María Félix – Bio, Married, Spouse, Siblings, Children, How Did She Die?

Quick Facts

María Félix was a well known Mexican actress cum singer in her era, who was in the film industry for many years and had featured in several movies with top actors alongside working with acclaimed film directors. She made name for herself as a film icon not only in her home of Mexico but also across Europe and beyond before she died in 2002 after suffering from a heart disease.

Who is María Félix?

María Félix was born in 1914 on the 8th of April to be precise in Álamos, Sonora, Mexico, and her full birth name was María de los Angeles Félix Güereña. Her family from Àlamos to Guadalajara, where she started studying at the University of Guadalajara. As she grew up, María’s beauty became very noticeable and she was even the beauty queen of the University of Guadalajara. Upon graduation, she commenced work as the secretary to a plastic surgeon.

It was by chance that she came into the acting world as she is said to have met a Fernando Palacios, a filmmaker and a director one fateful day on her way back home from work. He asked her if she would love to act but her response then showed that she wasn’t ready so Fernando had to convince her to start acting and coached her into becoming a professional actress. María Félix eventually became famous for her role in the movie Doña Bárbara where she was cast as La Doña in 1943 and the movie was shot in Venezuela with both Mexican and Venezuelan actors.

She also featured in three films for famous Mexican directors like Emilio Fernández, Enamorada, Río Escondido, and Maclovia. María made cinema appearance around the world in European countries like Spain, Argentina, France, and Italy. However, the Mexican movie was known to have declined the film offers that came in for her from Hollywood as she never found a role that interested her from all the offers.

Aside from her acting career, María Félix is a model and a singer who has modeled for well-known painters and she has several songs to her credit like Por qué negar, Gotas de Amor, Cada Noche un Amor, Rival, Solamente Una Vez, Silencio, Et maintenant, Je l’aime à mourir, Prends garde, amongst others.

Family: Siblings

María was born and raised in Álamos to as the daughter of Bernardo Félix Flores, an army officer, and Josefina Güereña Rosas. María’s family was a pretty large one as her parents had eleven other children namely; Josefina, de la Paz, Pablo, Bernardo, Miguel, María de las Mercedes, Fernando, Victoria Eugenia, Ricardo, Benjamín and Ana María del Sacramento.

Not much is known about her family life but she is said to have developed a very strong bond with her brother, Pablo which her mother became uncomfortable with and had to separate them by sending the Pablo to a Military College in Mexico.

Spouse, Children

The pretty Mexican actress got married to four different men during her lifetime. Her first husband was Enrique Álvarez Alatorre, who worked in a cosmetic shop as the sales attendant. The pair was said to have met during María’s days at the University of Guadalajara and the union was blessed with a son named Enrique Álvarez Félix. However, the film star and Enrique did not live happily ever after as they officially got divorced in 1937 and their son who later became a popular actor like his mum died in 1996.

María Félix got married for the second time in 1945 to Agustín Lara, a Mexican music writer but the marriage ended barely after two years into it. After her divorce with Lara, she moved on with her life and subsequently falling head-over-heels for her old-time enemy turned friend, Jorge Negrete, a Mexican singer and actor. Jorge and María got married in 1953 but the marriage didn’t last for long because Jorge died barely a year after their marriage.

Three years after the death of Jorge, she got married for the fourth time in 1956 to Alexander Berger, a Romanian-French Banker. The couple seemed happy together and María even got pregnant for Alexander but lost the baby in a miscarriage while she was shooting a movie in 1957. The pair had 18 years of blissful marriage until Alexander’s demise due to lung cancer in 1974.

Death: How Did María Félix Die?

The unfortunate death of the beautiful Mexican actress occurred on her birth date in 2002 as it was reported that she passed on in her sleep. Her burial ceremony was held in her hometown of Mexico and she was buried in her family’s burial site.

Also Read: Top 10 Richest People in the world with full biography and details.