Carmen Barros
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Carmen Aída Barros Alfonso (7 January 1925 – 21 December 2023) was a Chilean actress and singer of jazz, popular music, and opera. In addition, she was a professor of acting perception, diction, and vocal projection, and a theater and opera director. She was known for being the first to portray the character Carmela in the Isidora Aguirre play ' in 1960.


Biography

Carmen Barros was the elder of two siblings. Because of her father's military profession, which caused him to be sent on missions in
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, as well as to different garrisons in the country, Carmen never stayed more than seven months at one school. She lived between
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, other cities of the country,
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, and Europe, and learned to speak
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before
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. However, she attended the French Nuns, a women's college where she was the "wild card" of the course for any artistic competition involving dancing or acting. When she was 14, her father, Tobías Barros, was assigned as Chilean ambassador to Germany, and that change marked her life. It was 1940, and
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
was in full development. A lot of people Barros' age that she met on this trip she never saw again; they joined
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's army to colonize Europe and fell out of contact. As a counterpoint, the cultural opportunities of Berlin influenced her future career: concerts, opera, theater; despite the horror of the war, that never changed. She tried to resume her basic education, in a German school, but could not stand being in a co-educational one, so she chose to retire and take private classes at home. However, she never finished her studies. At age 19, Barros returned to Chile, but everything had changed. Santiago del Campo offered to let her sing on the radio and gave her the pseudonym ''Marianela''. She had begun her career as a singer. She worked at Radio Agricultura, Corporación, and Minería. In 1946, when a company of New York's Metropolitan Opera House came to Chile with the Beethoven opera ''
Fidelio ''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Opus number, Op. 72, is the sole opera by German composer Ludwig van Beethoven. The libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of ...
'', Barros was invited to participate. It was one of the great successes of the Municipal Theater. She was even invited to go to New York, but did not dare; she had been outside the country for too long. Her brother was the one who spurred her interest in theater. He was an actor and creator of the Pocket Theater, and invited her to participate in the play ''Carlos y Ana'', which she starred in. She also worked with , combining her talents for singing and the theater. This continued until her father was named ambassador to
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, and the dream vanished. She went to Italy with her husband and three children to see what happened there. She continued with her "operatic" work, went to live in Vienna, and was invited to take a leading role in the Opera of Brussels, Belgium. However, her father was named
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and had to return home. She could never reconcile her dreams with distance. Although she endured another year without seeing her children, finally, and although her prospects were favorable, she returned to Chile in 1957. Barros had the opportunity to become an international opera star. She entered the and was invited to participate in ''Esta Señorita Trini'', which was the prelude to ''La pérgola de las flores''. She shared the stage with , Ana González, and many other actors, and starred as the first Carmela. Also in 1965 she had a musical group, Los Gatos, which was very successful. After the
1973 Chilean coup d'état The 1973 Chilean coup d'état () was a military overthrow of the democratic socialist president of Chile Salvador Allende and his Popular Unity (Chile), Popular Unity coalition government. Allende, who has been described as the first Marxist ...
, she went to
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and worked as a UN official for nine years. Then she returned to Chile and began appearing on television. Her first series was '' Los títeres'' (1984), which together with her role on '' El amor está de moda'' (1995) was her greatest pride. In 2010, she received the Award for her artistic career. In 2015, she starred alongside Gloria Münchmeyer, Ana Reeves, and Consuelo Holzapfel in the television series ', directed by . This role earned her a nomination at the Caleuche Awards for Best Leading Actress in a TV Series in 2016. In 2017, she received the Caleuche Award for her career from the Minister of Culture, Ernesto Ottone, and Chileactores. In March of the same year, she was honored as a Distinguished Public Person by the Municipality of Providencia.


Personal life

Her son Jaime Amunátegui Barros married Jacqueline Pinochet Hiriart on 24 January 1984 in Cerro Castillo, and the couple had two children: Sofía and Jaime Augusto Amunátegui Pinochet. In 2016, Barros told
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that Pinochet Hiriart "believed that I was a communist for being an artist." Barros' daughter, Loreto Amunátegui Barros, was governor of
Chacabuco Province Chacabuco Province () is one of six Provinces of Chile, provinces of the Santiago Metropolitan Region in central Chile. It is located north of the Santiago Province (Chile), Province of Santiago, which is entirely urbanized and part of the Sant ...
from 2000 to 2006. Carmen Barros defined herself as a ''Bacheletista'' – a supporter of President
Michelle Bachelet Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria (; born 29 September 1951) is a Chilean politician who served as President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2014 to 2018, becoming the first woman to hold the presidency. She was re-elected in December ...
. She died on 21 December 2023, at the age of 98.


Filmography


Film

* ''Bajo un cielo de gloria'' (1944) * ''Música en tu corazón'' (1946) * ' (1970) * '' La Fiebre del Loco'' (2001) * ''La chupilca del diablo'' (2012) * '' The Guest (La Visita)'' (2014) Chile-Argentina * ''El huésped'' (2014) * ''Perla'' (2015) * ''Viejos amores'' (2016)


Television


Theatre

* ''Esta señorita Trini'' – Trinidad * ' – Carmela de San Rosendo * ''Javiera y su fantasma'' * ''Como en la gran ciudad'' * ''The boy friend'' * ''
Les Précieuses ridicules ''Les Précieuses ridicules'' (, ''The Absurd Précieuses'' or ''The Affected Ladies'') is a one-act satire by Molière in prose. It takes aim at the ''précieuses'', the ultra-witty ladies who indulged in lively conversations, word games and, in ...
'' * ''Anatole'' * ''Mi Marilyn Monroe'' (2011) –
Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...
* '' The Obscene Bird of Night'' (2012) * ''El marinero'' (2015)


Awards and nominations


APES Awards


Caleuche Awards


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barros, Carmen 1925 births 2023 deaths 20th-century Chilean actresses 21st-century Chilean actresses Actresses from Santiago, Chile Pontifical Catholic University of Chile alumni Chilean film actresses Chilean jazz singers Chilean women jazz singers Chilean opera singers Chilean pop singers Chilean women pop singers Chilean stage actresses Chilean telenovela actresses Chilean theatre directors Chilean television personalities Singers from Santiago, Chile Chilean women theatre directors Spanish-language singers of Chile