Libertad Lamarque

Libertad Lamarque Bouza entered the world on 24 November 1908 in Rosario, Argentina, and departed on 12 December 2000 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico. Her anarchist father’s incarceration at the moment of her arrival prompted the choice of Libertad as her given name. As a youngster she joined her many brothers and sisters in staging politically charged theatrical pieces, marking her initial stage experience. During adolescence the family relocated to Buenos Aires, where she launched a professional singing career and cut her earliest discs devoted to tango material. Her screen introduction occurred in a 1930 silent feature, followed by an appearance in the 1933 production ¡Tango!, among the nation’s first sound films. Her personal circumstances remained turbulent after a 1928 marriage; although she and her husband soon separated, they stayed legally bound for years while contesting custody of their daughter, since Argentine law then prohibited divorce.

Her renown grew across Argentina through successive tango recordings and increasing screen visibility. During production of La Cabalgata Del Circo (1945) she clashed sharply on set with fellow performer Eva Duarte. Once Duarte wed Colonel Juan Domingo Peron and he assumed power in 1946, Lamarque found herself excluded from domestic studios. That year she departed her native country for Mexico, where she maintained her focus on tango while establishing herself as a prominent figure in the country’s expanding cinema. Roughly sixty films featured her, among them Luis Buñuel’s Gran Casino (1947), La Dama Del Velo (1950), and Creo En Ti (1960). These screen credits, augmented by stage engagements, numerous discs, and subsequent prominence on radio and television, positioned her among Mexico’s most familiar entertainers. She remained active well into later life, holding a recurring part as Mother Superior Piedad in the television serial Carita De Angel at the time of her passing. Early in 2005 the Mexican Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences presented her with a lifetime achievement award.