Pina Pellicer
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Pina Pellicer | |
|---|---|
 Pellicer in the 1950s | |
| Born | Josefina Yolanda Pellicer López de Llergo 3 April 1934 Mexico City, Mexico |
| Died | 6 December 1964 (aged 30) Mexico City, Mexico |
Resting place | Panteón Jardín Mexico City, Mexico |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1950–1964 |
| Spouse |
Ramón Naves
(m. 1963; div. 1963) |
| Relatives | Pilar Pellicer (sister) Ana Pellicer (sister) Carlos Pellicer (uncle) |
| Signature | |
 | |
Josefina Yolanda Pellicer López de Llergo (3 April 1934 – 6 December 1964), known professionally as Pina Pellicer, was a Mexican actress. In Mexico, she is best remembered for portraying the female lead in Macario (1960) and Luisa in Días de Otoño (1963), and in the United States for her role as Louisa alongside Marlon Brando in the Brando-directed movie One-Eyed Jacks (1961).
Other of her notable works include the Spanish drama Rogelia (1962), and episodes in TV shows such as The Fugitive and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.
Early life
[edit]Josefina Yolanda Pellicer López de Llergo was born on 3 April 1934 in Mexico City,[1] the daughter of César Pellicer Sánchez, a lawyer, and Pilar López de Llergo.[citation needed] Her uncle, Carlos Pellicer, was a modernist poet. Of her seven siblings, her younger sister Pilar Pellicer also became an actress best known for her roles in numerous telenovelas. Another younger sister, Ana, was a sculptor and the co-author of Pina Pellicer's 2006 biography.[citation needed][2]
Career
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Pellicer's first acting role, albeit only her second movie to be released, was the Paramount Pictures production One-Eyed Jacks.[3] In the movie, Pellicer played Louisa, the stepdaughter of Karl Malden and the lover of Marlon Brando. Mexican actress Katy Jurado appeared as Louisa's mother. The production of the movie was much delayed, and the original director, Stanley Kubrick left, along with screenwriter Sam Peckinpah, leaving Brando to finish the movie – the only time Brando was credited with directing a movie.
Production started in 1958; the movie was released in 1961. European response was positive, and in July 1961, the movie received the Golden Shell (Concha de Oro) at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. Pellicer was awarded the prize for best female performer. Reviews compared her to Audrey Hepburn. In the United States, the response was more mixed and the movie received only one Academy Award nomination, for Charles Lang's cinematography.[4]
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The first movie with Pellicer to reach theaters was the Mexican production Macario, released in 1960.[citation needed] Pellicer played the wife of the title character opposite Ignacio López Tarso.[5] Macario was the first Mexican production to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but lost out to Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring.[6] After Macario, Pellicer appeared in two more Mexican films, Días de Otoño, from 1963, and El pecador, released posthumously in 1965.
During her appearance at the San Sebastián Film Festival, Pellicer met Spanish director Rafael Gil, who cast the actress in the title role in Rogelia, filmed in Asturias and released in 1962. In addition to her film work, Pellicer appeared in episodes of the television shows The Fugitive ("Smoke Screen", 1963) and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour ("The Life Work of Juan Diaz", 1964, written by Ray Bradbury), as well as on Mexican television.[citation needed]
Personal life
[edit]Following her death, the newspaper La Prensa visited the funeral home where her wake was to be held. There, they learned, and later reported, that Pellicer had been secretly married to businessman and hotelier Ramón Naves. Their marriage lasted only a few months in 1963, as it was said that the artist was unable to adapt to married life, being a woman mostly accustomed to being alone.[7] Without giving him any explanation, she divorced, and at the time, only her friend, actor Salomón Laiter, and her sisters, Ana, Taide and Pilar Pellicer, knew about this union.[8][9]
According to the book Me and Marlon written by Alice Marchak, Marlon Brando's personal secretary, Pina told the actor that she was a lesbian; the excerpt states:
"When Pina Pellicer arrived from Mexico, Marlon wined and dined her. Then one night while making his midnight stop at my room, he confided that after dinner, he had escorted Pina to her room and made a move on her. She had rebuffed him by stating, "Marlon, I'm a lesbian." I burst out laughing, and so did he. He said it was a first for him. So much for seducing his leading lady."[10]
Pellicer never openly clarified the issue of her orientation, but it is considered one of the reasons why she ended her life, as it was a possible constant with which she used to live in duality due to the closed ideas that Mexico had at the time regarding sexual diversity.[11]
Death
[edit]
Pellicer died by suicide on 6 December 1964, aged 30, from an overdose of sleeping pills.[12] Her body was buried at Panteón Jardín in Mexico City.[13][14]
Filmography
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Film
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | La liga de las muchachas | Dancer | Extra / Uncredited |
| 1960 | Macario | Macario's wife | |
| 1961 | One-Eyed Jacks | Louisa | Silver Shell for Best Actress[15] American production |
| 1962 | Rogelia | Rogelia | Spanish production |
| 1962 | Días de Otoño | Luisa | |
| 1965 | El pecador | Irma | Posthumous release |
Television
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | The Fugitive | María Álvarez | Episode: "Smoke Screen" |
| 1964 | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | María Díaz | Episode: "The Life Work of Juan Díaz" |
| Gran teatro | Electra - episode: "Electra" | Lost media | |
| Pacto de Medianoche | Elsa | ||
| La dama de corazones | Unknown role |
References
[edit]Inline citations
[edit]- ↑ Coronil, Georgimar (19 July 2019). "La depresión insoportable que hizo que Pina Pellicer cometiera suicidio". amomama.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 July 2025.
- ↑ Pérez Vázquez, Reynol; Pellicer, Ana (2006). Pina Pellicer: luz de tristeza (1934-1964). Miradas en la oscuridad (1. ed.). Ciudad Universitaria, San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León : México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nuevo León ; CONACULTA, Cineteca Nacional : Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. ISBN 978-970-32-3075-4.
- ↑ "One-Eyed Jacks | Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
- ↑ "The 34th Academy Awards (1962) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. 5 October 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
- ↑ "Macario | Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
- ↑ Gaydos, Steven (19 February 2024). "Remembering 'One-Eyed Jacks' and 'Macario' Actress Pina Pellicer 60 Years After Her Death". Variety. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
- ↑ Macías, Luis Francisco (7 December 2016). "Viaje sin retorno". La Prensa (in Mexican Spanish). Archived from the original on 16 December 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
- ↑ "La tragedia de Pina Pellicer: la estrella que se mató por soledad". UNIVISIÓN (in Spanish). 18 March 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
- ↑ "Estrellas del cine mexicano que apagaron su luz por voluntad propia". Yahoo! (in Mexican Spanish). 14 March 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
- ↑ onlybrando. "Marlon Brando with Pina Pellicer while filming "One-Eyed Jacks" in 1961". Retrieved 21 July 2026.
- ↑ "Pina Pellicer (1934 – 1964)". 24 Femmes Per Second. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
- ↑ "Mexican Actress a Suicide". The New York Times. Mexico City. 12 December 1964. p. 34. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- ↑ "La tragedia de Pina Pellicer: la estrella que se mató por soledad" [The tragedy of Pina Pellicer: the star who killed herself out of loneliness] (in Spanish). 18 March 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
- ↑ "Pina Pellicer: la fuerte depresión que la llevó a acabar con su vida" [Pina Pellicer: the strong depression who led to end her life] (in Spanish). 19 July 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
- ↑ "Official awards - FIAPF (1961)". San Sebastian Film Festival. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
General references
[edit]- Reynol Pérez Vázquez & Ana Pellicer: Pina Pellicer. Luz de tristeza (1934–1964); México, D.F.: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (2006). ISBN 970-32-3075-X
- Juan José Olivares: "Pina Pellicer, mujer adelantada a su época, pero invadida por la tristeza"; La Jornada, 24 April 2007.
- Reynol Pérez Vázquez: "Pina Pellicer: una vida frágil"; Pointcast Media "Los Tubos", 24 April 2007.
- Luis José de Ávila: "Pina, la musa de Marlon Brando"; La Voz de Asturias, 18 February 2006.