The great legacy of Carmen Salinas

Translated From: The great legacy of Carmen Salinas

Discovered on: 2021-12-10 13:52:11

The death of Carmen Salinas, at the age of 82, after suffering a massive stroke, deprives the Mexican public of one of its most beloved figures in the last six decades, an extraordinarily vivacious woman, who not only cultivated celebrity, but he also always sought to put it to good use to help others.

The unforgettable Carmen Salinas in 2019 in Mexico City (Adrián Monroy / Medios y Media / Getty Images)

For many, Carmen was one of the emblematic comedians of an era – the 70s and 80s, the cradle, splendor and decadence of ‘Cine de Ficheras’– with numerous interventions in films of this era such as ‘Bellas de noche’, in which he shared the bill with figures such as Sasha Montenegro and Jorge Rivero. However, the actress was much more than that, and her actions count as proof of it.

Carmen Salinas Lozano He was born on October 5, 1939 in Torreón, Coahuila, a city where a street bears his name; fascinated by music and cinema since she was a child, she began to participate in competitions for fans, in addition to singing at the beginning with her sister Josephine, on the radio. His start in the cinema was as an extra adolescent in 1953, in ‘Happy New Year, My Love’, a comedy starring Marga López and Arturo de Córdova. She only appeared at the end, but she was so excited, that she reunited her entire family from Torreón and invited them to the movies when the movie was released.

What would not be the surprise (or disappointment, as she said, laughing, at her innocence as a rookie) when she found that her great scene had been cut from the film and she didn’t show up. This disappointment, however, did not limit her: on the contrary, It was the impulse to launch herself into pursuing her dream harder.

That year, taken to the capital by Carlos Amador (the legendary producer and owner of the magazine Tele Guía, who was at the time, husband – and for the second time— by Marga López) He made his television debut on Channel 4 in a family-style program in which he sang songs from Cri-Crí, and began to do imitations, which was a great success and it led her to be known on TV (which was very different at the time) and on radio, where she became famous, while at the same time she was preparing by taking classes with great teachers of the time, such as Seki Sano or Fernando Wagner that they saw in the girl ( because she was a girl), who had so much charisma.

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The truth is that this was because Carmen felt a passion for interpreting, since she did not formally study beyond the third year of primary school, due to the separation of her parents, although with both and with all her siblings and half-siblings (in total there are more than a dozen), always had a very good relationship.

Thanks to his talent to imitate stars of the time such as Lucha Villa, Libertad Lamarque, Olga Guillot, Gloria Lasso, Angélica María, Julissa, Queta Garay or Flor Silvestre, achieved public recognition, and soon began to The nightclubs El Patio, Terraza Casino, El Capri, Los Globos, La Fuente and the famous Quid, which was owned by Ernesto Alonso, lead the variety casts.

He was the one who invited her to join television as an actress, incorporating her into the cast of ‘La Vecindad’, a telenovela produced by him; from there, Carmelita (who had married Pedro Plascencia on January 5, 1956 and was also a mother) was gaining more experience and in 1967 she formally debuted in an adaptation starring Ignacio López Tarso of ‘La vida inutil de Pito Pérez’, famous novel by michoacan author José Rubén Romero, which was filmed in natural locations in that state; The experience was so joyful for the actress – who, as she would later tell, had had since she was a child the desire to play dramatic characters, regardless of being funny or witty.

In this way, Salinas alternated his personal appearances with his histrionic career — gaining more and more recognition.– and with your interests: She was a very devoted fan of Chivas Rayadas del Guadalajara and on numerous occasions she made public bets with Manuel ‘Loco’ Valdéz, who was a fan of the Águilas del Club América, so it was not unusual for them to have to pay for the jokes that were made. Another aspect that always stood out was her political affiliation for the Institutional Revolutionary Party, to whose ranks she joined and of which she was a representative as a deputy between 2015 and 2018.

After divorcing Plascencia in 1972, who was the pianist of the David Hernández orchestra, who was the floor orchestra of the luxurious El Patio nightclub, and with whom he married very much in love (at first glance, he counted), Carmen became independent, finished raising her children and became a movie star, without a doubt: it was what he liked to do the most and throughout the decade he worked with all the great comedians of the time: Joaquín García ‘Borolas’, Alfonso Zayas, Rafael Inclán, Mauricio Garcés, Pedro Weber “Chatanooga” and many more who had great respect and affection for him.

In her own words, doña Carmen made a kite out of her life, once divorced, he asserted, He never remarried because he did not want to and he never hung out with anyone in the middle.

Perhaps the hardest blow Carmen suffered in her life was the loss of her son, Pedro Plascencia Salinas, a terrible trauma, since the renowned composer was only 36 years old when he died in 1993 and left her devastated, to the point that he even ruled that he was leaving the forums and the stages, as he was in pain. It was at the insistence of María Rojo that she joined the play ‘Everybody His Life’, sweeping away numerous critical acclaim: later he led the cast of numerous stagings of ‘Aventurera’ and that ended up cementing his career on stage. .

It was thanks to the support of her daughters María Eugenia y Jacaranda and her daughter-in-law Alicia that she was able to gradually recover from this loss, although she was never the same again.: the weight of the death of his son lasted until the end of his days, this exacerbated later andn 2012 for the loss of his friend Juan “Chato” Cejudo, who was his closest collaborator for almost forty years, but from this loss he resurfaced strong, with the promise made to take care of his granddaughters and his daughter-in-law, which he fulfilled to the letter, since his son could not see them grow.

The loss of Carmen Salinas is a very hard blow for the national artistic community, for her many admirers, for her neighbors in the Verónica Anzures neighborhood, where she lived for more than 50 years and where they always found affection, empathy, and support for all those who her they came, either for help, or for understanding, or for a bowl of soup (In fact, her modest but popular restaurant ‘La casita de las sopas’, which she founded herself, is famous).

Actress and character, voice of the people that made her a star, universal and generous mother like no one, Carmen Salinas did not suffer before she died (went into a coma the night of November 6) and she left in her family the best legacy that an artist as upright as she was can leave behind.