From an early age Dolores Del Río was involved in the arts, especially dancing and singing, done as family divertissements in the confines of the good taste of that period. As a preadolescent girl she sat for a portrait by Alfredo Ramos Martínez*, but her first foray in a more public platform was posing for Diego Rivera as Justice in his first mural La creación, 1922, at the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria in México City. Her participation was considered scandalous by the élite of which she was a member by family origin and by marriage

Del Río became a star of Hollywood's golden age with her first leading role in Raoul Walsh's What Price Glory? (1926), a film that established her as a star of the first order. During the rest of the 20's she garnered critical acclaim for her intense portrayals in a variety of roles. With the advent of the talkies the parts given her veered more to the éxotique, starting with The Bad One (1930), then following with Bird of Paradise (1932), Flying Down to Rio (1933), a film in which she introduced the two-piece bathing suit, and Madame Du Barry (1934). She acted in many other movies in the 30's until, tired of being typecast, she left Hollywood after having played the leading lady in Orson Welles' life as well as in his Journey into Fear (1942.)

Back in her native Mexico she soon took an active role in the film industry of that country. There Del Río joined a creative group of artists and soon was playing more complex and challenging roles that afforded her a better space to use her talent. Her María Candelaria (1943) put Mexican cinema in the world map when this film received several international awards. She followed with successful roles in film and on stage in Mexico as well as sporadic returns to Hollywood as a guest star, like in John Ford's The Fugitive (1947) and Cheyenne Autumn (1964) or the Elvis Presley vehicle Flaming Star (1960.) She also took parts in the cinemas of Great Britain, Argentina, Spain and Italy.

[She was chosen to guest star in High Noon (1952), however, this being the height of the House Un-American Activities Committee’s witch hunt, she had to be investigated thoroughly before being allowed back in the country. She had to explain her having been instrumental in the formation of the Mexican actors union, her endorsement of the peace movement, and her close association with members of her creative film team - some self-avowed Communists- but in spite of her convincing protestations, she did not get clearance in time to show up for work. (Please note that I haven’t corroborated this anecdote.)]

She remained active into her later years in the cultural and social life of México. She dedicated a lot of energy to support a children's home without neglecting her film career, playing her last role in The Children of Sánchez (1977.)

Her first documented participation in public art was as a model for a mural in Mexico City, and her posthumous starring role is in another: the Dolores Del Río mural in Hollywood.

Dolores Del Río
(1904 Durango, Durango, México - 1983 Newport Beach, California, USA)
*Alfredo Ramos Martínez (1872, Monterrey, Nuevo León, México - 1946, Hollywood, California, USA)