Elvira Quintana

Elvira Quintana, one of the most beautiful actresses ever to grace the Mexican movie screen, was born in Bajadoz, Spain, in November 1935. Her father was killed during the Spanish Civil War, and she and her mother fled Spain and emigrated to Mexico as political refugees when she was five. Quintana enrolled in the Instituto Teatral y Cinematográfica de ANDA, the Mexican actors' union acting school, working to pay her tuition money. Even before she completed the three-year course, she was cast in bit parts and as an extra in films. Quintana also worked on the stage and in radio early in her acting career. The young actress had a prominent nose, and she underwent a rhinoplasty to have its size reduced. After her nose-job, her career began to bloom. (She also enlarged her bust by undergoing liquid silicone injections.) Quintana became a star in 1958 with her singing and dancing performance in Bolero inmortal (1958), in which her character becomes a famous stage performer, but who remains romantically unfulfilled. Quintana rarely appeared in "serious" dramatic fare such as the film that made her a star, appearing mostly in rancheras (a Mexican movie genre of ranch-based comedies), contemporary comedies, and Westerns. Quintana's star waxed in 1960s, appearing as a regular on the television show "Noches Tapatías" and making appearances in TV movies and on the radio. She became a top star in musicals, and as a recording artist, she released albums of musical diverse genres. Responding to inquiries on why she had never married, Quintana said she was looking for a "complete gentleman" in her future husband. If she could meet this ideal of a man, she claimed, "I would get married and retire to the peace of home." She never married, as her life was cut short before she could meet her ideal man. Quintana was struck by pancreatitis in the fall of 1967, which developed into kidney problems, necessitating dialysis. Released from the hospital in February 1968, Quintana returned to work, resuming her recording career. She also appeared in 50 chapters of the radio novella "El Hipócrita" for XEW, until she had to suspend her participation due to a renewal of her illness. She would require intermittent hospitalization until her death in the summer of 1968. In June 1968, Quintana began seeking specialist care for her pancreatic and kidney problems. She considered going to the United States for treatment, including a possible kidney transplant, but at the beginning of August, she was again hospitalized. On August 8, 1968, Elvira Quintana suffered a cerebral embolism caused by hypertension related to her kidney problems and died at the age of 33. It was rumored that her fatal illness was caused by the liquid silicone injections she had received. Enlarging the breast through silicone injections required silicone to be injected between the pectoral muscles of the chest wall and the back of the mammary tissues. The problems associated with injections led to the development of breast implants, although a direct cause-and-effect relationship with kidney disease has never been clearly established. Her funeral was attended by many famous people who came to mourn the death of the beautiful actress. Three years after her death, Elvira Quintana's mother had a book of poetry written by her daughter published. "Poesías de Elvira Quintana" contains 200 poems written by Quintana, who had said that poetry-writing was one of her favorite pastimes.