Carmen Salinas Dies: Mexican Telenovelas And Film Star Was 82

Bruce Haring
·1 min read
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Carmen Salinas, whose long career in Spanish language television and film spanned 60 years, died Thursday night. She had been in a coma since suffering a stroke in November, and her death was announced on social media by her family.

“With great sorrow, we inform you that leading actress Carmen Salinas passed away today,” said a Twitter message, which ran with a black and white photograph and thanked fans. .

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Born in Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico on October 5, 1939, Salinas started her acting career as a child in the 1950’s. Salinas sang and did impersonations on the radio, later moving to beauty and talent contests, then on to nightclubs.

By the 1960s, she made a name in telenovelas, appearing in Casa de Barrio, Frontera and Sublime Redención. That led to films, and she debuted in Roberto Gavaldón’s La Vida Inútil de Pito Pérez. She later appeared in El Crimen del Cácaro Gumaro, La Misma Luna, Todo el Poder, Danzón, Cartas a Elena, Esta Noche Cena Pancho, Que Viva Tepito! and Bellas de Noche.

She also appeared in Tony Scott and Denzel Washington’s Man on Fire, a 2004 thriller filmed in Mexico..

Her theater credits included a musical she produced, Aventurera, starring Edith González, Itatí Cantoral, Niurka Marcos, Ninel Conde and Maribel Guardia.

Later in life, Salinas became a member of Mexico’s Institutional Revolutionary Party, and was elected plurinominal federal deputy in 2015, a position she held until 2018.

Survivors include a daughter, Maria Eugenia. Her son, Pedro, predeceased her in 1994.

Memorial plans are pending, according to the family.

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