Margarita de las Flores Lozano Jiménez (14 February 1931 – 7 February 2022) was a Spanish actress known for her career in Italian films.[1] She worked for Luis Buñuel in Viridiana, Sergio Leone in A Fistful of Dollars, Pier Paolo Pasolini in Pigsty, the Taviani brothers in The Night of the Shooting Stars, Kaos and Good Morning Babylon; Nanni Moretti in La messa è finita; and in Claude Berri's diptych Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources.

Margarita Lozano
Lozano in Sardinia Kidnapped (1968)
Born
Margarita de las Flores Lozano Jiménez

(1931-02-14)14 February 1931
Died7 February 2022(2022-02-07) (aged 90)
OccupationActress
Years active1953–2007

She worked with the theater director Miguel Narros in Fedra, by Miguel de Unamuno (1957); Three Sisters, by Anton Chekhov (1960); Fröken Julie, by August Strindberg (1961); La camisa, by Lauro Olmo (1962); El caballero de Olmedo, by Lope de Vega and La dama duende, by Pedro Calderón de la Barca.[2]

She returned in 1988 with Miguel Narros in the plays Long Day's Journey into Night, by Eugene O'Neill, and La vita che ti diedi, by Luigi Pirandello.[3][4] In 2007 she made her last appearance in the play La casa de Bernarda Alba, by Federico García Lorca, directed by Amelia Ochandiano.[5][6]

Biography

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Margarita Lozano was born in Tetuán, at that time known as Spanish protectorate of Morocco. Lozano spent her childhood in Lorca (Murcia), where she later returned to establish her residence. She lived in multiple countries such as Germany, Madagascar, Italy, Senegal, and Africa.[7] Lozano claimed that the only reason she left Africa was because her mother became ill and she had to care for her.[7] Her mother would tell her that when she was about age four, Lozano would go behind curtains and say 'The actress is coming out' and in an interview she says that she was born an actress.[8]

Theater and film

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At age 19 Lozano moved to Madrid to study fashion and design. However; she later abandoned this field to become an actress. She quickly became Miguel Narros' preferred actress[citation needed] and starred in multiple plays that were considered risky at the time, such as Fedra, by Miguel de Unamuno (1957); Three Sisters, by Anton Chekhov (1960); Fröken Julie, by August Strindberg (1961); La camisa, by Lauro Olmo (1962); El caballero de Olmedo, by Lope de Vega and La dama duende, by Pedro Calderón de la Barca.[1]

Lozano played secondary film roles for which she won the National Syndicate of the Show for best actress. She won for Viridiana (Luis Buñuel, 1961), in which she portrays Ramona, a maid who secretly drugs the protagonist and sets her up for rape. After 1963, Lozano reduced her activity in Spanish cinema and moved forward with producer Carlo Ponti in Italian cinema.

The film Night of The Shooting Stars by Paolo Taviani got 56 editions published between 1981 and 2016 in four languages, drawing inspiration from their experiences in Nazi-occupied Italy. Margarita Lozano was also part of the Clint Eastwood collection. She appeared in Taviani's Kaos, which tells the story of peasant families struggling to survive amid the pull of the new world.[9]

Later life and death

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Lozano resided in Bagnaia, Viterbo.[10] She died in Lorca on 7 February 2022, at the age of 90, one week before her 91st birthday.[11]

Recognition

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In May 2015 she was named Doctor honoris causa by the Universidad de Murcia.[12]

Prizes include:

  • Best actress National Syndicate of the Show in Un ángel tuvo la culpa (1960).
  • Best Supporting Actress ACE (New York) in La mitad del cielo (1986).
  • Medalla de Oro al Mérito en las Bellas Artes 2018, granted by the government of Spain.

Filmography

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Margarita Lozano". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  2. ^ "Con sendas representaciones de El caballero de Olmedo, de Lope, y La dama duende, de Calderón, culminó el V Festival Internacional de Sevilla" (PDF). Diario ABC (in Spanish). Sevilla: Vocento. 14 October 1958. p. 44. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  3. ^ Bravo, Julio (3 February 1998). "Miguel Narros recupera nuevamente a la actriz Margarita Lozano para el teatro" (PDF). Diario ABC (in Spanish). Madrid: Vocento. p. 95. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  4. ^ Torres, Rosana (4 February 1998). "El regreso de una de las grandes". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  5. ^ Torres, Rosana (2 April 2006). "Que haga teatro no es un gesto de valentía sino de insensatez". El País (in Spanish). Prisa. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  6. ^ Arco, Antonio (6 March 2007). "No me importa la fama, jamás la busqué". La Verdad (in Spanish). Vocento. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  7. ^ a b "Margarita Lozano". La Verdad (in European Spanish). 25 May 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  8. ^ "Entrevista | 'He sido siempre una 'amateur' y lo sigo siendo'". El País (in Spanish). 14 August 2001. ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  9. ^ "Lozano, Margarita 1931-".
  10. ^ Mora, Miguel (14 August 2001). "'He sido siempre una 'amateur' y lo sigo siendo'". El País (in Spanish). Prisa. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  11. ^ Adiós a Margarita Lozano, la actriz más hipnótica del cine español (in Spanish)
  12. ^ Campus Digital (2 May 2015). "La actriz Margarita Lozano, nueva Doctora Honoris Causa por la Universidad de Murcia". Universidad de Murcia (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 October 2018.
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