Armida

The episode of Armida in Jerusalem Delivered by Torquato Tasso (1554-1595), is founded on a popular tradition related by Pierre De Lancre. This skillful enchantress was the daughter of Arbilan, king of Damascus. She was brought up by an uncle, a great magician, who taught his niece to become a powerful sorceress. Nature had so well endowed her that she far surpassed the most beautiful women of the East. Her uncle sent her as a worthy foe against the powerful Christian army that Pope Urban XI had collected under the leadership of Godfrey de Bouillon. And there, De Lancre says, she so charmed the principal leaders of the crusaders with her beautiful eyes that she almost ruined the hopes of the Christians. She kept the valiant knight Renaud for a long time in an enchanted castle, and it was with great difficulty that he was disenchanted.

Sources:

Tasso, Torquato. Jerusalem Delivered. Rutherford, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1970.

• Born: May 21, 1911 in Sonora, Mexico
• Died: Oct 23, 1989 in Victorville, California
• Occupation: Actor
• Active: '30s-'40s
• Major Genres: Western, Drama
• Career Highlights: Rootin' Tootin' Rhythm, The Gay Amigo, The Girl from Monterey
• First Major Screen Credit: General Crack (1929)

Biography

A sort of poor man's Lupe Velez, exotic Armida was the Mexican-born daughter of stage actor Joaquin Vendrell, who brought her to Arizona when she was a child. Working up a dancing act with her sisters, Armida later appeared with a young Ray Bolger in the Gus Edwards skit Ritz Carlton and toured vaudeville. In Hollywood from 1929, the diminutive (4'11") spitfire was discovered by John Barrymore, who co-starred her as Fidelia, the spirited gypsy dancer in General Crack (1929). Armida's dancing expertise would stand her in good stead in the future when, rarely the leading lady, she would grace not a few B-Westerns with a Mexican dance specialty or two. She was very busy during World War II as part of Hollywood's "friendly neighbor" policy, but her screen career was for all intents and purposes over by the early '50s. In between screen assignments, Armida appeared on stage in Sigmund Romberg's Nina Rosa and performed on radio with Rudy Vallee. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

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