Conchita Montenegro
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Conchita Montenegro (b. September 11, 1912) is a Spanish model, dancer, stage and screen actress, from Bilbao, Spain. She was educated in a convent in Madrid, Spain. Montenegro had brown eyes, wavy black hair, and an olive complexion.
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[edit] Multitalented
Montenegro first worked professionally as a model (person) for the artist Ziloaga. During her childhood she was a dancer. She was credited with revolutionizing the presentation of Spanish dances. Montenegro turned from dancing to dramatic acting and starred in numerous productions. She attained theatrical fame in Spain, France, and Germany by the time she was thirteen years old.
[edit] Screen success
She came to Hollywood in June 1930 with a contract at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. She was sixteen years old and could not speak a word of English. Montenegro learned enough English in three months to play the leading feminine part in Never The Twain Shall Meet (1931) at the age of seventeen. The movie is the English language version of a story written by Peter B. Kyne. The motion picture was directed by W.S. Van Dyke.
Prior to this performance Montenegro was cast in Spanish versions of MGM movies. Among these are The Singer of Seville (1930) and Way For A Sailor (1930). The former featured Ramon Novarro while the latter starred Jose Crespo.
Her next screen project was Strangers May Kiss (1931). The production has Norma Shearer as the female lead, with Montengro as the ingenue (stock character) lead, playing a Spanish dancer. By mid-1931 Montenegro left MGM and signed with the Fox Film Company. She was to play in both Spanish and English motion pictures.
[edit] Train wreck
In August 1931 she was aboard the Southern Pacific Argonaut (passenger train). The train wrecked near Yuma, Arizona and killed two trainmen. Luckily for Montenegro she was in the second section along with actors Warner Baxter and Edmund Lowe. The forty people among the film company were unharmed when the second section did not crash into the wrecked first section. The steam engine, two cars of the baggage car section, and a day coach overturned, after the train struck a roadbed which had been softened by rain. The Argonaut was en route to a location shoot for Cisco Kid (1931), in Tucson, Arizona. Playing Carmencita, Montenegro had the primary feminine role and was the main source of strife between the Lowe and Baxter characters.
[edit] Fox starlet
The Fox Film studio selected three of its own stars in opposition to the thirteen actresses chosen as baby stars by WAMPAS (Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers). The three were Montenegro, Helen Mack, and Linda Watkins. Eleven Fox publicity men resigned in protest of WAMPAS decision to eschew naming any Fox starlets among its list of actresses most likely to achieve success. In addition Fox promised to name budding stars or, Fox debutante stars, annually.
Montenegro was sometimes featured in stage shows which coincided with the screening of film premieres. One such instance was the premiere of A Passport To Hell, which starred Elissa Landi. The movie debuted at the Loew's Kings Theater in August 1932. Montenegro provided the vaudeville entertainment beforehand. On another occasion she teamed with Teddy Joyce in the stage show for the opening of The Kennel Murder Case (1933). The film screened at the Warner Brothers Hollywood Theater. Together with Will Rogers, Montenegro performed an Adagio for Strings number prior to the premiere of Handy Andy (1934).
Her movie career endured until 1940. That year she performed the leading feminine part in Eternal Melodies (Melodie eterne). The story focused on the unrequited first love of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Playing Alois Weber, Montenegro jilts Gino Cervi, who portrays the composer in the Italian language production.
[edit] Private life
Montenegro applied for naturalization papers in Chicago, Illinois on March 16, 1932. She married Brazilian actor, Raoul Roulien, in Paris, France, on September 19, 1935. The couple toured South America and produced a motion picture called Jangada (1936). The film dealt with the customs of primitive people who inhabit South America.
Montenegro collected dolls and wooly animals as a hobby. She acquired the reputation of a social leader in the Spanish Hollywood film colony. She leased a large house and was hostess at many gatherings.
[edit] References
- Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Times, Films Please Spanish Star After Stage, Monday, November 14, 1932, Page 5.
- Los Angeles Times, Spanish Actress to Play in Film, June 12, 1930, Page A1.
- Los Angeles Times, M.-G.-M. Signs Spanish Star, January 9, 1931, Page A9.
- Los Angeles Times, Spanish Actress Has Ingenue Lead, January 21, 1931, Page A9.
- Los Angeles Times, Conchita Applauded, July 11, 1931, Page A7.
- Los Angeles Times, Two Killed In Wreck Of Train From Los Angeles, August 6, 1931, Page 1.
- Los Angeles Times, Film Debutantes Make Bow In Row, August 24, 1931, Page A1.
- Los Angeles Times, Cisco Kid Booked For Two Houses, October 4, 1931, Page B11.
- Los Angeles Times, Citizenship Sought By Flim Actress, March 17, 1932, Page 3.
- Los Angeles Times, Talented Actress Stars On Screen, August 19, 1932, Page A9.
- Los Angeles Times, Stage Star Conchita, October 25, 1933, Page 11.
- Los Angeles Times, They're Adagio Dancers, July 24, 1934, Page 11.
- Los Angeles Times, Hollywood Couple Wed In France, September 20, 1935, Page 11.
- Los Angeles Times, Stellar Couple to Return With Film, August 12, 1936, Page 15.
- Los Angeles Times, Musical Bill Now on View, December 5, 1949, Page B9.
