In recent years, it has been said time and time again that Silvia Pinal She was about to die, and time and time again, she left the hospital with her smile intact and showing that she was still the strong and brave woman who conquered the world with her talent. The diva of Mexican golden cinemaand muse of Luis Buñuel, was not only a living legend, but the “matriarch” of her family. However, this November 28, the curtain closed on her, at the age of ninety-three. She is survived by her daughters, actress Sylvia Pasquel and singer Alejandra Guzmán; his son, Luis Enrique; his granddaughters Stephanie Salas and Frida Sofía; and his great-granddaughters, Michelle Salas – the daughter that Luis Miguel had with Stephanie Salas when they were both very young – and Camila Valero.
© Getty ImagesOne of the first people to say goodbye to the Mexican actress was Paloma Cuevas. Silvia Pinal, as we have already mentioned, She was the great-grandmother of Michelle Salas, the daughter of El Sol: “Goodbye, Silvia. Your legacy will be eternal due to your immeasurable talent, which leaves an indelible mark on the world of culture. We will always remember you” the businesswoman and designer wrote on her social networks. As a curious fact, Silvia Pinal remembered Victoriano Valencia, Paloma Cuevas’s father, with great affection: “I have very good memories of Victoriano.”
© GettyimagesViridiana’s “curse”
In one of the last interviews that Silvia Pinal gave to ¡HOLA!, on the occasion of the launch of her memoirs (This is me), when asked if there was anything she regretted in her life, she responded with overwhelming confidence: “ Regret? No. How ugly! With everything I have experienced, I am very happy and grateful.” Her beauty, but perhaps even more so, her personality, made her fame rise slowly but surely for decades. In 1955, the fabulous muralist Diego Rivera – Frida Kahlo’s husband – painted a portrait of her that hangs to this day on the main wall of Silvia Pinal’s house. As he told us in his day, when she asked him how much he owed her for that extraordinary canvas, the painter replied: “Well… notice, no. Since today is your saint’s day, how about I give it to you? “That’s how he ended up giving me that painting that he had painted for me for weeks.” In 1959, Silvia Pinal was claimed by none other than the Italian director Vittorio de Sicca. After, she met Luis Buñuel and everything changed for her. The genius from Calanda, a Mexican national since 1948, met Silvia Pinal for the first time in a prestigious hotel in Madrid. The person in charge of presenting them was the actor Francisco Rabal. “What I am going to say is very vanity,” he revealed years later, “but I chose Luis Buñuel, not he me. When I met his work, I loved it, I fell in love with his cinema, his black humor, his way of being and his little one would not rest until it was directed by him… And I did it! On that first date, Silvia Pinal, who arrived with her husband, Gustavo Alatriste, proposed the production of “Viridiana”. The Aragonese filmmaker was reluctant at first. What’s more, he asked the Mexican star if he had any producers interested in the project. “I have, Don Luis. Here, my husband.” When Luis Buñel asked her why her husband would want to spend so much money, she simply responded: “Because he loves me, Don Luis.” The role was his.
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© GtresHowever, the title of that film, which brought him so much joy – it won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Festival – was also a cursed word in his family. His beloved daughter, whom he baptized Viridiana, died in a car accident when she was nineteen years old.but the misfortune linked to that man had not yet ended in his family. Sylvia Pasquel baptized her daughter with the same name as her sister. Little Viridiana Frade died at the age of two after drowning in a pool. Despite all of the above, Pinal continued to remember Luis Buñuel and the film that made him famous with immense affection: “He changed my life,” he declared in 2017.
Memories of a matriarchy
“From the moment my grandfather died, my family became a matriarchy, and remains so to this day. For one reason or another, we women have had to be the providers and in charge of supporting our families,” the actress shared in her memoirs. He maintained this matriarchy until his last breath. A decade ago, the diva of Mexican cinema opened the doors of her house to us and posed with all the strong women who have been born there: “In our family it is very common for women to arrive,” she revealed to us. There is only one man: my son. When I went to the hospital to give birth, I always went with earrings so that, as soon as I was born, they would put the ‘earrings’ on them. The day Luis Enrique was born, his father told me: ‘This time, keep your earrings.’” He dedicated many kind words to his great-granddaughter, Michelle Salas: “She is a beautiful girl, hard-working and very feisty. Nothing has been trusted. Being who she is, she could have abused or asked, but she preferred to get ahead with her means… and she has done it very well!”
© GettyimagesIt was not easy for any of these women to live under the shadow of a myth, as their daughter Sylvia Pasquel explained to us: “Being the daughter of an icon has many stages. At first, I felt very lonely. My mother was a very talented young woman. He was just starting out and traveled a lot to shoot his films. She tried to cover this aspect by bringing my grandmother or my cousins, but the truth is that the mother figure was away from home a lot. Later, there came a stage in which they told me: ‘Don’t be an actress, because you will never be able to reach your mother.’ She is a monster! They will always compare you to her.’ Then, you realize that we are all compared to everyone else.”
© Getty ImagesThe case of Alejandra Guzmán
Silvia Pinal’s influence was so strong, inside and outside her family, that all of her descendants are dedicated to the world of entertainment, some in the world of cinema – recently her great-granddaughter, Camila Valero, has joined this field; others to the world of fashion, like Michelle; some to cinema and theater, like her daughter Sylvia, and finally others to the world of music like her granddaughter Stephanie Salas and her daughter, Alejandra Guzmán, better known in her native country as “The Queen of Hearts”, who followed not only the trail of his mother, but also that of his father, Enrique Guzmán, one of the first rockers in Mexico.
© Getty ImagesHer marriage to Enrique Guzmán was, at first, very high-profile and idyllic, but as the actress said many years later, it ended like a real nightmare. “At the first blow I had to make the decision and leave. However, there was something that I did not lose and that I held on to: my discipline, my job and, of course, my children.” Both Alejandra and Luis Enrique are the fruit of this marriage that cost Silvia Pinal so many tears: “Although it is already over, it is a situation that saddens and hurts me.” Fifty years after what happened, the singer confirmed that on one occasion “I disrespected the lady.” Alejandra Guzmán lived a rebellious adolescence and devoted herself to music. For years, she has been one of the most successful artists in her country and throughout Latin America. Many women with explosive personalities have emerged from the Pinal “matriarchy.” They have followed their instinct to embark on the path they wanted, but in the important moments they have remained united. On one occasion, Michelle Salas asked her great-grandmother why she had so much energy and vitality. Silvia Pinal responded: “Because I work on what I love.” With that love for his profession and his loved ones he made it to the last day.