Miroslava Šternová Beková (26 February – 9 March 1955), known professionally as Miroslava Stern, was a Czechoslovak-Mexican actress.

Biography

Born Miroslava Šternová Beková in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, Miroslava moved to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

as a child with her mother and adoptive Jewish father in 1941, seeking to escape war in their native country. After winning a national

beauty contest A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

, Miroslava began to study acting. She worked steadily in films produced in Mexico, from 1946 to 1955, as well as three Hollywood films during that period. Miroslava filmed '' Ensayo de un crimen'' (

The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz ''The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz'' (original Spanish title: ''Ensayo de un crimen'', "Rehearsal for a Murder") is a 1955 Mexican crime film by Spanish-born writer-director Luis Buñuel. It focuses on a would-be serial killer whose plan ...

) in 1955, directed by

Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish-Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico, and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians, and directors to be one of the greatest and ...

. On March 9 of that year, soon after filming ended (the film was released in May), Miroslava committed suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills. Her body was found lying outstretched over her bed, she had a portrait of bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguín in one hand. Actress

Katy Jurado María Cristina Estela Marcela Jurado García (16 January 1924 – 5 July 2002), known professionally as Katy Jurado, was a Mexican actress. Jurado began her acting career in Mexico during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. In 1951, she was rec ...

said she was one of the first to find the body. According to Jurado, the picture that Miroslava had between her hands was of Mexican comedian

Cantinflas Mario Fortino Alfonso Moreno Reyes (12 August 1911 – 20 April 1993), known by the stage name Cantinflas (), was a Mexican comedian, actor, and filmmaker. He is considered to have been the most widely-accomplished Mexican comedian and is cel ...

, but the artistic manager Fanny Schatz exchanged the photo for that of the Spanish bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguín. Another source states that her body was found by actress

Ninón Sevilla Emelia Pérez Castellanos (10 November 19211 January 2015), known professionally as Ninón Sevilla, was a Cuban-Mexican actress and dancer. Early life Sevilla was born and raised in Centro Habana, a popular section of Havana. As a youth, she th ...

. Miroslava's friends stated her suicide was due to unrequited love for Dominguín, who had recently married Italian actress

Lucia Bosè Lucia Bosè (28 January 1931 – 23 March 2020) was an Italian actress. Life and career Lucia Bosè was born in Milan to Francesca Borloni and Domenico Bosè. After a number of years working in a bakery, Pasticceria Galli, in her native city, ...

. Others claimed that her unrequited love was for Cantinflas. Despite any evidence to support it, a rumor persisted that she died in a plane crash when traveling with Mexican businessman Jorge Pasquel, the day before her suicide. In his 1983 autobiography, ''Mon dernier soupir'' (''My Last Breath''), Buñuel called Miroslava's cremation following her suicide ironic, when compared to a scene in ''Ensayo de un crimen'', her last film, in which the protagonist cremates a wax reproduction of her character. Her life is the subject of a short story by

Guadalupe Loaeza María Guadalupe Loaeza Tovar (born August 12, 1946) is a contemporary Mexican writer, author of many books including ''Las Niñas Bien'', ''Las Reinas de Polanco'', ''Debo, Luego Sufro'' and ''Compro, Luego Existo'', in which she ironizes about ...

, which was adapted by Alejandro Pelayo for his 1992 Mexican film called '' Miroslava'', starring Arielle Dombasle.''Mexican cinema: reflections of a society, 1896-2004''
By Carl J. Mora. McFarland & Comanpy. p. 210.

Filmography

Mexico

Documentaries

* ''El charro inmortal'' (1955) * ''Torero'' (1956)

Feature films

* ''

Tragic Wedding ''Tragic Wedding'' (Spanish:''Bodas trágicas'') is a 1946 Mexican drama film directed by Gilberto Martínez Solares and starring Roberto Silva, Miroslava and Ernesto Alonso.Berumen p.339 The film's sets were designed by the art director Jorge ...

'' (1946) as Amparo * '' Five Faces of Woman'' (1947) as Beatriz * ''

Fly Away, Young Man! ''Fly Away, Young Man!'' (Spanish: ''¡A volar joven!'') is a 1947 Mexican comedy film directed by Miguel M. Delgado and starring Cantinflas, Julio Villarreal, Miroslava and Ángel Garasa. It was produced by Posa Films and distributed internatio ...

'' (1947) as María * '' Juan Charrasqueado'' (1947) as María * '' Nocturne of Love'' (1948) as Marta Reyes * '' Adventure in the Night'' (1948) as Elena * '' Adventures of Casanova'' (1948) as Cassandra's sister * ''Secreto entre mujeres'' (1948) as Claudia * ''La liga de las muchachas'' (1949) as Marta * ''La posesión'' (1949) as Rosaura * ''

La casa chica ''La casa chica'' (English: ''The Little House'') is a 1950 Mexican drama film directed by Roberto Gavaldón and starring Dolores del Río. Plot Fernando Mendoza, an eminent doctor, falls in love with Amalia, a sweet woman that fully reciprocates ...

'' (1950) as Lucila del Castillo * ''La muerte enamorada'' (1950) as Tacia, la muerte * ''Monte de piedad'' (1950) as Elena * ''

Streetwalker Street prostitution is a form of sex work in which a sex worker solicits customers from a public place, most commonly a street, while waiting at street corners or walking alongside a street, but also other public places such as parks, benches, e ...

'' (1951) as Elena * '' Cárcel de mujeres'' (1951) as Evangelina Ocampo * ''Ella y yo'' (1951) as Irene Garza * ''El puerto de los siete vicios'' (1951) as Colomba * ''Dos caras tiene el destino'' (1951) as Anita * ''

The Magnificent Beast ''La bestia magnífica (Lucha libre)'' ("The Magnificent Beast (Wrestling)") is a 1953 Mexican film directed by Chano Urueta. It tells the story of two good friends who become wrestlers to leave poverty behind, but the arrival of an ambitious wo ...

'' (1952) as Meche * ''Sueños de gloria'' (1952) as Elsa * '' Las tres perfectas casadas'' (1952) as Leopoldina * ''Música, mujeres y amor'' (1952) as Elisa Méndez * ''Más fuerte que el amor'' (1953) as Bárbara * ''El monstruo resucitado'' (1953) as Nora * ''Reportaje'' (1953) as Nurse * ''La visita que no tocó el timbre'' (1954) as Emma * ''

Escuela de vagabundos ''School for Tramps'' (Spanish: ''Escuela de vagabundos'') is a 1955 Mexican comedy film. It was produced by Fernando de Fuentes. It's considered one of the finest comedies of Mexican cinema, and is adapted from the screenplay for the MGM movie ' ...

'' (1954) as Susana o Susi * '' Ensayo de un crimen'' (1955) as Lavinia

United States

* ''Adventures of Casanova'' (1948) as Cassandra's sister * '' The Brave Bulls'' (1951) as Linda de Calderón * '' Stranger on Horseback'' (1955) as Amy Lee Bannerman

References

Sources

External links

* * *
Miroslava Stern on the cover of ''Life'' magazine; July 10, 1950
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miroslava Actresses from Prague Barbiturates-related deaths Czechoslovak emigrants to Mexico Czech film actresses Drug-related suicides in Mexico Female suicides Golden Age of Mexican cinema Mexican film actresses Mexican Jews People with mood disorders 1920s births 1955 suicides 20th-century Mexican actresses