Olga Zubarry (30 October 1929 – 15 December 2012) was an Argentine actress who appeared in film between 1943 and 1997. She made over 60 appearances in film, spanning six decades of Argentine cinema, but is best known for her work during the Golden Age of Argentine Cinema. Throughout the course of her career, she received four Silver Condor Awards, two Martín Fierro Awards, a Konex Foundation Award and several others for her films and television performances. She is credited with starring in the first film in Argentina which featured nudity, though only her back was shown and she stated repeatedly that she wore a flesh-colored mesh and was not truly nude.
Biography
Olga Adela Zubiarriaín was born on 30 October 1929[1][2] in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Parque de los Patricios.[3] She attended 3 years at the Liceo Nacional de Señoritas Nº1 José Figueroa Alcorta, but quit school when her acting career began.[4]
In 1955 she played the main character of the same name in Marianela, under director Julio Porter.[5] It won herthe Film Critics Association Silver Condor Award for Best Actress of 1955.[10][11] In 1959 she starred in La sangre y la semilla, a historical film set in 1870 during the War of the Triple Alliance and shot in Itauguá and Capiatá, Paraguay.[15] In 1961 she appeared in the role of "Salui" in "Hijo de hombre", one of her personal favorites,[5] which was an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Paraguayan writer Augusto Roa Bastos and directed by Lucas Demare[16] and with Spanish actor Francisco Rabal.[5] She won a "Concha de Oro" (Golden Shell) at the San Sebastian Festival for her work on the film.[1][17]
Zubarry at the premier of the Berlin (Germany) Film Festival in 1961. Left to right: unknown woman, Isabel Sarli, Zubarry, Tita Merello, unknown actress in second row and Mirtha Legrand.
Beginning in the early 1970s, she started doing television. Her television debut was with the series La comedia de la noche, and she followed that with Alta comedia, Nosotros y los miedos, Situación límite, Atreverse, El precio del poder, El Sillón de Rivadavia[10] and "Fulanas y menganas".[5] She earned two Martín Fierro Awards, one in 1972 for "Alta Comedia" and one in 1988 for "De Fulanas y Menganas".[10][17] In 1991, Zubarry received a Diploma of Merit from the Konex Foundation for best dramatic actress in radio and television.[10]
In 1997, she won the Silver Condor Award for Best Supporting Actress for "Plaza de almas" and retired. She said, "You have to retire at the right time."[3] The following year, she won the ACE award for Best Actress for the same film.[17]
Beginning in 1983 she served as matron to two MAMA (Mis Alumnos Más Amigos) homes. The organization is an NGO, which provides homes for street children, giving them a pace to live, study and train for employment.[4][11] She was also a staunch fan of the Club Atlético Huracán (Hurricane Football Club of Buenos Aires).[3]
She died in Buenos Aires on 15 December 2012, aged 83.[3]
Awards
1946: Silver Condor Award of the Film Critics Association for Best New Actress for "El ángel desnudo"[10][11]
1953: Silver Condor Award of the Film Critics Association for Best Actress for "El vampiro negro"[2][10]
1955: Silver Condor Award of the Film Critics Association for Best Actress for "Marianela".[2][10][11]
1961: Spanish American Award "Concha de Oro" (Golden Shell) at the San Sebastian Festival for "Hijo de hombre"[1][10][17]
1972: Martín Fierro APTRA Award as best actress for "Alta Comedia"[10][17]
1983: Santa Clara de Asis Award for "El sillón de Rivadavia"[2]
1988: Martín Fierro Protagonista Award for best female performance for "De Fulanas y Menganas"[2][10][17]
1991: Konex Diploma of Merit for best dramatic actress in radio and television[10][17]
^ abcdefg"Adiós a Olga Zubarry" (in Spanish). Neuquén, Argentina: La Mañana Neuquen. 16 December 2012. Archived from the original on 1 June 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
^ abcdef"Olga Zubarry". Patricios Parque (in Spanish). Parque Patricios, Buenos Aires, Argentina: Parque Patricios. Archived from the original on 27 June 2008. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
^"Yo quiero una mujer así [videograbación]". Sistema de Gestión Bibliotecaria (in Spanish). Caracas, Venezuela: Catálogo Público de la Biblioteca Nacional de Venezuela. Archived from the original on 14 November 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
^Martínez Para, Adolfo C. (17 September 2003). "A 50 años de "El vampiro negro"" (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina: La Nacion. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
^"Actress Olga Zubarry dies, 82" (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina: The Buenos Aires Herald. Télam. 16 December 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
^ abcdefghi"Zubarry, Olga". Nuestros Actores (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2015.