Dolores del rio
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Dolores Del Río, born in Durango in 1904, was among the first Mexican movie stars with international appeal. Ramona 1928 made her a star in Hollywood during the silent era. She became a central figure in the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema with films like Maria Candelaria 1944. She won three Ariel Awards for Best Actress and a Golden Ariel. Her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was awarded in 1960.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Dolores Del Río — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Dolores Del Río by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Dolores Del Río — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Born on August 3, 1904, in Durango, Mexico, to Antonia López Negrete and Jesús Leonardo Asúnsolo Jacques, Del Río came from an aristocratic family. The Mexican Revolution of 1916 forced them to lose everything and relocate to Mexico City, where she became a socialite. In 1921, she married Jaime Del Río, a wealthy Mexican, and through him met Hollywood producer and director Edwin Carewe. Carewe discovered her and invited the couple to Hollywood, launching her film career.
Del Río made her film debut in Joanna 1925 under director Edwin Carewe. Her first leading role came in Pals First 1926. Ramona 1928 turned her into a star, drawing comparisons to Rudolph Valentino. She moved into sound films with Bird of Paradise 1932 and the hit musical Flying Down to Rio 1933. After returning to Mexico in 1942, she revived her career with Wild Flower 1943, directed by Emilio Fernández. Her work with Fernández, cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa, and actor Pedro Armendáriz produced classics like Maria Candelaria 1944 and The Abandoned 1945, which defined the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema.
Del Río married three times: first to Jaime Del Río in 1921 divorced 1928, then to MGM art director Cedric Gibbons in 1930 divorced 1941, and finally to businessman Lewis Riley in 1959 until her death. Between her marriages, she had a romance with Orson Welles, who called her the most exciting woman Ive ever met. She was also a close friend of Marlene Dietrich, who considered her the most beautiful woman in Hollywood.
Del Río is remembered as a pioneer for Mexican actors in Hollywood and a central figure in Mexican Cinema’s Golden Age. She won three Ariel Awards for Best Actress 1946, 1952, 1954 and a Golden Ariel in 1975. Her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1630 Vine Street was awarded on February 8, 1960. Turner Classic Movies honored her with a day of her filmography in 2020. Vincent Price, fulfilling a deathbed promise, would sign autographs with her name to keep her memory alive.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Dolores Del Río — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from Dolores Del Río — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
Take Care of Your Inner Beauty, Your Spiritual Beauty, and That Will Reflect in Your Face. We Have the Face We Created Over the Years. Every Bad Deed, Every Bad Fault Will Show on Your Face. God Can Give Us Beauty and Genes Can Give Us Our Features, but Whether That Beauty Remains or Changes Is Determined by Our Thoughts and Deeds.
When I Returned to Mexico, I Joined with People Eager to Create the Mexican Cinema. We Were Full of Dreams and Had No Money Whatsoever, but We Were Able to Achieve Something and Open Markets for Our Films All Over the World.
My First Beauty Rule Is to Relax Completely for 20 Minutes Each Day Without Interruption-no Matter What! I Lie Flat on the Floor and Let Go, Relaxing Completely from the Toes Up. Consequently, at 5 O’clock, When Everyone Else Is Tired Out I’m Full of Energy.
One of the Legends You Hear About Me Is That I Sleep 16 Hours a Day. That Is Ridiculous. in the First Place, It’s Physically Impossible. Secondly, Someone Else Would Have to Do My Work . . . on the Stage, in Motion Pictures . . . Managing My Home. I Sleep Nine Hours.
That Story About 14 Hours’ Sleep Is an Exaggeration. I Do Have Eight Hours of Sleep a Night, However, and Short Naps Whenever I Can Manage Them in the Daytime.
I’ve Never Dieted in My Life. Don’t Believe in It. Diets Ruin a Woman’s Health and Appearance. Her Face Suffers. She Looks Drawn and Haggard. I Eat Regular Meals and Eat Anything and Everything. Moderation Is the Key. I May Eat Cake; but I Eat Only a Small Slice.
Personally, I Buy Only What Suits Me. in the Daytime I Dress Very Simply, but After 7 P.m. I Dress Dramatically. I Usually Wear a Tiny Nose Veil on a Cocktail Hat. Men Love It, and It Seems to Suit My Face and Personality.
Beauty Does Not Come with Creams and Lotions and All Those Silly Things. It Comes with Good Digestion, Moderation in Eating, a Discipline in Life. Beauty Comes from the Inside Out. Creams Are a Waste of Money If You Don’t Take Care of Your Health.
A Woman Must Be Soignee. to Be Neat in Every Aspect Requires Considerable Organization. but to Me, That Is More Important Than Being Fashionable!
We Have a Public, the Power to Influence, and We Have an Enormous Responsibility to Use This Influence. We Have Awakened to This Responsibility in Mexico. We Even Have an Actress, María Elena Marqués, Who Is a Congresswoman. She Works Terribly Hard and Is up at 6 O’clock, Not to Go to a Studio, but to Work for the People of Her District.
Pedro Was a Wonderful, Charming Man Who Knew How to Project the Personality of the Mexican Man Everywhere. I Filmed with Pedro in the Best Period of His Life. All the Films Were Successful. Now That He Died, His Figure Should Be Highlighted, Since Pedro Armendáriz Was a Pillar Within the National Cinematography.
Little-known facts about Dolores Del Río — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Later in life, Vincent Price would sign autographs with her name rather than his own, explaining he had promised her on her deathbed to keep her name alive.
Marlene Dietrich considered her the most beautiful woman in Hollywood, and the two were close friends.
She reportedly slept for 16 hours a day to maintain her beauty.
She contributed money to a statue of herself as the title character in Evangeline 1929, completed in 1930 and placed beside St. Martin de Tours Catholic Church in St. Martinville, Louisiana, known as The Evangeline Statue.
In February 1934, it was announced she had bobbed her hair and changed her style for a planned film Dance of Desire, which was never made.
She won the Ariel Award for Best Actress three times: in 1946 for The Abandoned 1945, in 1952 for Doña Perfecta 1951, and in 1954 for El niño y la niebla 1953.
On August 19, 2020, Turner Classic Movies honored her with a day of her filmography during Summer Under the Stars.
She was often called the female Rudolph Valentino, the female Latin Lover.
Cousin of director Julio Bracho, actor Ramon Novarro, and actress Andrea Palma.
She served as a jury member at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1962 and at the Cannes Film Festival in 1957.
She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1630 Vine Street on February 8, 1960.
She was proud of her Spanish Basque and Native Mexican roots: through her father she was of Spanish Basque descent, through her mother she had Spanish and Toltec ancestors.
She was a Wampas Baby Star of 1926.
Along with Sara García and Andrea Palma, she became one of the first leading ladies of Mexican cinema.
She was the grand-aunt of actor Adam Del Rio.
Between her second and third marriages, she was briefly engaged to Orson Welles.
At the time of her death, she was planning a return to the Mexican stage in a production of A Lion in Winter.
She was the second actress, after María Félix, to win three Ariel Awards for Best Actress. She also received two other nominations, making her a five-time nominee. In 1975 she won a Special Ariel Award.
Following her death, she was cremated and interred at Panteon Civil de Dolores in Mexico City, in the Rotunda of Illustrious Persons. She died on April 11, 1983, four months before her 79th birthday.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Dolores Del Río.
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