Blanquita Amaro

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Blanquita Amaro (June 30, 1923, San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba – March 15, 2007, Miami, United States) was a Cuban-born Argentine film actress of the 1940s and early 1950s who starred in the "golden age" of Argentina cinema.

She appeared in some 17 films between 1939 and 1954 appearing often in films involving her native Cuba in co-production with Argentina such as A La Habana me voy ("To Havana I come") working under director Luis Bayón Herrera. She also appeared in films such as Buenos Aires a la vista in 1950 though which on the contrary had strong Argentine themes in it.

She retired from film in 1954.

[edit] Post film work

She left Cuba for Panama in 1959, and settled there with her husband and manager, Orlando Villegas, and their daughter, Idania. For 10 years, she hosted a daily television program and participated in many benefit shows.

In 1968, Amaro moved to Miami. Here, she had her own theater on Southwest 57th Avenue and she starred in My Husband's Lover, with her daughter Idania, Germán Barrios and Miguel de Grandy Jr. In Miami she hosted the TV programs The Blanquita Amaro Show and Say It in Mime, and appeared in numerous shows staged by the Pro Arte Grateli Society.

Amaro's ability to adapt to any medium allowed her to host programs at Miami radio stations, such as La Poderosa and Cadena Azul, for many years.

In Miami in 1980, she made her last film, How Hot Miami Is! with Olga Guillot, Raymundo Hidalgo-Gato and Pedro Romàn. She also won plaudits for her performance in the play Stolen Lives, and in the comedy The Close Friends, with Griselda Nogueras and Néstor Cabell.

For 28 years, Amaro presented Cuba Sings and Dances, a variety show directed by her daughter Idania and produced by Manolo del Cañal, her son-in-law, at the Miami-Dade County Auditorium. Such popular artists as Olga Guillot,Tongolele, Maria Marta Serra Lima and Xiomara Alfaro appeared in that show.

One of Amaro's final public appearances was on Jan. 27 2007, at Miami's Artime Theater. She received an ovation from the public at a concert by soprano Alina Sánchez, who dedicated the concert to her.

She died on March 15 2007 in Miami of a heart attack.