Along with Gracita Morales and Rafaela Aparicio,
Florinda Chico
was one of the film maids most loved by viewers.
Last year marked a decade since the actress,
born in Don Benito
(Extremadura) in 1926, died of
cardiac arrest
at the age of 84.
And this Thursday she has paid an emotional tribute to her in the Madrid neighborhood of Arganzuela, where she lived for several decades, with the placement of a plaque precisely on the facade of what was her home.
After losing her father, she left her studies to work as a
typist at ONCE,
but since the money was insufficient, she combined it as a
seamstress for
wedding dress alterations and at night as
an ice cream vendor.
To know more
Grace Morales.
His niece speaks: "Some nuns took my aunt's inheritance"
Drafting: LUIS FERNANDO ROMO
His niece speaks: "Some nuns took my aunt's inheritance"
Paco Martinez Soria.
His hidden side: "He was more millionaire than his son can remember"
Drafting: LUIS FERNANDO ROMO
His hidden side: "He was more millionaire than his son can remember"
Until she was 14 years old, she
was so skinny and ugly
that when she walked with her sisters, people asked her parents who she was.
But at 15 she began to open her chrysalis to become a
beautiful woman with spectacular legs,
but those guarantees were useless when two years later she experienced
her first love disappointment
because her boyfriend had left her for be poor.
"And that was like a luxury train, even the clocks stopped," she recalled decades later.
At the age of 20, he arrived on a train in third class to get to know Madrid and attend the baptism of a nephew, where
the teacher Guerrero was also present.
He stared at her because he thought she was a theater actress, but when he received a negative response, he
summoned her to the La Latina theater
the next day where she was hired as
an ensemble girl
in the play
La blanca doble
(1947) together with the trio comic Zori, Santos and Codeso.
The plaque that honors the actress placed this Thursday on the facade of what was her home.GTRES
Her beauty captivated the queen of the magazine
Celia Gámez, who incorporated her into her company
and a few years later, the legendary
María Fernanda Ladrón de Guevara
-mother of Amparo Rivelles and Carlos Larrañaga- discovered her as a dramatic actress when Florinda's husband, who had been hired as a gallant, José María Labernié, spoke of his good acting skills.
The result was seen in
La papirusa
(1956).
In life, she was always moved when she spoke of Doña María Fernanda, "for me she was always doña" -she humbly assured- because she knew how to glimpse her talent.
Despite being somewhat prudish, in 1950
she married Labernié pregnant
, whom she called
well done
, and a few months
later María Teresa was born.
The economic situation of the family was so tight that they
lived in a sublet in a room
with the right to a kitchen, so they had to send the little girl to Don Benito in the care of her grandmother.
From left to right: Pedro Lazaga, Florinda Chico, Sebastián Palomo Linares and Paco Martínez Soria.GTRES
In 1955 their second daughter, Paloma, was born.
The marriage fell apart in 1963 when
Labernié was unfaithful to him with a minor
and abandoned her family for her.
That plunged her into a strong
depression
that led her to gradually gain weight.
In time
, forgiveness and divorce
came as soon as the law was passed.
Good news because
since 1977 she was in love with an electrician
from Lina Morgan's company named Santos Pumar,
23 years younger
than her, whom he married in 1989.
Shortly after, he was the manager of Florinda's company.
She always considered herself a bit old-fashioned in love because
she was so conventional
and a one-man woman.
She went out of her way for her two daughters who gave her wonderful grandchildren who made her life happy: "They are like toys," she said.
Florinda
was a mischievous vedette
who intelligently avoided censorship, her verbiage made her famous among the public, she dared with flamenco and music-hall and starred in dramas at the María Guerrero and the Español.
But
television was what gave him national fame
after forming a couple with Rafaela Aparicio as servants in
La casa de los Martínez
(1966).
The actress from Extremadura and her second husband, Santos Pumar.GTRES
From that moment on, his presence in the cinema as a luxury secondary was very common.
Ozores
directed it on 22 occasions and with Paco Martínez Soria he starred in another eight, the best known being
Abuelo made in Spain
(1969),
El calzonazos
(1974),
Los bingueros
(1979) or
El cura ya está haber son
(1984).
Carlos Saura
showed an unknown side of her in
Cría cuervos
(1975).
His last great success on television was
La casa de los lios
(1996-2000)
with Arturo Fernández and Lola Herrera.
Among the numerous awards he won, the Gold Medal for Merit at Work (1997) and for Merit in Fine Arts (2002), the Gold TP for his career, the Ercilla for a lifetime dedicated to theater or the Medalla of Extremadura.
The little free time he had, he loved
collecting pillboxes,
he was a lover of astrology and he was lost in literature, especially the stories of
Gabriel García Márquez
, whom he continually reread.
As a good Taurus, she was
stubborn
, a lover of earthly pleasures without hurting anyone, she had her feet on the ground, she always knew what she wanted and she loved flattery, but she hated balls.
He worked in what he wanted and made very
good friends among the people in the profession
because his optimistic, smiling and cheerful mood was contagious.
She always took pride in having been a self-made woman who felt poverty, so for her to
steal from her was not a sin if it was done out of necessity.
He adored
King Juan Carlos I
, he was a right-wing supporter, he said the tacos with great grace, he loved being tarot-tested and made astral charts, his great frustrated love was Marlon Brando, of whom he had a photo in his dressing room, and Before she died, she said that she would like
to be remembered as a good woman.
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