Mexican actress Silvia Pinal, muse of Buñuel and last diva of the “golden age”, died at 93

Mexico is in mourning. Mexican actress Silvia Pinal, muse of Spanish director Luis Buñuel Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1961 for “Viridiana”, died Thursday at the age of 93, the government and the television group TelevisaUnivision said.

“Her legacy as an artist and her contribution to our culture are unforgettable,” said Culture Minister Claudia Curiel de Icaza on X. Silvia Pinal is “one of the most emblematic figures in the history” of the age gold of Mexican cinema between 1940 and 1960, underlined the TelevisaUnivision group in a press release.

The actress born in 1931 was particularly known for having played the role of a nun who leaves the convent in “Viridiana” by Buñuel, a Franco-Spanish co-production awarded the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1961. The Mexican will appear in two other films in the trilogy of the Spaniard who took refuge in Mexico to escape Francoism: “The Exterminating Angel” in 1962 and “Simon of the Desert » in 1965.

A foray into politics at the end of the 20th century

In total, the actress has appeared in 84 films and 42 plays, recalls TelevisaUnivision, which also highlights her participation in television series for a total of 5,000 hours of content on behalf of the channel. She distinguished herself during the golden age of Mexican cinema, when the Churrubusco studios in Mexico City were the counterpart of Hollywood in Latin America.

Years later, she made a foray into politics, becoming a deputy (1991-1994) and senator (1998-2000) of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which ruled unchallenged in Mexico for 70 years, from 1930 to 2000 .

If “Viridiana” devoted her international reputation to cinema, the first name was synonymous with tragedy in her personal life. His daughter Viridiana was killed at age 19 in a road accident in 1982. His granddaughter Viridiana also died at the age of two in 1987 by drowning in a swimming pool.