Biography

Dolores del Rio was the one of the first Mexican movie stars with international appeal and who had meteoric career in the 1920s/1930s Hollywood. Del Rio came from an aristocratic family in Durango. In the Mexican revolution of 1916, however, the family lost everything and emigrated to Mexico City, where Dolores became a socialite. In 1921 she married Jaime Del Río (also known as Jaime Martínez Del Río), a wealthy Mexican, and the two became friends with Hollywood producer/director Edwin Carewe, who "discovered" del Rio and invited the couple to move to Hollywood where they launched careers in the movie business (she as an actress, Jaime as a screenwriter). Eventually they divorced after Carewe cast her in her first film Joanna (1925), followed by High Steppers (1926), and Pals First (1926). She had her first leading role in Carewe's silent version of Pals First (1926) and soared to stardom in 1928 with Carewe's Ramona (1928). The film was a success and del Rio was hailed as a female Rudolph Valentino. Her career continued to rise with the arrival of sound in the drama/romance Bird of Paradise (1932) and hit musical Flying Down to Rio (1933). She later married Cedric Gibbons, the well-known art director and production designer at MGM studios.

Dolores returned to Mexico in 1942. Her Hollywood career was over, and a romance with Orson Welles--who later called her "the most exciting woman I've ever met"--caused her second divorce. Mexican director Emilio Fernández offered her the lead in his film Wild Flower (1943), with a wholly unexpected result: at age 37, Dolores del Río became the most famous movie star in her country, filming in Spanish for the first time. Her association with Fernández' team (cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa, writer Mauricio Magdaleno and actor Pedro Armendáriz) was mainly responsible for creating what has been called the Golden Era of Mexican Cinema. With such pictures as Maria Candelaria (1944), The Abandoned (1945) and Bugambilia (1945), del Río became the prototypical Mexican beauty. career included film, theater and television. In her last years she received accolades because of her work for orphaned children. Her last film was The Children of Sanchez (1978).

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Maximiliano Maza

Cousin of Julio Bracho, Ramon Novarro and Andrea Palma.

She contributed money to a statue likeness of her as the title character in Evangeline (1929). Upon completion in 1930, the statue was placed beside St. Martin de Tours Catholic Church in St. Martinville, Louisiana. The statue rests on a spot marking the alleged burial place of Emmeline Labiche, who local lore claims was the inspiration behind Longfellow's tragic heroine. It has become a popular tourist attraction and is known as "The Evangeline Statue".

Often considered the female Rudolph Valentino, "the female Latin Lover".

Member of the jury at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1962

Following her death, she was cremated and interred at Panteon Civil de Delores in Mexico City, Mexico, specifically on the Rotunda of Illustrious Persons. She passed away on April 11, 1983, four months away from what would have been her 79th birthday on August 3.

When asked for his autograph later in life, Vincent Price would often sign her name. When asked why, Price would say that he promised her on her deathbed he would do his best to keep her name alive.

She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1630 Vine Street in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.

Grand-aunt of actor Adam Del Rio.

On August 19, 2020, she was honored with a day of her filmography during the Turner Classic Movies Summer Under the Stars.

[in the 1920s] Hollywood, what a place it is! It is so far away from the rest of the world, so narrow. No one thinks of anything but motion pictures or talks of anything else. And, I, too, am getting like the rest. I have not read anything for a year. I do not know what is happening in the world.

When I returned to Mexico, I joined with people eager to create the Mexican cinema. We were full of dreams and had no money whatsoever, but we were able to achieve something and open markets for our films all over the world.

My first beauty rule is to relax completely for 20 minutes each day without interruption-no matter what! I lie flat on the floor and "let go", relaxing completely from the toes up. Consequently, at 5 o'clock, when everyone else is tired out I'm full of energy.

[in 1960] The secret of youth is work, keep busy, and never be bored. Boredom is the only thing that ages you. You don't have to be young to be a star; today there's acting for all ages. Last year I tried the legitimate stage, have now done three plays. When I was a star in Hollywood, I had hundreds of offers from Broadway, but never took them seriously. Thoughts of facing an audience appalled me. Now I feel it's the ideal medium for an actress. I work in television also but don't love it; I do it as a sort of discipline.

I've never dieted in my life. Don't believe in it. Diets ruin a woman's health and appearance. Her face suffers. She looks drawn and haggard. I eat regular meals and eat anything and everything. Moderation is the key. I may eat cake; but I eat only a small slice.

Beauty does not come with creams and lotions and all those silly things. It comes with good digestion, moderation in eating, a discipline in life. Beauty comes from the inside out. Creams are a waste of money if you don't take care of your health.

We have a public, the power to influence, and we have an enormous responsibility to use this influence. We have awakened to this responsibility in Mexico. We even have an actress, María Elena Marqués, who is a congresswoman. She works terribly hard and is up at 6 o'clock, not to go to a studio, but to work for the people of her district.

On my father's side I have [Spanish] Basque blood. The Asúnsolos became Mexicans three generations ago; it seems that in Basque the surname means field of nettles. On my mother's side I am a mestiza, with drops of Toltec blood. The Negretes already existed in the 15th century in the mountains of Santander [in Spain]; it seems that they were warriors. I inherited something from them. My love for art comes from the Toltecs, I suppose.