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María Montez

 
Actor: Maria Montez
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  • Born: Jun 06, 1917 in Barahoma, Dominican Republic
  • Died: Sep 07, 1951 in Paris, France
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '40s
  • Major Genres: Adventure, Comedy
  • Career Highlights: Cobra Woman, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Tangier
  • First Major Screen Credit: South of Tahiti (1941)

Biography

Just another attractive contract ingenue at Universal studios in the early '40s, Maria Montez seemed destined for obscurity until she reinvented herself. Carefully recultivating the Spanish accent she'd lost after moving to America (she was the daughter of a Dominican Republic diplomat) and decking herself out in jewels, exotic costumes and a loyal retinue, Montez became the exotic, tempestuous Latino leading lady of many a Technicolor escapist epic. Though her acting was not precisely Oscar calibre, Maria convincing portrayed haughty Arabian princesses, jungle goddesses and highborn gypsies in such delightful nonsense as Arabian Nights (1942), Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1942), Cobra Woman (1944) and Gypsy Wildcat (1945). Her most frequent costar was Jon Hall, who some critics claimed was prettier and better built than she was. A 24-hour-a-day star, Ms. Montez was famous for her spectacular entrances at nightclubs and social functions; once, when her arrival at the Universal commissary failed to attract notice, she turned her heel and left the room, returning moments later with a huge entourage and accompanying loud noises. Her career faded out when the sort of lavishly silly movies in which she specialized were reduced to B-pictures in the late '40s, though she continued to work in European films. The victim of an erratic heart, Maria Montez suffered a coronary and drowned in the bathtub of her Paris mansion in 1951. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: María Montez
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María Montez

from the trailer of the film Cobra Woman (1944)
Born María África Gracia Vidal
June 6, 1912(1912-06-06)
Barahona, Dominican Republic
Died September 7, 1951 (aged 39)
Paris, France
Spouse(s) William McFeeters (November 28, 1932–1939)
Jean-Pierre Aumont (July 13, 1943–September 7, 1951)

María Montez (June 6, 1912 – September 7, 1951) was a Dominican-born motion picture actress who gained fame and popularity in the 1940s as an exotic beauty starring in a series of filmed-in-Technicolor costume adventure films. Her screen image was that of a hot-blooded Latin seductress, dressed in fanciful costumes and sparkling jewels. She became so identified with these adventure epics that she became known as "The Queen of Technicolor." Over her career, Montez appeared in 26 films, 21 of which were made in North America and five in Europe.

Contents

Early life

Born María África Gracia Vidal in Barahona, Dominican Republic, she was the second daughter of ten children born to Isidoro Gracia Garcia Vidal born in La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain and mother Regla Teresa Maria Vidal from Bani, Dominican Republic. Her father, an exporter of wood and textiles, was also the Spanish Consul to the Dominican Republic.[1] At a young age, she taught herself to speak English. Montez was educated in a Catholic convent in her father's native Canary Islands.[2] Maria's brothers and sister were Isidoro, Aquilino, Joaquín, David, Ada, Consuelo, Luz, Luis, Jaime and Teresita.

In 1932, she married William McFeeters, an American banker working in her seaside home town of Barahona. Her marriage lasted several years but in 1939 she ended up in New York City where her exotic looks landed her a job as a model. Determined to become a stage actress, she hired an agent and created a résumé that made her several years younger by listing her birth as 1917 in some instances and 1918 in others. Eventually she accepted an offer from Universal Pictures, making her film debut in a Johnny Mack Brown B western, Boss of Bullion City.

Career

Her beauty soon made her the centerpiece of Universal's Technicolor costume adventures, notably the six in which she was teamed with Jon Hall — Arabian Nights (1942), White Savage (1943), Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1944), Cobra Woman (1944), Gypsy Wildcat (1944), and Sudan (1945). Montez also appeared in the Technicolor western Pirates of Monterey (1947) with Rod Cameron and the sepia-toned swashbuckler The Exile (1948), directed by Max Ophuls and starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.

While working in Hollywood, she met and married French actor Jean-Pierre Aumont, who had to leave a few days after their wedding to serve in the Free French Forces fighting against Nazi Germany in the European Theatre of World War II. At the end of World War II, the couple had a daughter, Maria Christina (also known as Tina Aumont), born in Hollywood in 1946. They then moved to a home in Suresnes, Île-de-France in the eastern suburb of Paris under the French Fourth Republic. There, Maria Montez appeared in several films and a play written by her husband. She also wrote three books, two of which were published, as well as penning a number of poems.

Death

The 39-year-old Montez died in Paris, France on September 7, 1951 after apparently suffering a heart attack and drowning in her bath.[3] She was buried in the Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris where her tombstone displays her theatrical year of birth, 1918.

Legacy

Shortly after her death, a street in the city of Barahona, Montez's birthplace, was named in her honor.[3]

In 1996, the city of Barahona opened the Aeropuerto Internacional María Montez (María Montez International Airport) in her honor.[4]

The American underground filmmaker Jack Smith idolized Montez as an icon of camp style. Among his acts of devotion, he wrote an aesthetic manifesto titled "The Perfect Filmic Appositeness of Maria Montez", referred to her as "The Wonderful One" or "The Marvelous One", and made elaborate homages to her movies in his own films, including the notorious Flaming Creatures.[1]

Filmography

  • Boss of Bullion City (1940)
  • The Invisible Woman (1940)
  • Lucky Devils (1941)
  • That Night in Rio (1941)
  • Raiders of the Desert (1941)
  • Moonlight in Hawaii (1941)
  • South of Tahiti (1941)
  • Bombay Clipper (1942)
  • The Mystery of Marie Roget (1942)
  • Arabian Nights (1942)
  • White Savage (1943)
  • Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1944)
  • Follow the Boys (1944)
  • Cobra Woman (1944)
  • Gypsy Wildcat (1944)
  • Bowery to Broadway (1944)
  • Sudan (1945)
  • Tangier (1946)
  • The Exile (1947)
  • Pirates of Monterey (1947)
  • Siren of Atlantis (1949)
  • Wicked City (1949)
  • Portrait of an Assassin (1949)
  • Revenge of the Pirates (1951)
  • City of Violence (1951)
  • Camorra (1951)
  • The Thief of Venice (1951)

References

  1. ^ www.mariamontez.net
  2. ^ Maria Montez Biography
  3. ^ a b Ruíz, Vicki; Sánchez Korrol, Virginia. Latinas in the United States. Indiana University Press. pp. 486–487. ISBN 0-253-34680-0. 
  4. ^ Ferguson, James (2000-05-27). "I'm Maria, fly me!". The Independent. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20000527/ai_n14316461. Retrieved 2008-08-03. 

External links


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