Tita Merello | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Laura Ana Merello (1904-10-11)11 October 1904 Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Died | 24 December 2002(2002-12-24) (aged 98) San Telmo, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Resting place | La Chacarita Cemetery |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1930–1985 |
Laura Ana "Tita" Merello (11 October 1904 – 24 December 2002) was an Argentine film actress,tango dancer and singer of theGolden Age of Argentine cinema. In her six decades in Argentine entertainment, at the time of her death, she had filmed over thirty movies, premiered twenty plays, had nine television appearances, completed three radio series and had had countless appearances in print media. She was one of the singers who emerged in the 1920s along withAzucena Maizani,Libertad Lamarque,Ada Falcón, andRosita Quiroga, who created the female voices of tango. She was primarily remembered for the songs "Se dice de mí" and "La milonga y yo".
She began her acting career in theater and may have made silent films. She debuted on the first sound movie produced in Argentina,¡Tango!, with Libertad Lamarque in 1933. After making a series of films throughout the 1930s, she established herself as a dramatic actress inLa fuga (1937), directed byLuis Saslavsky. In the mid-1940s, she moved to Mexico, where she filmedCinco rostros de mujer (1947), which earned her anAriel Award from the Mexican Academy of Film. She returned to Argentina and starred inDon Juan Tenorio (1949) andFilomena Marturano (1950), which were subsequently taken to the theater. Her period of greatest popularity came in the following decade, when she led films likeLos isleros (1951), considered her best performance,Guacho (1954) andMercado de abasto (1955). She also received praise for her work inArrabalera (1950),Para vestir santos (1955) andEl amor nunca muere (1955).[1]
From the 1960s, most of her work was directed byEnrique Carreras. During the period, she had a recurring role in the television seriesSábados Circulares and continued making films, likeAmorina (1961). Her role in 1974 asLa Madre María, directed byLucas Demare, was highly acclaimed as was her collaboration withAlejandro Doria inLos miedos (1980). She retired from theater in 1984 and films in 1985 but continued to act on TV and radio and was honored as "Citizen of the City of Buenos Aires" in 1990. Until her death at age 98, she continued to make appearances on television and radio.[2]
Laura Ana Merello,[3] known as "Tita" was born on 11 October 1904 in a tenement in the neighborhood ofSan Telmo, Buenos Aires to the coachman Santiago Merello and an ironer, Ana Gianelli.[4] The house where she was born has been designated as a historical site.[5] Her birth certificate did not show her mother's name, but when she was four, her mother's name was recorded with the mother's nationality of Uruguayan.[6] She had a younger half-brother, Pascual Anselmi, who had a different father.[7]
Her father died oftuberculosis when she was less than a year old.[7][8] Merello had a difficult childhood marked by poverty. She was sent to an orphan asylum at age five because her mother had to work. While still a child, she was taken toMontevideo, Uruguay, where she worked as a maid without pay.[7] At age 9, she was diagnosed with tuberculosis and sent to a farm nearMagdalena, where she worked in exchange for room and board,[9] milking cows, cuttingyerba mate and grilling food for the workers. She said she knew hunger and fear firsthand, as she lived it every day of her childhood, never going to school or learning to read or write.[7] As an adult, she said of her childhood that it was brief, "Poor childhood is shorter than that of the rich. It was sad, poor and ugly".[6]
At age 12, she returned to the tenement to live with her mother[9] She went to work in a seedy club calledBa Ta Clán, where the chorus girls became known as bataclanas.[6][10] The place had a reputation and women who worked there were thought to be employed somewhere between the "lunfardo" (the Argentine underworld) and a bordello.[9] Around 1917, Merello began working as a showgirl in the Rosita Rodriguez Company at Teatro Avenida and debuted in a play calledLas vírgenes de teres. She was booed off the stage and vowed never to sing again, but hunger forced her to look for work in the cafés along the Avenida de Mayo.
She soon earned popularity with her interpretation of the tango "Titina".[3] She met the editor of the newspaper,La Nacion, Eduardo Borrás when she was fifteen, who began helping her learn to read.[7] He later introduced her to Simón Yrigoyen Iriondo, who took charge of ending her illiteracy.[11] Around 1919, she was performing at the Teatro Porteño in the chorus line and was fined 20 pesos because she wasn't wearing stockings. Years later, in the 1930s, Morello commented how things had changed and women were being paid to go without them.[12]
Some sources have claimed that Merello filmed silent movies in this period;[13] others claim that "a" movie happened a decade later in 1928;[14] and some claim her first film was not until¡Tango! in 1933.[15][16] Some claim there were three films,Buenos Aires tenebroso (1918), a crime drama;La garra porteña; (1918), andAmor de primavera (1918–1919) both directed by Juan Glizé and Vicente Marracino.[13] Multiple sources claim she madeBuenos Aires tenebroso directed by Juan Glizé[14][17][18] but the year varies from 1917[19] to 1928.[14]
Tragedy befell her again at the age of 16, when her mother succumbed to tuberculosis and she began wandering from house to house, family to friends and back again.[3] She became avedette and was known as "La Vedette Rea",[6] but her repertoire and fiery temper gave her a reputation that was counter to other performers, likeSofía Bozán.[9] Her interpretation often incorporated deliberatefarce to express the complexities of life.[20] and while she was not known for having a great voice, she gained admiration for the expressiveness of her interpretations, which was well suited for the drama of tango.[3]
In 1923, she got a part as a show girl in the revueLas modernas Scherezadas playing at the renowned Teatro Maipo, performing with the starsLuis Arata,Pepe Arias, andMarcos Caplán.[3][11] The show's playbills are dated 1924 and list her as the star "La vedette rea".[20] She sang "Trago amargo", a tango,[21] to wide acclaim.[7] That same year, she was in the cast of Cayol's Revue¿Quién dijo miedo?[22]
In 1925, she performed in the revueMujeres, flores y alegría,[23] in which she sang the tango "Pedime lo que Querés" byFrancisco Canaro with lyrics byJuan Andrés Caruso. Later that year she premiered the tango "Leguisamo Solo" byModesto Papavero, which had been written as homage to Uruguayan jockeyIrineo Leguisamo.[24] The tango appeared in the revueEn la raya lo esperamos byLuis Bayón Herrera at the Teatro Bataclán.[25]
She finally was asked to play a role in a dramatic play,El Lazo; her performance earned her an introduction to Pascual Carcavallo, owner of the Teatro Nacional. In 1927, she returned to the Maipo theater to perform the tango "Un tropezón" withElías Alippi andSofia Bozán.[25] The performance was criticized harshly byCarlos Gardel, considered the greatest tango performer at the time.[3]
Merello alternated acting with a few forays into recording. In 1927, she recorded two songs for the Nacional-Odeon disc label: "Te acordás reo" and "Volvé mi negra". Between 1927 and 1929 she recorded 18 tangos, in her typical theatrical style.[3] Between 1929 and 1930, she recorded twenty songs for the label RCA Victor, including "Tata... Llevame pal centro", "Che... Pepinito", and "Te has comprado un automovil".[26] In 1930, she performed onstage inEl rancho del hermano.[27]
In 1931, Merello began working at theRevista Voces (Voices Magazine).[7] She was paid 200 pesos for the first article she published. In addition, she wrote pieces for the publisher Abril'sRevista Nocturno (Night Magazine) and obtained a journalist's press card.[28]
A big opportunity presented itself in 1931.Libertad Lamarque had been playing the role of Doce Pesos in "El conventillo de la Paloma" for two years and had over 1,000 performances. She was ready to quit the production[29] and she offered the part to Merello, who quickly accepted. The following year, in 1932, as part of the Compañia de Canaro she worked on the play "La muchachada del centro" and performed the tangos "La muchachada del centro" and a milonga "Me enamore una vez" in the play. It was very successful, running for nearly 900 performances.[15]
She made her debut in talking films in Argentina's first sound film,¡Tango! (1933), directed byLuis José Moglia Barth, for which she received 200 pesos.[30] The stars of the film werePepe Arias andLibertad Lamarque. She would also meet a young comic in the film,Luis Sandrini, who had a small part in the film.[31] She followed it withÍdolos de la radio (1934) a production byFrancisco Canaro directed byEduardo Morera and written byNicolás de las Llanderas andArnaldo Malfatti. The musical starred many of Argentina's radio stars. The film was successful and led to the creation of both radio magazines and a new genre of film.[32]
In 1935, she starred inNoches de Buenos Aires directed byManuel Romero withFernando Ochóa,Severo Fernández andIrma Córdoba.[33]
InAsí es el tango (1937), directed byEduardo Morera withOlinda Bozán,[34] Merello played a comic role opposite the heroine's role assigned toLuisa Vehil.[35] That same year she followed in a dramatic role in the film,La fuga[6] under the direction ofLuis Saslavsky which featured the tango "Niebla del Riachuelo" performed by Merello and written byEnrique Cadícamo.[36] The movie starredSantiago Arrieta andFrancisco Petrone and earned praise from the critics.[37] Following the trend, she began a theatrical run in Montevideo, Uruguay in the playSanta María del Buen Ayre written byEnrique Larreta, which was one of her most acclaimed theatrical roles.[27][38]
Merello was in the playSexteto byLadislao Fodor, under the direction ofEdmundo Guibourg opened in 1941[19] in Montevideo at the Teatro Artigas, starringGloria Guzmán.[39] She made two films in 1942,Ceniza al viento directed by Luis Saslavsky withPedro López Lagar,Alita Román, andBerta Singerman[40] and27 millones directed byJosé Bohr and not released until 1947.[41]
In 1943, she premiered the playBuenos Aires de ayer y de hoy byIvo Pelay andFrancisco Canaro in Montevideo. The play contained a song that would become recognized as a signature song for Merello, "Se dice de mí".[19] The cast was led by Merello and included the actorsAmalia Bernabé,Lalo Malcolm,Maruja Pibernat,Elvira Prada,Enrique Roldán, andTomás Simari; and singersEduardo Adrián andCarlos Roldán. After the opening in Uruguay, the play moved in 1944 to the Teatro Alvear in Buenos Aires, where it enjoyed 600 performances. That same year, she also starred inDos corazones by Pelay at the Alvear with Merello singing "Todo es mentira" and "¿Qué tal?". After completing the season in Argentina, the play moved to the Teatro Artigas of Montevideo.[42]
In 1945, she performed inUna mujer y un hombre by Pelay under the direction ofManuel Romero[19] and then Merello broughtSexteto from Uruguay to Argentina and premiered the play in Mexico.[39] In January 1946, she took it to Chile, premiering at the Lux.[43]
In late 1946, Merello went with Sandrini to Mexico. She was contracted to play the cabaret woman who seduced the starArturo de Córdova inCinco rostros de mujer[44] The film was directed byGilberto Martínez Solares and starred Merello, Córdova andAna María Campoy. Originally three films were to have been made, but the production company went into receivership after one film.[45] She won anAriel Award as Best Supporting Actress for her work in "Faces" at the 1948 ceremonies.[46] She returned to Argentina in 1947 and appeared in the musical comedic playMalena Luce Sus Pistolas,[19] which opened at the Teatro Casino and starred Merello,Roberto Castillo and was the musical debut ofBlanquita Amaro.[47]
In 1948, Sandrini returned[48] and he starred with Merello inDon Juan Tenorio, which was released in early 1949.[49] In 1948, she starred in the playFilomena Marturano byEduardo De Filippo,[19] which premiered at the Politeama and went on to performances at the Smart and Odeón Theaters, reaching over 400 performances before it closed in September 1949 and earning wide acclaim. It was so successful, the play was turned into a movie of thesame name directed byLuis Mottura in 1950[44] starring Merello withGuillermo Battaglia,Gloria Ferrandiz andAlberto de Mendoza.[50]
In 1949, she releasedMorir en su ley directed byManuel Romero withRoberto Escalada,Juan José Míguez andFanny Navarro[51] andLa historia del tango directed by Manuel Romero withFernando Lamas,Virginia Luque andTito Lusiardo.[52] Merello also started appearing at this time on a weekly radio show calledAhora habla una mujer which aired Monday to Friday at 20:30[53] on the Private Broadcasting Network.
In 1950, Merello starred in one of her most acclaimed films,Arrabalera, directed byTulio Demicheli in his solo debut[54] withSantiago Gómez Cou. In 1950, she won thePremios Sur Award for Best Actress for her performance inArrabalera[55] and in 1951 won theSilver Condor Award for Best Actress for it.[56]
Those successes were followed with three films that were directed byLucas Demare:Los isleros (1951),Guacho (1954) andMercado de abasto (1955).[44]Los isleros received the Premios Sur Award for Best Actress in 1951,[57] followed by the 1952 Silver Condor Award for Best Actress andGuacho received the 1955 Silver Condor Award for Best Actress.[58] In 1953, she was performing at the Teatro Odeón inHombres en mi vida byEduardo Pappo.[59] 1955 proved to be a busy year as she made three other films:Para vestir santos,El Amor Nunca Muere andLa Morocha.Para vestir santos was directed byLeopoldo Torre Nilsson with supporting roles byBeatriz Taibo andYuki Nambá.[60]El amor nunca muere was directed byLuis César Amadori and she starred withMirtha Legrand andZully Moreno.[61] Her last film in the period would beLa morocha directed byRalph Pappier withAlfredo Alcón andLuis Arata, which was not released until 1958,[62] because of the 1955military coup d'état which ended the presidency ofJuan Perón and sent many into exile.[63]
In the 1950s, UruguayantravestiGloria Meneses impersonated Merello as part of her cabaret performances.[64][65]
Though Merello was not political, her success under the Perón regime made her a target and she was accused of traffickingCeylon tea by an investigating commission. Fleeing to Mexico to escape, she thought she might never work again.[44] There were many artists whose careers came to an end, many who believed that "laughing either at or with a working-class" person would never be possible again.[63] There were no protections in place for artistic expression, leaving artists vulnerable to the whims of whoever was in power.[66]
She tried to settle in Mexico, but was unable to find work.[67] Merello returned to Argentina at the invitation ofHugo del Carril and worked in an amusement park.[23] As she was banned from working in mainstream theater, she worked out of sight of the censors with del Carril, with the pianist and composerHéctor Stamponi, and by recording music withFrancisco Canaro.[67][68]
At one point, she worked for a time in the circus[38] and in 1957, she returned to Mexico and did a television production ofEugene O'Neill'sBefore Breakfast (Antes del desayuno).[23] In 1958, whenArturo Frondizi was elected to the Argentine presidency, Merello was able to return to the country and resume work in movies and the theater.[69]
She immediately returned to the stage in 1958 with two productions:Amorina byEduardo Borrás followed byLuces de Buenos Aires[19] starring Merello, Hugo del Carril andMariano Mores.[70] She starred inMiércoles de ceniza byLuis Basurto in 1959 under the direction ofCecilio Madanes, sharing the lead alternately withEva Frano and in 1961 she performedEstrellas en el Avenia under the direction ofCecilio Madanes.[19] In 1961, she also made a film of the earlier play she had been inAmorina under the direction of Hugo del Carril, who also acted in the film withGolde Flami.[71]
She returned to the theater in 1962 withLa Moreira byJuan Carlos Ghiano and the following year performedCarolina Paternóster byEduardo Pappo.[19] In 1964, Merello accepted a television role starring in the Channel 11telenovelaAcacia Montero under the direction ofMartín Clutet.[72] That same year, she also made three films.Los evadidos was directed byEnrique Carreras and Merello played oppositeJorge Salcedo.[73]Mercedes Carreras andÁngel Magaña starred with her inRitmo nuevo, vieja ola, directed by Carreras and it wouldn't be released until 1965.[74] InLa industria del matrimonio, she again teamed with Magaña and Enrique Carreras.[75]
Merello filmedLos hipócritas in 1965 under the direction of Enrique Carreras[76] and in 1966 returned to the stage appearing inEl andador byNorberto Aroldi,[19] which was made into a film of thesame name in 1967 under the direction of Enrique Carreras.[77] She made two more films with Carreras directing,¡Ésto es alegría! (1967)[78] and¡Viva la vida! (1969) to finish the 1960s.[79] According to her autobiography, Merello also made nearly 40 recordings during this period with the orchestra ofCarlos Figari andHéctor Varela.
Merello hosted a talk show,Charlando de todo con Tita on channel 13 from 1970[80] to 1971 where she told anecdotes, sang and gave advice.[81] In 1972, she played inMar del Plata with a production ofAstros y estrellas.[19] Merello published her autobiographyLa calle y yo (The Street and I) in 1972.
She starred in the production ofEn vivo y al desnudo byGerardo andHugo Sofovich in 1973[19] and, in 1974, made the filmLa Madre María under the direction ofLucas Demare,[82] which was well received.[83]
Merello starred inLa risa es salud by Hugo Moser in 1976[19] and then joined the cast of the Teatro Astros in a theatrical revue led byAdolfo Stray andThelma Tixou.[10] She filmedEl canto cuenta su historia (1976)[84] and finished out the year at Mar del Plata in a revue withLos Chalchaleros andMariano Mores.[10]
In 1980, she filmedLos miedos under the direction ofAlejandro Doria withSoledad Silveyra andMiguel Ángel Solá.[85] The following year, she revived a talk show format for television with the ATC Channel'sTodo Tita.[86] She received a Konex Foundation Diploma of Merit for Best Actress of Dramatic Film and Theater in 1981[27] and a building, called the Tita Merello Complex on Suipacha Street was named in her honor by the Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts to acknowledge her stature in Argentine film.[10][87]
After a cancer scare in the 1980s, Merello became the spokeswoman for a series ofPSAs reminding women to get annualPap tests andgynecological exams.[10] In 1984, Merello made her last theatrical appearance inPara alquilar balcones as 1/3 of the lead trio with Hugo del Carril andOsvaldo Pacheco.[69] She made her last film in 1985,Las barras bravas[88] and later that same year won a second Diploma of Merit from the Konex Foundation for recognition as Female Tango Singer.[27]
In the late 1980s and early 1990s she did many guest appearances on television.[69] She was also impersonated byUsha Didi Gunatita, part of the ensemble Trans Faces.[89] In 1987 Merello was awarded the title "honorable neighbor" of the city ofVilla Gesell and shortly thereafter named "Living Legend Citizen of the City of Buenos Aires".[10] From 1990 to 1992 she appeared in the ATC seriesPolémica en el bar.[90]
She received the Argentina Association of Actors (AAA) Premio Pablo Podestá in 1991, a plaque was affixed marking the place of her birth in 1993,[10] in 1996 she was honored by the National Endowment for the Arts[91] and in 1999 the Neighborhood Association of San Cristobal named a city square after her.[10]
Merello never married, but she had a decade-long affair with the actorLuis Sandrini. They met in the 1930s on the set of¡Tango! but for several years were just friends who went to events together. In the late 1930s the affair became passionate[92] and Merello referred to Sandrini as the love of her life.[93] She followed him to Mexico in 1946, but was unable to go with him to Spain during his 1948 trip. When he returned, Sandrini met and married the actressMalvina Pastorino[48] in Uruguay in 1952.[92]
Merello died on Christmas Eve 2002, aged 98.[10]
Año de Publicación: 1920
en 1933 Tita apareció en "¡Tango!", la primera película sonora del cine argentino. Por su actuación le pagaron 200 pesos
