Lucha Villa
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Mexico's most famous ranchera singer, Lucha Villa earned more notice
than Lola Beltran thanks to a long, successful film career in addition
to her recording work. Born in the Chihuahua state town of Ciudad
Camargo in the mid-'30s, young Luz Elena Bejarano entered a number of
talent contests and was dubbed Lucha Villa by television producer Luis
Dillon (the name is a contraction of Pancho Villa and the Chihuahua
village where he spent time). Her biggest early hit was a version of
the José Alfredo Jiménez standard "Media Vuelta," and after several
minor film roles, she became a star with the 1965 cockfighting feature
El Gallo de Oro.
As with her music, Villa specialized in rural and ranchera pictures, a genre especially connected to American audiences familiar with Westerns. During the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, she recorded dozens of albums and appeared in dozens of pictures, including the 1973 screwball comedy Mecánica Nacional, which won the Ariel award (Mexico's version of the Oscar). She also recorded songbook tributes to Jiménez and Juan Gabriel, and was saluted herself by Gabriel for his 1996 Las Tres Señoras (with Lola Beltran and Amalia Mendoza). Villa continued performing even after suffering a heart attack during surgery in 1997.
As with her music, Villa specialized in rural and ranchera pictures, a genre especially connected to American audiences familiar with Westerns. During the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, she recorded dozens of albums and appeared in dozens of pictures, including the 1973 screwball comedy Mecánica Nacional, which won the Ariel award (Mexico's version of the Oscar). She also recorded songbook tributes to Jiménez and Juan Gabriel, and was saluted herself by Gabriel for his 1996 Las Tres Señoras (with Lola Beltran and Amalia Mendoza). Villa continued performing even after suffering a heart attack during surgery in 1997.
