At the age of 87, the host who used to be the face of Argentine television died. She owns a successful career like few others, she rubbed shoulders with big stars. In 1962 she met the Hollywood heartthrob. And an episode would end up marking them both
She was the face of Argentine television. In every way. In black and white, also in color: she was commissioned to lead the transmission that would revolutionize the small screen, the transition from gray to the rainbow palette. Pinky is one of the great figures of our country. And on December 8, the heart of Lidia Satragno -her real name- stopped beating, at the age of 87, seizing us with sadness and pain. But also of nostalgia for those who accompanied the lives of millions of Argentines.
She had a brilliant career. And a fabulous life, full of experiences that are alien to any mortal. So are the stars. So was Pinky. And an anecdote comes to exemplify it. The one that has her as the protagonist with Paul Newman. It was at the Mar del Plata Film Festival when she was the best-known woman in Argentina and him, the best-known and most beautiful man in the world. She protected him from his fans. He…he saved her life.
She was running in 1962. With her 27 years, of magnetic beauty, and unimposed intelligence, Pinky was one of the most famous figures in Argentina. She had been consecrated Woman of the Year, presented shows at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, and starred in plays, but above all, she had achieved the scepter of the lady of television.
Paul Newman was 37 years old and his beauty was such that when contemplating him other mortals felt like crying or dying. As the song says, he was "so cute that his face looks like it hurts." But in addition to his beauty, Newman was educated, seductive, funny, sensitive, and talented.
That year the 5th Sea of Silver Film Festival was held and the protagonist of The Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was the guest of honor. She arrived to represent the movie The Hustler. The channel where Pinky worked sent her to cover the event. “I was more scratched than a duster and Channel 9 had a very large investment in me, they were desperate. The manager would come to my house to feed me in my mouth. The channel sent me to the sea of silver to distract me," Pinky told Mariana Fabbiani, more than five decades later.
She traveled with Nicú, a friend of hers, but as soon as they arrived they were informed that the "micro lin" -the cable she needed to transmit- was not working. Without disassembling the suitcase, Pinky decided to return to Buenos Aires, but her friend convinced her to stay. It's just that the possibility of being with great figures, watching good movies, and attending events would tempt anyone, but not Pinky, because all she wanted was to be in her house, alone and calm.
That noon there was a lunch at the Golf Club, and Micú proposed a deal: "Let's go, and then we'll come back." Pinky agreed. Upon arrival, she tried to go unnoticed. Although he seems unusual, sometimes celebrities need to stop being so, at least for a moment. She slipped to the back of the room, and someone from the organization discovered her and began to shout for her to sit at the head of the large table. She sat where they asked her to and began to chat with her friend. And suddenly the silence. Micú stopped speaking, fell silent, didn't blink, didn't move. She was speechless as if she had seen something supernatural. And boy did she see it: it was Paul Newman himself who asked to sit next to them. Imagine the reader at that moment. And if it's hard for you to imagine, look at these images for a moment and ask yourself what you would have done if this man asked if she could sit next to her...
The biggest star in Hollywood was placed next to the great Argentine star. They chatted like two strangers who know each other. They talked about movies, politics, and life. In a gesture more of humility than vanity, Pinky asked for the help of a translator; she was fluent in English but she didn't want to expose her accent. They continued the talk on the terrace, and they took some photos. They went out for a walk, Newman asked her to attend an exhibition that he would give at night, Pinky told him no, that she was going back to Buenos Aires. But her friend kicked her ankle and whispered in her ear: "Okay, don't be rude." Pinky agreed. She did not know that hers would be her entrance to 15 days that she would not only never forget; besides, she would save his life.
From that moment on, Newman went to all the events accompanied by the journalist. That same night, Pinky understood why the actor had chosen her: he told her that when he appeared with her, everyone pushed past her and, crucially, no one jumped on top of her. It is that beautiful, successful, and famous, together, more than passion, aroused reverence. Like medieval kings. Or those talented beings who arouse contemplation more than admiration in our wake.
Newman, like true stars, was kind to everyone, likable, and while he liked dealing with people, he didn't like being harassed. Pinky was a great bodyguard.
The press soon spoke of romance. “He was a delicious being. If there was love or not, I'm not going to tell you because he meant a lot in my life. He was like my savior angel, ”Pinky would say in an autobiographical note from 2008. That savior angel appeared the last night they spent together. The Festival had ended and the actor was waiting for his flight to New York. As a farewell, a group of friends decided to go to a disco. It was in the darkness of the night that the man with eyes of heaven discovered the great secret of the woman who captivated him.
When trying to cross a street, a car went over them. To prevent Pinky from being run over, Paul took her arm, grabbed her wrists tightly, pushed her, and understood that for this girl, living off her cost her life. She “was going through such a bad time that a few weeks before she had tried to take her life from me, and so she lived covering her wrists using long sleeves and gloves. Paul realized something was wrong with me," Pinky would reveal many years, and many tears later.
He led her under a streetlight. He asked, she was silent. He asked the others to leave her, that he would take her to her house. The others smiled, they imagined the imaginable, but not the unimaginable horror experienced by that girl who seemed to have everything. Paul and Pinky got into a car, he asked the driver to take them for a long tour of that city so unknown but that it subjugated and -he sensed- it healed.
Sitting in the back seat, he spoke, and she listened because even when desperate, there is always room for hope. Paul told her that what she felt and couldn't control was the strange sensation she feels when she goes from applause, praise, and recognition to the deepest loneliness. He called that hole in the soul that makes us feel more raw than alive “the leap into the void”.
He did not stop at the diagnosis. He told her that the way out of that feeling was not alcohol, drugs, or suicide, but rather to face that reality and wonder if one can and is willing to bear it or not. He assured her that this loneliness only appeared from time to time. Pinky knew that he knew because she felt it too, and not because she had been told.
They were silent, the car took a few more turns and dropped her off at her hotel. “I never imagined that a person who came from the other side of the world would change my way of understanding and coping with the ups and downs of fame so completely. It was as if someone had somehow wanted to get me out of the madness he was experiencing. If that was the case, they couldn't have sent me someone more attractive."
They never saw each other again. “He gave me all his phone numbers, the one in Hollywood, the one in New York, the one in Los Angeles, but I never used them. That was the agreement we had. We told ourselves that an adventure was something that began and ended and that it was perfect and never touched. I was disgustingly famous and he, let's not even talk: he was the most famous man in the world ”.
Sometimes they sent messages through a mutual friend, but nothing more. Pinky was left with "the desire to tell him that she owed him her life." One time when she went to New York, he found out about her and looked for her at the hotel. She was not there; she wanted to call him, but she did not dare. It is that Newman was already in a relationship with Joanna Woodward, and we already know that when we play with fire and dance among the ashes, in the end, we only end up healing our wounds.
Pinky continued to shine in everything she undertook. She more than once had to host a television program and see a batch where a movie by the actor was promoted. At those moments, everyone saw that the face of the great lady of television was filled with smiles. More than one would think: "And of course, if you were with Paul Newman, how can you not smile?" What few knew is that she did not remember the actor, the famous star, or the overwhelmingly beautiful human god. She only remembered the man who on a dark night illuminated her life forever.
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