Elena Lucena | |
|---|---|
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| Born | María Elena Lucena 25 September 1914 Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Died | 7 October 2015 (aged 101) |
| Occupation | actress |
| Years active | 1937–2012 |
María Elena Lucena Arcuri (25 September 1914 – 7 October 2015) was an Argentine film actress of the Golden Age of Argentine Cinema (1940–60). She began her career in radio in the 1930s and reached her greatest success with the role of "Chimbela", which was later depicted in film, theater and television. Her extensive film career includes approximately 50 films, including notable performances in Chimbela (1939) and Una noche cualquiera (1951). During the 1940s, she participated in films with comedians like Pepe Arias, Pepe Iglesias "El Zorro", Niní Gambier, Mirtha Legrand and Carlos Estrada. Her most acclaimed film work occurred in Elvira Fernández, vendedora de tienda (1942) by Manuel Romero, Cinco besos by Luis Saslavsky and La Rubia Mireya for which she received the 1948 Best Comedy Actress Award from the Argentine Film Critics Association.
She also performed as a dancer and, beginning in 1960, did several musical comedies. On stage she replaced Libertad Lamarque in Hello, Dolly! and she portrayed the widow of Larraín de Valenzuela in the Chilean comedy La pérgola de las flores, which was later made into a movie. Beginning in the late 1960s, she participated in several television roles. Her later performances include the series 099 Central (2002) and the 2010 film Brother and Sister for which she was nominated as Best Supporting Actress and a role in the 2012 TV movie El Tabarís, lleno de estrellas. She had one of the longest careers of Argentine actresses and was one of the last survivors of Argentine cinema from the 1930s. She retired in 2012.