María Jesús Lampreave Pérez (11 December 1930 – 4 April 2016), known professionally as Chus Lampreave, was a Spanish character actress who starred in more than 70 films. She is known internationally for her roles in films by

Pedro Almodóvar Pedro Almodóvar Caballero (; born 25 September 1949) is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and author. His films are distinguished by Melodrama (film genre), melodrama, irreverent humour, bold colour, glossy décor, quotations from popular c ...

Career

Lampreave was born in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. She planned on being a painter and studied at the

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (RABASF; ), located on the Calle de Alcalá in the centre of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal aca ...

, after which she worked as an illustrator for the publishing firm. It had not been her intention to become an actress, but was discovered by Jaime de Armiñán and began appearing in films in 1959. Her first work with

was in '' Entre tinieblas'' (1983). In total, Lampreave appeared in eight of his films. Almodóvar is known for his recurring use of certain actresses; they are referred to as the " Almodóvar girls". While Lampreave never played a leading role, she would come to be known as Spain's most popular supporting actress. She was known for playing old ladies, usually eccentric relatives, that sported extremely thick glasses. She was recognized for the humor and humanity she contributed to her characters. Among Lampreave's last roles was as the face of three advertising campaigns for Campofrío '' embutido'' sausages.

Personal life

Lampreave married in 1960. She had a son, who is a biologist, and a daughter who died in the 1990s after an illness. She spent the last few years of her life away from the spotlight in

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of Almería, province of the same name. It lies in southeastern Iberian Peninsula, Iberia on the Mediterranean S ...

in the south of Spain. She died in 2016 the age of 85.

Filmography

Television

* ''Lo+Plus'' (1997) *''Hermanas'' (1998)

Awards

* Premio Goya (1992) * Fotogramas de Plata (2005) * Spanish Actors Union Awards (2006)Chus Lampreave se llevó mejor actriz de reparto
lasemana.es; accessed 20 March 2016. *

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

(2006): Best actress together with the rest of female cast of ''

Volver ''Volver'' (, meaning "to return") is a 2006 Spanish comedy-drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo, Yohana Cobo, and ...

List of awards and nominations

;

Goya Awards The Goya Awards () are Spain's main national annual film awards. They are presented by the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain. The first ceremony was held in 1987, a year after the founding of the Academy of Cinematographic Ar ...

; Fotogramas de Plata ; Spanish Actors Union Awards ;Awards by the Ministry of Culture *

Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts The Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts () is awarded by the Ministry of Culture and Sport of Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featurin ...

, 2001

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lampreave, Chus 1930 births 2016 deaths Spanish television actresses Spanish film actresses Actresses from Madrid Best Supporting Actress Goya Award winners Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress winners 20th-century Spanish actresses 21st-century Spanish actresses