Flor Silvestre

Flor Silvestre
in Ánimas Trujano (1962)
Born	Guillermina Jiménez Chabolla (1930-08-16) 16 August 1930 Salamanca, Guanajuato, Mexico
Occupation	Singer actress
Years active	1943–present
Spouse(s)	Paco Malgesto (married 1953–1959) Antonio Aguilar (married 1959–2007)
Children	Dalia Inés Marcela Rubiales Francisco Rubiales Antonio Aguilar, Jr. Pepe Aguilar
Relatives	Enriqueta Jiménez (sister)
Website	florsilvestreoficial.com
Musical career
Genres	Ranchera mariachi corrido bolero norteño banda
Instruments	Vocals
Labels	Columbia RCA Víctor Musart
Associated acts	Luis Aguilar Francisco Avitia Antonio Aguilar Rosa de Castilla Cuco Sánchez

Guillermina Jiménez Chabolla (born 16 August 1930),^[1] commonly known by her stage name Flor Silvestre (Spanish pronunciation: [floɾ silˈβestɾe]) ("wild flower"), is a Mexican singer and actress whose multifaceted career spans seventy years.^[2]

Famed for her beauty and sentimental style of singing, she began her career in the 1940s, performing ranchera music on radio stations.^[3] In the early 1950s, she signed with Columbia Records and released her first successful recordings, which include "Guadalajara", "Imposible olvidarte", "Pobre corazón", and "Viejo nopal". In 1957, she signed with Musart Records, the label for which she recorded many of her best-selling songs such as "Cielo rojo", "Mi destino fue quererte", "Renunciación", "Cachito de mi vida", "Gaviota traidora", "Lágrimas del alma", "Qué bonito amor", and "Desolación".^[4]

As an actress, she is regarded as one of the folkloric leading ladies of the "golden age" of Mexican cinema.^[5] Her most prominent performances are featured in Primero soy mexicano (1950), El bolero de Raquel (1957), La cucaracha (1959), and Ánimas Trujano (1962), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.^[6] She also lent her name and likeness to the title character of La Llanera Vengadora, a comic book series.^[7]

She married twice and has five children. Her second husband was singer and actor Antonio Aguilar, with whom she toured internationally. Her younger sister, Enriqueta Jiménez, is also a singer and actress.

Early life

Guillermina Jiménez Chabolla was born on 16 August 1930, in Salamanca, Guanajuato,^[1] the daughter of Jesús Jiménez Cervantes and María de Jesús Chabolla Peña (c. 1907 – 5 September 1993).^[8] She is the third of seven children; her siblings are Francisco, Raquel, José Luis, Enriqueta, María de la Luz, and Arturo.^[9] Her maternal grandparents were Felipe Chabolla and Inés Peña.^[8]

As a young child, Silvestre showed a passionate interest in singing and acting; she participated in festivals and organized school plays.^[10] She completed primary school in Salamanca, and later moved to Mexico City, where she was enrolled in the Escuela Bancaria Comercial Milton.^[11]

Career

Silvestre made her singing debut at the age of 13 in Mexico City; she sang the songs "La canción mexicana", "Yo también soy mexicana", and "El herradero" and received an ovation from the audience.^[11] Shortly after, she was invited to sing on the XFO radio station, where she sang "La soldadera" by popular songwriter Jesús Morales.^[11] Her first stage names were La Soldadera ("the female soldier"), based on the success of the aforementioned song, and La Amapola ("the poppy"), because an announcer told her that she looked "like a flower", until she was required to choose another name since those were already in use.^[11] She then chose Flor Silvestre ("wild flower"), the title of a 1943 drama film starring Dolores del Río, as her stage name.^[11]

In the late 1940s, Silvestre won a singing contest sponsored by the XEW radio station which led to many contracts, including one for her to perform at the important Teatro Colonial, where she caught the attention of showmen who hired her for tours across northern Mexico and South America.^[11] Upon her return from those tours, she sang at El Patio, where she met producer Gregorio Walerstein, who invited her to participate in films.^[11] Her musical career in radio started to rise in 1950, as reporter Mónica Fio noticed:

We unreservedly commend the young singer "Flor Silvestre" because her radio career, though quick, is made with effort, perseverance and study. Whenever we hear her programs we confirm that she does not abandon herself to passing and easy successes, but seeks to overcome. This is how one reaches the goal. This is how one creates prestige. This is how one triumphs.^[12]

Silvestre made her acting debut alongside Joaquín Pardave, Luis Aguilar and fellow film newcomer Francisco Avitia, also a ranchera singer, in the comedy Primero soy mexicano (1950), a Walerstein production.^[9] She worked with Aguilar and Francisco Avitia again in El tigre enmascarado (1951). Around the same time, she signed a contract with Columbia Records (her first record label) and released the successful singles "Llorar amargo" and "Oye morena".^[13] She played the female lead in El lobo solitario, La justicia del lobo, and Vuelve el lobo (all in 1952). In 1955, she and Miguel Aceves Mejía starred the radio program Su programa Calmex, sponsored by Calmex Sardines.^[14]

Flor Silvestre and María Félix in La cucaracha (1959)

Silvestre's first color film was Miguel M. Delgado's La doncella de piedra (1956). Her first film co-starring Antonio Aguilar, her future husband, was La huella del chacal (1956). She traveled to Nicaragua for Rapto al sol (1956), another color film. On Mother's Day 1957, she participated with great success in the television play Secreto de familia.^[15] One of her famous roles was as Leonor, the mother of Cantinflas' godson, in the popular Eastmancolor comedy El bolero de Raquel (1957). She received top billing for the first time in Pueblo en armas (1959) and its sequel ¡Viva la soldadera! (1960), both directed by Miguel Contreras Torres. She had a supporting role opposite María Félix in Ismael Rodríguez's Mexican Revolution epic La cucaracha (1959); she also sang "Te he de querer", "La chancla", and "La Valentina" for the film's soundtrack album, La cucaracha: Música de la película, released by Musart Records.^[16]

In the early 1960s, she starred with popular comedy duo Viruta and Capulina in Dos locos en escena (1960). Silvestre was cast along with Toshiro Mifune and Columba Domínguez in the award-winning film Ánimas Trujano (1962), another film directed by Ismael Rodríguez. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and contains her best known role among American and international audiences. In 1964, she released the album La sentimental, which included both ranchera and bolero songs; "Mi destino fue quererte", one of the album's ranchera tracks, became one of Silvestre's best-selling singles. In this decade, she would avert her roles from low-budget westerns and comedies to star in Mexican Revolution drama films starring her husband Antonio Aguilar, such as Caballo prieto azabache (1968), Lauro Puñales (1969), and El ojo de vidrio (1969).

By the 1970s, Silvestre had created a symbolic persona of a folkloric woman-hero, therefore she became the star of a comic book entitled La Llanera Vengadora,^[7] which translates as "the avenging plainswoman," that used her likeness and name. The magazine featured a female hero who sought justice, and was dressed in brightly colored cowboy garb.^[7]

She made a cameo appearance as the singer Rafaela in Valente Quintero (1973), in which she sang "No me lo tomes a mal", and played the female lead in La yegua colorada (1973). Her next two films were historical dramas: she played Pancho Villa's lover in La muerte de Pancho Villa (1974) and the wife of Felipe Carrillo Puerto in Peregrina (1974). She sang "La palma" in Simón Blanco (1975) and played the female leads in Don Herculano enamorado (1975), El moro de cumpas (1977), and Mi caballo el cantador (1979). Her last soldadera role was featured in Benjamín Argumedo el rebelde (1979) and Persecución y muerte de Benjamín Argumedo (1980). Her last film was Triste recuerdo (1991).

On 21 December 2010, she released Soledad, an album dedicated to her late husband.^[17]

On 9 March 2015, her documentary titled Flor Silvestre: Su destino fue querer premiered at the Plaza de las Américas as part of the Guadalajara International Film Festival.^[18][19]

Personal life

Silvestre gave birth to her first child, Dalia Inés, when she was 16 years old.^[20] Dalia Inés publicly omits the name of her biological father, who was a radio announcer, since she says that she considers Antonio Aguilar as her father figure.^[20] Silvestre later married television presenter Paco Malgesto.^[20] Their children are Marcela Rubiales Jiménez, a singer and actress, and Francisco Rubiales Jiménez, a voice-over actor.^[20]

In an interview with Don Francisco in Don Francisco presenta, Silvestre confirmed that during her first few films with Antonio Aguilar she had not been romantically involved with him.^[21] It wasn't until the film Heraclio Bernal when both decided to divorce their respective spouses (Aguilar being married to actress Otilia Larrañaga and Silvestre being married to television presenter Paco Malgesto) to marry each other.^[22] Aguilar and Silvestre finally married on 29 October 1959, shortly before the release of their most recent film La cucaracha. Their marriage produced two sons: Antonio Aguilar hijo and Pepe Aguilar.

On 28 February 2012, Silvestre underwent surgery to extirpate the cancer-stricken half of her right lung.^[23] She responded well to the surgery and has since been recuperating.^[24]

Awards and honors

• In 1969, Musart Records awarded her The Golden Clover (Trébol de Oro) for being one of the company's best-selling artists.^[25]
• In 2001, the National Association of Actors awarded her the Eduardo Arozamena Medal for her 50-year career.^[26]
• In 2008, she was the grand marshal of the Comité Mexicano Cívico Patriótico's Mexican Independence Parade in Los Angeles, California.^[27]
• In 2010, the twenty-first edition of the World Mariachi Day (Día Mundial del Mariachi) awarded her the Pedro Infante Medal for her "outstanding work and dissemination of Mexican music".^[28]
• In 2012, the Confederation of Livestock Organizations awarded her a "bull sculpture" for her contribution to Mexican culture.^[29]
• In 2013, the Association of Mexican Cinema Journalists awarded her the Special Silver Goddess for her career.^[30] Mexican actor Ignacio López Tarso presented her with the award and said: "For me it is a great honor and personal satisfaction to give you this award, to a great figure of Mexican cinema who, either walking or on horseback, made the best movies of the Mexican film industry".^[30]
• In 2014, the Government of the State of Zacatecas paid tribute to her career and gave her a special accolade at the Teatro Calderón in the state capital as part of the First Corrido Festival.^[31]
• In 2015, while promoting the release of her documentary entitled Flor Silvestre: Su destino fue querer, she was honored in Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco;^[32] Los Angeles, California;^[33] and Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes.^[34]

Selected discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Filmography

References

External links

• Official website
• Flor Silvestre at the Internet Movie Database
• Flor Silvestre at the TCM Movie Database
• Flor Silvestre discography at Discogs