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
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, as well as to different garrisons in the country, Carmen never stayed more than seven months at one school. She lived between
Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...
, other cities of the country,
Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
, and Europe, and learned to speak
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
before
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
.
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
Hitler
Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
'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
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, 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
chancellor
Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
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 Kenya
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
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 CNN Chile
Cable News Network Chile (known as CNN Chile and abbreviated as CNN CL) is a Chilean pay television news channel and news website launched on 4 December 2008. It was originally a joint venture between VTR Chile and WarnerMedia. The channel is bas ...
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