Carmen Sevilla died at the age of 92 after suffering from Alzheimer's for more than ten years. Muse of the cinema of the 50s, her career in cinema and television made her an icon of Spain
With the death of Carmen Sevilla this Tuesday at the age of 92, Cinema has lost one of the most important talents in the filmography of national cinema. The 'bride of Spain' was admitted on Monday, June 26, to a Madrid hospital, after suffering from Alzheimer's for more than 10 years. Although Carmen has left us without remembering her past, her life story has been marked by fire in the history of cinema and television.
Since 2015, when she left her residence on Paseo Rosales in Madrid to settle in a clinic in Aravaca, the actress has not been seen publicly again, although her son, Augusto Alguero, assured on more than one occasion that, despite her illness, she was fine: “My mother is very calm and well. Unfortunately, she no longer recognizes anyone, but the smile has not left her face.
It has been 92 years since Carmen Sevilla, María del Carmen Garcia Galisteo, as she was called at birth on October 16, 1930, had time to become one of the most recognizable icons of her time. Together with Lola Flores or Sara Montiel, they starred in some of the most significant films for the Spanish, which will forever remain in our memory.
Carmen Sevilla's beginnings on the big screen
Carmen Sevilla took her first steps in the cinema at a very young age. Specifically, at the age of 16, he managed a brief participation in the documentary 'Iberian Men', directed by Domingo Viladomat, in 1946. A year later, in 1947, the filmmaker Juan de Orduna allowed him to debut with a short role in the feature film 'Spanish Serenade'.
However, it was with 'Imperial Violets' that Carmen Sevilla achieved fame in Spain and made a large part of the male audience fall in love with her, who saw her as the 'bride of Spain'.
Next to her in that film is Luis Mariano, with whom she returned to share filming in two more films. In addition, following her success in the 1950s, her fame led her to work or rub shoulders with movie stars of the time such as Frank Sinatra, Clark Gable, and Cary Grant.
For her part, Mario Moreno, Cantinflas, would come to give her a ring, although she did not accept it. "He is one of the men I liked the most, the platonic love of my life. We kissed in the car, but I didn't sleep with him," said the actress in her memories.
Beyond movie stars, the heart of Carmen Sevilla was occupied for more than 13 years by a musician: the composer Augusto Alguero. In 1961, at the age of 30, the desired actress married Alguero and had her only child, named after her father, Augusto. However, in 1974 the actress ended the marriage, achieving the official separation in 1985. Precisely that same year, in 1985, she married Vicente Patuel again, with whom she remained until his death, in 2000.
