Prudencia Grifell

Prudencia Grifell (born Prudencia Grifell Masipon December 27, 1879 in Lugo, Galicia, Spain – June 7, 1970) was a prolific actress of the Golden Era of the Cinema of Mexico. She was married to actor Paco Martínez until his death and with whom she had five children, all of who are actors including Maruja Grifell, Amparo Grifell and Pepe Martinez.

Grifell was born to Spanish stage actors and started her acting career herself at the age of ten in theater in Venezuela and touring Spain and Latin America. By the 1900s she had become very popular and moved to Mexico to continue her career in stage, after the Spanish Civil War she decided not to go back to that country but instead to relocate in Mexico permanently after 1940.

Three years later, already at the age of 61, she appeared in her first film "Internado para señoritas" ("Girls Boarding School") with the stars Mapy Cortés, Emilio Tuero and Katy Jurado. Just as Sara García, her co-star as the Vivanco sisters in two films, she mostly played feisty but lovable granny roles.

In 1961 she made a jump to the television industry starring in her first of many telenovela roles in "Niebla" with Amparo Rivelles and Ernesto Alonso.

She is considered one of the most notable people from Lugo, Spain and many have honored her life. A book in the Galician language was written about her life "Prudencia Grifell, unha lucense no cine de ouro mexicano" in 2005.

Telenovelas

* "Plegaria en el camino" (1969)
* "Estafa de amor" (1967)
* "El despertar" (1966) as Doña Remedios
* "Sonata de otoño" (1966)
* "Las abuelas" (1965)
* "Corona de lágrimas" (1964)
* "Tres caras de mujer" (1963)
* "Borrasca" (1962)
* "La cobarde" (1962)
* "La madrastra" (1962)
* "Estafa de amor" (1961)
* "La leona" (1961)
* "Niebla" (1961)
* "Pensión de mujeres" (1960)

Films

ee also

* Foreign-born artists in Mexico

External links

*
* [http://www.alma-latina.net/CoronadeLagrimas/CoronadeLagrimas.shtml Corona de lágrimas] at the telenovela database
* [http://www.xornal.com/article.php3?sid=20051027104730 Biography]
* [http://www.galiciadigital.com/images/noticias2/nota.php?id=1653 Presentation of a book of her life]