María Félix (April 8, 1914 – April 8, 2002) was a Mexicanactress. Commonly known, particularly in her later years, by the honorific La Doña, she was one of the leading figures of the golden era of Mexican cinema.
Mire, señorita, yo he estado muy ocupada viviendo mi vida y no he tenido tiempo de contarla. ("Look, young lady, I have been very busy living my life and I've not had time to count it.")
It was with her third film, Doña Barbara (1943), that Felix's star began to rise - according to one critic, "as both a respected actress and an over-determined icon" - although some would doubt her acting abilities.
Felix was much painted by famous artists, including Jean Cocteau and Diego Rivera (one of her numerous ex-lovers), who, to her fury, portrayed her in a transparent dress.
Felix avoided potential opprobrium when a projected film, based on Zona Sagrada by Fuentes, dealing with an incestuous relationship between a film star and her son, failed to materialise; she and Enrique were to have appeared in the movie.
MariaFelix, the Mexican film star whose extraordinary beauty and force of personality made her a living myth to Mexicans and a symbol of glamour and sophistication to fans throughout the world, died last Monday at her home in Mexico City.
Felix's best movies were in the 1940s, when as a dominant figure in Mexican cinema's golden age, she exerted great influence over lighting, camera angles, scenario and wardrobe.
Felix was born Maria de los Angeles Felix Guerena, on May 4, 1914, in Alamos, Sonora, according to the birth certificate discovered by Paco Ignacio Taibo, the author of La Dona, a 1985 biography of Felix.
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