Maribel Guardia (; born Maribel Del Rocío Fernández García on May 29, 1959) is a Costa Rica and Mexican actress and beauty pageant titleholder. She was the winner of Miss Costa Rica 1978 and a contestant in

Miss Universe 1978 Miss Universe 1978 was the 27th Miss Universe pageant, held on 24 July 1978 at the Centro de Convenciones de Acapulco in Acapulco, Mexico. It was the first time in the pageant's history that the event was held in Mexico. Margaret Gardiner of S ...

Miss Universe and Miss World

Guardia was elected Miss Costa Rica in 1978, going on to represent her country at the

beauty pageant (did not place but was selected as Miss Photogenic) and the Miss World 1978 beauty pageant (placed as a top 15 semi-finalist). The Miss Universe pageant had been held in

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...

. She received offers by

Televisa Grupo Televisa, S.A.B., simply known as Televisa, is a Mexican telecommunications and broadcasting company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content. In April ...

producer Sergio Bustamante to develop a career there, but she returned to her country. Months later, she accepted the offer and returned to Mexico, leaving her mother and boyfriend.

Acting and singing career

Guardia moved to Mexico in 1980, which proved crucial for her show business career. In 1980, she appeared in her first television show alongside Manuel "El Loco" Valdés. Guardia went on to make multiple

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar Drama (film and television), drama genres around the w ...

s (soap operas) and release a series of

albums An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

in the Norteño music genre. She has been signed to three different labels since her debut album was released in 1988: first with

Musart Records Discos Musart, known as Musart Records in English, is a Mexican record label founded in 1948 in Mexico City. It is headquartered in Miami, FL and is a leading independent producer, publisher and distributor of Latin music, managing over 72,000 cop ...

, then from the late-1990s until the mid-2000s with

Fonovisa Records Fonovisa Records is an American Spanish language record label founded in 1984 by Guillermo Santiso as a subsidiary of Televisa. Its former name before being acquired by Televisa in 1984 was Profono Internacional, which was founded in 1978. Fonov ...

, and in recent years with EMI Televisa Music in Latin America and

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

in the United States. Guardia has acted alongside important actors, including Andrés García, Saul Lisazo, and

Joan Sebastian José Manuel Figueroa Sr. (April 8, 1951 – July 13, 2015), known professionally as Joan Sebastian (), was a Mexican singer and songwriter. Born in Juliantla, Guerrero, he composed more than 1,000 songs, including compositions for artists such ...

. One of her major soap opera hits was alongside Sebastian. Together, they filmed '' Tú y yo''. One film where she acted alongside Andrés García was '' Pedro Navaja'', where she played the main character's wife. She also did a film called '' El Rey de Los Taxistas'' alongside Luis de Alba. She and another ''El Rey de Los Taxistas'' co-star,

Aida Pierce Aida María Zerecero Pierce (born August 15, 1956, Acapulco, Guerrero) is a Mexican actress and comedian, best known internationally for her work on various telenovelas and comedy series that have aired on Televisa over the years. Most of her t ...

, would work together again in the telenovela '' Serafin.'' Additionally, she has done telenovelas for children. In 2006, she also did a

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

called '' ¡Qué madre tan padre!'' and the variety show ''Muévete.'' In 2007, she was included in the book ''Televisa Presenta,'' commemorating fifty years of network television in Mexico. In 2008, she released a new album; the leading single is "De Pecho A Pecho" (''From Chest To Chest'') written by the Nicaraguan composer, songwriter, and singer

Hernaldo Zúñiga Hernaldo Zúñiga (born June 2, 1955) is a Nicaraguan singer-songwriter. He was born in Managua, but spent his childhood and adolescence in Masaya. Career While he was studying in Chile, in 1973, Zúñiga recorded his first 45 rpm single with ...

. Apart from her acting and singing jobs, she has also modeled for various calendars and magazines sold to her fans. Guardia also dated Jose Trujillo in the late 1970s. Since late 2010, she has married Marco Chacón and lived with her son in Mexico City. Guardia has been inducted into the Paseo de las Luminarias in Mexico City. In January 2010, she announced that she had worked all of 2009 on a new studio album, set to be released on February 13, 2010, under

EMI Music EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), c ...

, titled "Move You On – Muévete", which contained 12 tracks recorded in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, eight tracks were in Spanish, the other four were in English.

Personal life

Guardia lived with

for five years and had a son with him, Julián Figueroa. In her personal life, Maribel Guardia has faced various challenges. Julián Figueroa followed in his parents' footsteps and pursued a music career. On 9 April 2023, Julián Figueroa was found dead at his home at the age of 27. Maribel Guardia has been married to Marco Chacón since 2010.

Television

References

External links

*
Official website, Maribel Guardia
*

@esmas.com
Maribel Guardia Pictures
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guardia, Maribel 1959 births Living people Actresses from San José, Costa Rica Costa Rican beauty pageant winners Costa Rican emigrants to Mexico Costa Rican expatriates in Mexico Costa Rican expatriates in the United States Costa Rican female models Costa Rican film actresses Costa Rican stage actresses Costa Rican television actresses Costa Rican women singers Mexican female models Mexican telenovela actresses Mexican television presenters Mexican television talk show hosts Mexican vedettes Mexican women television presenters Miss Universe 1978 contestants Miss World 1978 delegates 20th-century Mexican actresses 21st-century Mexican actresses