexico’s biggest comedic film stars: Germán Valdés (Tin-Tan) in The King of the Neighborhood and Mario Moreno (Cantinflas) in The Doorman. In 1952 she appeared alongside heartthrob Pedro Infante in A Place Near Heaven.
In 1961 she played the titular role in Luis Buñuel’s film Viridiana. She went on to appear in two other Buñuel films: The Exterminating Angel in 1962 and Simon of the Desert in 1965.
She was one of the few Golden Age actors who also adapted to a subsequent career in television, after the quality of Mexican film began tapering off in the 1960s. She also worked as a producer, and served in Congress.
Earlier this month, her family said she had been hospitalised for a urinary tract infection.
Her death was confirmed by Mexico’s culture secretary, Claudia Curiel de Icaza.
“Her legacy as an artist and her contributions to our culture are unforgettable. Rest in peace,” Curiel de Icaza wrote on social media.
She is survived by her ex-husband, Enrique Guzmán, and her daughters, actor Sylvia Pasquel and rock singer Alejandra Guzmán.
Funeral plans were not immediately announced.
