Isabel Sarli | |
|---|---|
 Sarli in the late 1960s | |
| Born | Hilda Isabel Gorrindo Sarli (1929-07-09)9 July 1929[1] Concordia, Entre Ríos, Argentina |
| Died | 25 June 2019(2019-06-25) (aged 89) Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1954–1980 1996–2009 |
| Known for | Starring in severalcult films directed byArmando Bó being asexploitation film icon |
| Notable work | |
| Spouse | |
| Partner | Armando Bó (1956–1981, his death) |
| Children | 2 |
Hilda Isabel Gorrindo Sarli (Spanish pronunciation:[isaˈβelˈsaɾli]; 9 July 1929[1] – 25 June 2019), nicknamedCoca,[2] was an Argentine actress. She was known for starring in severalsexploitation films byArmando Bó,[3] especially in the 1960s and 1970s. She began her career as a model, becomingMiss Argentina and reaching the semi-finals ofMiss Universe 1955.[4] She was discovered by Bó in 1956 and made her acting debut the following year withThunder Among the Leaves, in which a controversialnude scene featuring Sarli made it the first film to feature full frontal nudity inArgentine cinema.
As the muse and protagonist of Bó's films, Sarli became the quintessentialsex symbol of her country and a popular figure worldwide. After Bó's death in 1981, Sarli virtually retired from acting until the 1990s, when she appeared in a handful of film roles and TV cameos before her death in 2019. Since the year 2000 and onwards, her films have been revalued for theircamp andkitsch content and are recognised ascult classics, while Sarli has established herself as apop icon.[4]
Hilda Isabel Sarli Gorrindo Tito was born inConcordia,Entre Ríos Province, into a very poor family, as one of the daughters of Antonio Gorrindo and María Elena Sarli. Her father left the family when she was 3 years old. Those he had left behind, including Isabel and her mother, then moved to Buenos Aires. Her youngest sibling, and only brother, died at the age of five. Although, years later, her father tried to contact her, she refused angrily.[5]
Sarli trained to become a secretary and, upon completing this training, started working for a publicity agency to support her mother. Then she was offered to work as a model, at which she proved to be so successful that she ended up resigning from her secretarial work. She won an award as the "most photographed model".[6]
Contrary to what has sometimes been stated,[where?] she was nicknamed "Coca" by her mother.
In 1955 she was chosenMiss Argentina and met the then Argentinian President,Juan Domingo Perón.
In June 1956, she metArmando Bó on a television show. He later offered her the opportunity to star inEl trueno entre las hojas (Thunder in the Leaves). Bó convinced Sarli to be naked in a scene in which she bathed in a lake, though she had previously been told she would wear a flesh-colored body stocking. Bó likewise told Sarli they would shoot from afar and that the camera possessed no facility for magnification. The film became the first to feature full frontal nudity in Argentinian cinema. She went on to become an international Latin American star and made international headlines for the nude scene. She appeared inTime,Life, andPlayboy magazines, the first Argentine actress to accomplish that feat. Bó and Sarli became lovers and she became the primary star of his films until his death in 1981. During this time, Sarli refused many offers to work with other directors, with the exception ofLeopoldo Torre Nilsson onSetenta veces siete (The Female: Seventy Times Seven) andDirk DeVilliers onThe Virgin Goddess, her only English language film.
Bó's films were controversial at the time and most of them were banned, but this ban led them to be even more successful. Films likeFuego (1969) andFiebre (1970) reached the American and European markets.
She received offers to work in the United States withRobert Aldrich,[7] along with two offers extended to her from the United Kingdom, to appear in the Hammer Film productionThe Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll and the American co-productionThe Guns of Navarone, but she declined them; Sarli chose to work instead in Latin America, although always under Bó's direction: she madeLa Diosa Impura in México,Lujuria tropical in Venezuela,Desnuda en la arena in Panamá,La Burrerita de Ypacaraí in Paraguay andFavela andLa Leona in Brazil.
Following Bó's death in 1981, Sarli retired from the cinema industry altogether but came back in the mid-'90s forJorge Polaco'spicaresque film,La Dama Regresa (1996). The film was inspired largely by her life and her public image, serving as anhomage of sorts. In 2009 she teamed once more with Polaco inArróz con Leche for abit part.
In 2011, she starred in the movieMis días con Gloria, where she played a character based on herself. The film was her first major role sinceLa Dama Regresa in 1996. In a later radio interview, Sarli said the film did not do well at the box office because of the poor promotion it had received.
Before meeting Bó, Sarli was married to Ralph Heinlein and later divorced. Contrary to popular belief, Bó and Sarli never married. Sarli had two adopted children, Martin and Isabelita, who was her goddaughter. In June 2016, she and her daughter Isabelita were living inMartínez, Buenos Aires.
In 2007, Argentinian film critic Diego Curubeto made the documentaryCarne sobre carne – Intimidades de Isabel Sarli (Flesh on Flesh – Isabel Sarli's Personal Matters), with the collaboration of Isabel, Argentine actorGastón Pauls and Spanish directorÁlex de la Iglesia. It is a well-received homage that includes deleted scenes from her films, censored material, rehearsals, anecdotes and interviews.
On 12 October 2012, it was reported that the Argentine PresidentCristina Fernández de Kirchner had named Sarli as Argentinian Ambassador of Popular Culture.[8] TheBoletín Oficial de la República Argentina, under Decree 1876/2012, stated:
In 2010, the movieFuego premiered at theLincoln Center in New York, where it was shown with English subtitles.[10] This showing was covered inTime Magazine by its then film criticRichard Corliss in his piece "Isabel Sarli: A Sex Bomb at Lincoln Center".[11]
The popular expression "What do you want from me?", erroneously believed to have been spoken by Sarli in the movieCarne (1968), has become a catchphrase in Argentina. In fact, the line was originally used for the movie...y el Demonio creó a los hombres.
Film directorJohn Waters has stated several times that Sarli's movies have inspired some of his own films.[12] In April 2018, Waters presentedFuego in Argentina and met Sarli.[13]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1958 | El Trueno entre las hojas | Flavia Forkel |
| 1959 | Sabaleros | Angela |
| 1960 | India | Ansisé |
| 1960 | ... y el Demonio creó a los hombres | |
| 1961 | Favela | |
| 1962 | La burrerita de Ypacaraí | |
| 1962 | Setenta veces siete | Cora / Laura |
| 1964 | La leona | |
| 1964 | La diosa impura | Laura |
| 1964 | Lujuria tropical | |
| 1965 | La mujer del zapatero | |
| 1966 | La tentación desnuda | Sandra Quesada |
| 1966 | Los días calientes | |
| 1967 | La señora del intendente | Flor Tetis |
| 1968 | Fuego | Laura |
| 1968 | Carne | Delicia |
| 1968 | La mujer de mi padre | Eva |
| 1969 | Éxtasis tropical | Monica |
| 1969 | Desnuda en la arena | Alicia |
| 1969 | Embrujada | Ansisé |
| 1972 | Fiebre | |
| 1973 | Furia infernal | Barbara |
| 1974 | Intimidades de una cualquiera | María |
| 1974 | El sexo y el amor | |
| 1977 | Una mariposa en la noche | Yvonne |
| 1979 | El último amor en Tierra del Fuego | |
| 1979 | Insaciable | |
| 1980 | Una viuda descocada | Flor Tetis Soutién de Gambetta |
| 1996 | La dama regresa | |
| 2007 | Carne sobre carne | Herself (archive material) |
| 2009 | Arróz con leche | Cameo |
| 2010 | Parapolicial negro, apuntes para una prehistoria de la AAA | Herself (interviewed) |
| 2010 | Mis días con Gloria | Gloria Saten |
Media related toIsabel Sarli at Wikimedia Commons
Armando Bó andIsabel Sarli filmography | ||
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| 1950s |
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| 1960s |
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| 1970s |
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| 1980s | Una viuda descocada (1980) | |
| International | |
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| National | |
