Marisa Paredes

María Luisa Paredes Bartolomé, known professionally as Marisa Paredes, was a towering figure of Spanish cinema whose career spanned more than six decades. Born on 3 April 1946 in Madrid, she made her film debut at the age of fourteen in José María Forqué’s Police Calling 091 (1960) and swiftly became a teen idol across Spain, a status bolstered by her simultaneous entrance onto the theatrical stage in 1961 where she performed in diverse works such as Hamlet alongside Eduard Fernández. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s she cultivated a reputation for versatility, collaborating with auteurs like Agustí Villaronga (In a Glass Cage, 1986), Roberto Benigni (Life Is Beautiful, 1998) and Guillermo del Toro (The Devil’s Backbone, 2001), while also maintaining a prolific presence on television and stage. Her partnership with director Pedro Almodóvar proved especially consequential; he cast her in seminal works including Dark Habits (1983), High Heels (1991), The Flower of My Secret (1995)—for which she earned a Goya nomination for Best Actress—All About My Mother (1999) and The Skin I Live In (2011). Beyond acting, Paredes was honored with Spain’s National Film Award in 1996, presided over the Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España from 2000 to 2003, and received the Nacho Martinez National Film Award at the Gijón International Film Festival in 2007. In her later years she continued to explore new media, appearing in the Atresplayer series Vestidas de azul (2023) and was slated for a posthumous role in Emergency Exit (2025). She passed away from heart failure on 17 December 2024 in Madrid, leaving behind a legacy of artistic integrity, a daughter María Isasi, and an indelible imprint on European film history.