Julia Andre

Consuelo Gracia Vidal aka Julia Andre was one of the younger sisters of Maria Montez aka "The Queen of Technicolor" and she went to Hollywood to make a career under the wing of her famous sister. Consuelo was the daughter of Isidoro Gracia y García, a Spaniard from Garafía, La Palma, Canary Islands (Spain), and Regla María Teresa Vidal y Recio, a Dominican of Criollo descent. She was the 7th child of the couple, her older siblings being Isidoro Rafael (b. 1911), Maria África "Maria Montez" (b. 1912), Aquilino Mario (b. 1914), Joaquín David (b. 1915), Luis Antonio (b. 1923), and Ada "Adita" (b. 1924); and her younger being Jaime (b. 1928), Luz "Lucita" (b. 1929), and Teresita Montez (b. 1930). In 1932 her oldest sister Maria left Barahona to Hollywood and there she became famous. Thanks to this, Maria sent gifts to her family, and her younger sisters Adita, Consuelo and Lucita were the first girls in Barahona to wear the latest fashions. When Maria's husband Jean-Pierre Aumont left Hollywood to fight in the Second World War (1943), Maria decided that her sisters must go to Hollywood and start a career there, so one year later, Lucita, Adita and Consuelo (Teresita was still very young), went to Hollywood where they studied English and dramatic art. The three sisters were very good at it and even Universal Pictures approved that Maria, with Lucita and Consuelo attended together the most important events so everybody may meet them. Maria was very happy to have her sisters under her wing, and they lived together in the same big house, as in the old days in Barahona when they were little. Although Maria put big efforts in her younger sisters to succeed as actresses, they preferred a more classic way of life, and soon found love. Consuelo got married to Universal publicist Kenneth Carter in August 1946. Consuelo had a great Hollywood promotion and in 1947 while being pregnant of her first child, she had a small role in "Pirates of Monterey" but she didn't pursue a film career as she wasn't fluent with the English language. She worked for a short time as a model but she quit as she became mother of four children: Ken (born in 1947 or 1948), William, Jimmy and Cristina. After Maria's premature passing in 1951 aged only 39, Consuelo went to live to Southern California with her family and her sister Adita. In February 2009 she was living in a clinic in Los Angeles as she suffered from Alzheimer's disease. As for 14th January 2012, Consuelo was still alive.