Prudencia Grifell(1876-1970)

Prudencia Grifell, was a popular stage and film actress who began her career in Venezuela at the age of 10, where her parents, who were Spanish stage actors were appearing. She began by playing ingenous in Operettas and musical comedies, working throughout Latin America and her native Spain where she was very much in demand. By the early 1900s she appeared in all types of stage plays and had become very popular. In 1905 she moved to Mexico where she became a popular and respected stage actress, but her tours would take her throughout the Spanish speaking world. In the meantime she gave birth to five children all of whom went on to become actors. After the outbreak of the Spanish civil war in the late 30s, she chose in 1940 to settle permanently in Mexico. That year, at the age of 61, she also appeared in her first film, which would lead to a prolific career as a popular and much loved character star actress. She usually played sweet lovable grandmother types as well as more feisty parts. She began by playing character parts but by the mid 50s, in her seventies, she became very popular, and began doing leading parts for which she won many awards. By the early 60s she began appearing on Mexican television in soap operas and television shows, and was active well into her 80s, and by 1968 all five of her children had predeceased her. In a career that ran for almost eight decades, she will always be remembered as one of the most beloved and respected actresses of Mexican cinema.