Isabel Sarli
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Hilda Isabel Gorrindo Sarli (; 9 July 192925 June 2019), nicknamed Coca, was an Argentine actress. She was known for starring in several
sexploitation film A sexploitation film (or sex-exploitation film) is a class of independently produced, low-budget feature film that is generally associated with the 1960s and early 1970s, and that serves largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit se ...
s by
Armando Bó Armando Bó (3 May 19148 October 1981) was an Argentine film actor, director, producer, screenwriter and score composer. He began his career as an actor and producer during the Golden Age of Argentine cinema of the 1930s and 1940s. In 1956, B ...
, especially in the 1960s and 1970s. She began her career as a model, becoming
Miss Argentina Miss Argentina is a national beauty pageant in Argentina, founded in 1928. In 1962, Norma Nolan of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe became the first, and only, Miss Argentina to win the title of Miss Universe. Currently, the competition is managed by ...
and reaching the semi-finals of
Miss Universe 1955 Miss Universe 1955 was the fourth Miss Universe pageant, held at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium in Long Beach, California, United States on 22 July 1955. This was the first time that the pageant was televised. At the end of the event, Miria ...
. She was discovered by Bó in 1956 and made her acting debut the following year with '' Thunder Among the Leaves'', in which a controversial
nude scene In film, nudity may be either graphic or suggestive, such as when a person appears to be naked but is covered by a sheet. Since the birth of film, depictions of any form of sexuality have been controversial, and in the case of most nude scenes, ...
featuring Sarli made it the first film to feature full frontal nudity in
Argentine cinema Cinema of Argentina refers to the film industry based in Argentina. The Argentine cinema comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of Argentina or by Argentine filmmakers abroad. The Argentine film industry has histo ...
. As the muse and protagonist of Bó's films, Sarli became the quintessential
sex symbol A sex symbol or icon is a person or character widely considered sexually attractive and often synonymous with sexuality. Pam Cook, "The trouble with sex: Diana Dors and the Blonde bombshell phenomenon", In: Bruce Babinigton (ed.), ''British St ...
of her country and a popular figure worldwide. After Bó's death in 1981, Sarli virtually retired from acting until the 1990s, when she appeared in a handful of film roles and TV cameos before her death in 2019. Since the year 2000 and onwards, her films have been revalued for their
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and
kitsch ''Kitsch'' ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as Naivety, naïve imitation, overly eccentric, gratuitous or of banal Taste (sociology), taste. The modern avant-garde traditionally opposed kitsch ...
content and are recognised as
cult classic A cult following is a group of Fan (person), fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some List of art media, medium. The latter is often cal ...
s, while Sarli has established herself as a
pop icon A pop icon is a celebrity, character, or object whose exposure in popular culture is regarded as constituting a defining characteristic of a given society or era. The usage of the term is largely subjective since there are no definitively object ...
.


Early life

Hilda Isabel Sarli Gorrindo Tito was born in Concordia,
Entre Ríos Province Entre Ríos (, "Between Rivers") is a Center Region, Argentina, central provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia, Argentina, Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires (so ...
, into a very poor family, as one of the daughters of Antonio Gorrindo and María Elena Sarli. Her father left the family when she was 3 years old. Those he had left behind, including Isabel and her mother, then moved to Buenos Aires. Her youngest sibling, and only brother, died at the age of five. Although, years later, her father tried to contact her, she refused angrily. Sarli trained to become a secretary and, upon completing this training, started working for a publicity agency to support her mother. Then she was offered to work as a model, at which she proved to be so successful that she ended up resigning from her secretarial work. She won an award as the "most photographed model". Contrary to what has sometimes been stated, she was nicknamed "Coca" by her mother.


Career

In 1955 she was chosen
Miss Argentina Miss Argentina is a national beauty pageant in Argentina, founded in 1928. In 1962, Norma Nolan of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe became the first, and only, Miss Argentina to win the title of Miss Universe. Currently, the competition is managed by ...
and met the then Argentinian President,
Juan Domingo Perón ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of '' John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philip ...
. In June 1956, she met
Armando Bó Armando Bó (3 May 19148 October 1981) was an Argentine film actor, director, producer, screenwriter and score composer. He began his career as an actor and producer during the Golden Age of Argentine cinema of the 1930s and 1940s. In 1956, B ...
on a television show. He later offered her the opportunity to star in '' El trueno entre las hojas (Thunder in the Leaves).'' Bó convinced Sarli to be naked in a scene in which she bathed in a lake, though she had previously been told she would wear a flesh-colored body stocking. Bó likewise told Sarli they would shoot from afar and that the camera possessed no facility for magnification. The film became the first to feature full frontal nudity in Argentinian cinema. She went on to become an international Latin American star and made international headlines for the nude scene. She appeared in ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
,'' ''
Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...
,'' and ''
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'' magazines, the first Argentine actress to accomplish that feat. Bó and Sarli became lovers and she became the primary star of his films until his death in 1981. During this time, Sarli refused many offers to work with other directors, with the exception of
Leopoldo Torre Nilsson Leopoldo Torre Nilsson (5 May 1924 – 8 September 1978), also known as Leo Towers and as Babsy, was an cinema of Argentina, Argentine film director, producer and screenwriter. Born as Leopoldo Torres Nilsson (he later changed his paternal s ...
on '' Setenta veces siete (The Female: Seventy Times Seven)'' and Dirk DeVilliers on ''The Virgin Goddess'', her only English language film. Bó's films were controversial at the time and most of them were banned, but this ban led them to be even more successful. Films like '' Fuego'' (1969) and '' Fiebre'' (1970) reached the American and European markets. She received offers to work in the United States with
Robert Aldrich Robert Burgess Aldrich (August 9, 1918 – December 5, 1983) was an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. An iconoclastic and maverick '' auteur'' working in many genres during the Golden Age of Hollywood, he directed main ...
, along with two offers extended to her from the United Kingdom, to appear in the Hammer Film production ''
The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll ''The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll'' (released in the US as ''House of Fright'') is a 1960 British horror film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Paul Massie, Dawn Addams, Christopher Lee and Oliver Reed. It was produced by Michael Carreras ...
'' and the American co-production '' The Guns of Navarone'', but she declined them; Sarli chose to work instead in Latin America, although always under Bó's direction: she made ''La Diosa Impura'' in México, '' Lujuria tropical'' in Venezuela, ''Desnuda en la arena'' in Panamá, ''La Burrerita de Ypacaraí'' in Paraguay and ''Favela'' and ''
La Leona La Leona may refer to: * Parque La Leona, a park in Honduras *La Leona River The La Leona River is a river of Patagonia, Argentina. It flows in the eastern part of the Los Glaciares National Park. It has its origin in southeast Lake Viedma and wi ...
'' in Brazil. Following Bó's death in 1981, Sarli retired from the cinema industry altogether but came back in the mid-'90s for
Jorge Polaco Jorge Polaco (20 November 1946 – 20 February 2014) was an Argentine film director and screenwriter. His 1987 film '' En el nombre del hijo'' won Best Film at the 1988 Festroia International Film Festival in Setúbal, Portugal. Career After ...
's
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film, ''La Dama Regresa'' (1996). The film was inspired largely by her life and her public image, serving as an homage of sorts. In 2009 she teamed once more with Polaco in '' Arróz con Leche'' for a
bit part In acting, a bit part is a role in which there is direct interaction with the principal actors and no more than five lines of dialogue, often referred to as a five-or-less or under-five in the United States, or under sixes in British televisio ...
. In 2011, she starred in the movie '' Mis días con Gloria'', where she played a character based on herself. The film was her first major role since ''La Dama Regresa'' in 1996. In a later radio interview, Sarli said the film did not do well at the box office because of the poor promotion it had received.


Personal life

Before meeting Bó, Sarli was married to Ralph Heinlein and later divorced. Contrary to popular belief, Bó and Sarli never married. Sarli had two adopted children, Martin and Isabelita, who was her goddaughter. In June 2016, she and her daughter Isabelita were living in
Martínez, Buenos Aires Martínez is a city in San Isidro Partido, Buenos Aires Province. It is part of Greater Buenos Aires, and effectively a suburb of Buenos Aires. It is served by a commuter train service, the Tren Mitre, also the Tren de la Costa tourist railway li ...
. Sarli was very close to her mother, who refused to leave Argentina; this prevented her from accepting major offers such as Hollywood contracts and an invitation from
Christian Dior Christian Ernest Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer and founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Dior, Christian Dior SE. His fashion house is known all around the world, having gained promi ...
.


Recognition

In 2007, Argentinian film critic Diego Curubeto made the documentary ''Carne sobre carne – Intimidades de Isabel Sarli'' (Flesh on Flesh – Isabel Sarli's Personal Matters), with the collaboration of Isabel, Argentine actor
Gastón Pauls Gastón Pauls (born January 17, 1972) is an Argentine actor, TV host and producer. Biography Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Pauls comes from a family of artists. His mother was a painter, his father a film producer, and his paternal grandpa ...
and Spanish director Álex de la Iglesia. It is a well-received homage that includes deleted scenes from her films, censored material, rehearsals, anecdotes and interviews. On 12 October 2012, it was reported that the Argentine President
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and former politician who served as the 56th president of Argentina from 2007 to 2015, and later as the 37th Vice ...
had named Sarli as Argentinian Ambassador of Popular Culture. The ''
Boletín Oficial de la República Argentina The Boletín Oficial de la República Argentina is the government gazette of the Argentine Republic, on which the Argentine State publishes its legal norms such as laws, decrees and regulations, as well as other public acts from the executive and ...
'', under Decree 1876/2012, stated: ::"Isabel Sarli is considered a true representative of the national culture, as much for her acting skills in films as for being considered a popular icon of her day and an emblematic figure of Argentine cinema." In 2010, the movie ''Fuego'' premiered at the
Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5  ...
in New York, where it was shown with English subtitles. This showing was covered in ''Time Magazine'' by its then film critic
Richard Corliss Richard Nelson Corliss (March 6, 1944 – April 23, 2015) was an American film critic and magazine editor for ''Time''. He focused on movies, with occasional articles on other subjects. He was the former editor-in-chief of ''Film Comment ...
in his piece "Isabel Sarli: A Sex Bomb at Lincoln Center".“Isabel Sarli: A Sex Bomb at Lincoln Center”
''Time''. Retrieved 5 October 2020
The popular expression "What do you want from me?", erroneously believed to have been spoken by Sarli in the movie ''Carne'' (1968), has become a catchphrase in Argentina. In fact, the line was originally used for the movie ''...y el Demonio creó a los hombres''. Film director
John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...
has stated several times that Sarli's movies have inspired some of his own films. In April 2018, Waters presented ''Fuego'' in Argentina and met Sarli.


Filmography


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarli, Isabel 1929 births 2019 deaths People from Concordia, Entre Ríos 20th-century Argentine actresses 20th-century Argentine women 21st-century Argentine actresses 21st-century Argentine women Argentine female models Argentine film actresses Argentine people of Basque descent Argentine people of Italian descent Glamour models Miss Universe 1955 contestants People from Entre Ríos Province Age controversies