Meche Barba
| Meche Barba | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Mercedes Barba Feito September 24, 1922 New York City, New York, United States |
| Died | January 14, 2000 (aged 77) Mexico City, Mexico |
| Nationality | Mexican |
| Occupation | Actress, dancer and singer |
| Years active | 1937–1999 |
Meche Barba (New York City, New York September 24, 1922 – Mexico City January 14, 2000) (born Mercedes Barba Feito), was an American-born Mexican film actress and dancer of the Golden age of Mexican cinema in the 1940s and 1950s. She was considered one of the icons of the "Rumberas film".
Mercedes Barba Feito was born in New York City. She was born to Antonio Barba, a Spanish circus actor and a Mexican mother, Victoria Feito. The Barba family decided to go to Mexico to register her a citizen a few weeks after Meche's birth. She began her career in Mexico City's tent theaters at the age of six. Due to her father's illness, she started working at a young age, alongside her sister Carmen Barba, who by her beauty, was hired by entrepreneurs of the most famous tent theaters for various events.
Meche Barba began learning dance when the famous Mexican comedian Roberto "El Panzón" Soto gave her sister the opportunity to work in his stage company, and parents allowed Merche to accompany her sister to work there. Her parents enrolled her at the dance school of the Russian ballerina Nina Shestakova. Meche Barba both gained experience in tent theatres and took lessons from stars like Cantinflas, Manuel Medel, Joaquín Pardavé and several others. Later, Barba joined the Stage Company of Paco Miller, with artists like Amelia Wilhelmy and Germán Valdés, a.k.a. "Tin Tan".
After the success that she had in the company of Paco Miller, Meche Barba was hired as the second soprano in the musical show Rayando el sol in the Palacio de Bellas Artes. She also worked in theaters such as The Lírico, the Follies Berger and in Virginia Fábregas' theatre productions.
In one of her theatre presentations, producer Raúl de Anda saw her and hired her to act in the film Sota, caballo y rey (1944), which was Luis Aguilar's first starring role. In 1945 she began her participation in the Rumberas film Rosalinda, with the famous rumba dancer María Antonieta Pons. In 1946, Barba starred in the successful film Humo en los ojos. In 1947, she participated in the film Gran Casino, Luis Buñuel's first film in Mexico, together with Jorge Negrete and Libertad Lamarque. In the same year, she appeared with "Tin Tan" in the film Músico, poeta y loco. In 1948, she starred in Lola Casanova, the first film of the filmmaker Matilde Landeta.
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