Ninón Sevilla
| Ninón Sevilla | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Emelia Pérez Castellanos 10 November 1921 La Habana, Cuba |
| Died | 1 January 2015 (aged 93) Mexico City, Mexico |
| Cause of death | Myocardial infarction |
| Nationality |
Mexican Cuban |
| Occupation | Actress, dancer and singer |
| Years active | 1946–2014 |
| Spouse(s) | José Gil |
| Partner(s) | Pedro Arturo Calderón |
Emelia Pérez Castellanos (Havana, Cuba, 10 November 1921 – Mexico City, 1 January 2015), better known as Ninón Sevilla, was a Cuban-born Mexican film actress and dancer who was active during the golden age of Mexican cinema. She was considered one of the greatest exponents of the Rumberas film in the 1940s and 1950s.
Sevilla was born and raised in Centro Habana, a popular section of Havana. As a youth, she thought about becoming a missionary nun, but after she started dancing with success in nightclubs and cabarets, she opted for a career in show business. She adopted her stage name in tribute to the legendary French courtesan Ninon de Lenclos and began to work in the chorus of the Cuban comedians Mimí Cal and Leopoldo Fernández, respectively known as "Nananina" and "Tres Patines" .
Sevilla came to Mexico as part of a show starring the Argentinean singer Libertad Lamarque. Her number in the show was so successful that she was soon booked in other spectacles in Mexico City. While performing in the Teatro Lírico, producer Pedro Arturo Calderón saw Sevilla on stage and offered her a film contract. Her debut in cinema was in 1946 in Carita de Cielo with María Elena Marqués and Antonio Badú. From that moment, Sevilla became the exclusive star of Producciones Calderón, and although she had offers from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Columbia Pictures, she turned them down because she was not interested in working in Hollywood.
Although from the beginning Sevilla was marked by the eccentricity of her hairdos and gowns, it was director Alberto Gout who established her as one of the ultimate erotic figures of Mexican cinema, leading her in legendary films as Aventurera (1949), and Sensualidad (1950). Besides being directed by Gout also in Mujeres sacrificadas (1952) and Aventura en Río (1953), she also worked with Emilio Fernández "El Indio," who directed her in one of the best films of her career, the classic Víctimas del Pecado (1951); Julio Bracho in Take Me in Your Arms (1954); Gilberto Martinez Solares in Mulata (1954) and the comedy Club de Señoritas (1956); and Alfredo B. Crevenna in Yambaó (1956).
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