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Conchita MontenegroSpanish model, dancer and theater and film actress
Date of Birth: 11.09.1912
Country:  Spain |
Content:
The Life of Conchita Montenegro
Conchita Montenegro was born on September 11, 1912, in San Sebastian, Spain. With her brown eyes, wavy black hair, and olive complexion, she received her education at a girls' monastery school in Madrid. Her sister, Juanita Montenegro, was also an actress.
Early Career
At a young age, Montenegro studied classical and Spanish dance. She began her professional career as a model, working with the famous Spanish painter Ignacio Zuloaga y Sabalete. However, she quickly shifted her focus to acting and performed in numerous theater productions.
Montenegro gained fame in Hollywood, France, and Germany when she was only thirteen years old. In June 1930, she moved to Hollywood and signed a contract with the American media company MGM. Despite not being able to speak a word of English, Montenegro managed to secure the lead female role in the film "Never the Twain Shall Meet," alongside Leslie Howard, after three months of learning the language. Before appearing in English-language films, she joined the cast of several Spanish versions of MGM films, including "Call of the Flesh" and "Way For A Sailor." In 1931, she played the role of a Spanish dancer in the drama film "Strangers May Kiss," where Norma Shearer starred as the lead.
Later Career and Personal Life
In the mid-1931, Montenegro left MGM and signed a contract with the film company Fox, where she appeared in both Spanish and English films. In August of the same year, she survived a train crash near Yuma, Arizona, while traveling on the transcontinental train "Argonaut." Fortunately, she was in the second section of the train, along with other members of the Fox film company, including Warner Baxter and Edmund Lowe. The train was en route to Tucson, Arizona, for the filming of the western movie "Cisco Kid," in which Montenegro played the lead female role of Carmencita.
Montenegro's American film career continued until 1940. In that year, she portrayed the singer Aloisia Weber Lange in the drama film "Melodie eterne," a story about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's unrequited first love. Montenegro obtained her naturalization documents in Chicago, Illinois, on March 16, 1932.
In 1935, she married Brazilian actor Raul Roulien in Paris, France. The couple went on a tour of South America and released a documentary film called "Jangada" in 1936, depicting customs of indigenous peoples in South America. The Spanish version of the documentary, titled "El grito de la juventud," became more famous and was released in Argentina in 1939. Montenegro and Roulien divorced shortly after.
In 1944, Montenegro remarried Spanish diplomat Ricardo Giménez Arnau, a prominent member of the far-right political party Spanish Falange and ambassador to the Holy See. After appearing in several films in Spain, including Antonio Román's drama "Lola Montes" in 1944, Montenegro retired from the film industry and declined to give interviews or make public appearances.
Montenegro became a widow in 1972 and passed away on April 22, 2007, in Madrid. She requested that her body be donated to medical science.
