Skip to main content
Smithsonian Institution
Because of Her Story Because of Her Story
Search
Close
Menu
Close
  • About
  • News
  • Her Story
  • Events
  • Exhibitions
  • Collections
  • Search
    Close
  • Subscribe
  • Donate
    • Donate Now
    • Make a Gift in Honor or Memory of Someone
    • Other Ways to Give
Entertainment

A Latina Star and Hollywood Success

Mexican actor Dolores del Río's rapid rise in American film

“If I ever see my name in incandescent lights, I know I will walk around the block five times to look at it, I will be so thrilled.” So declared 22-year-old Mexican actress Dolores del Río (1904–1983) to the Los Angeles Times in a 1926 article. As she said those words, they were becoming reality. That year she was selected by Fox Film Corporation to play her first leading role, the French barmaid Charmaine in the World War I silent comedy drama What Price Glory. From then on, she was a major box-office draw.

Only six months earlier, she had arrived in Hollywood at the invitation of film director Edwin Carewe, who had “discovered” her at a soirée while vacationing in Mexico. Struck by her beauty, Carewe asked del Río if she would like to make a movie, to which she replied “Yes,” uttering the only word she knew in English. 

Del Río’s debut turned her into the first internationally revered Mexican movie star and one of the very few Latinas in Hollywood at the time. Her extraordinary beauty and expressive face earned her principal roles in The Trail of ’98 (1928) and Ramona (1928), among other films. As the silent era ended and talkies were introduced, del Río was among the few actors who survived the transition. Owing to her accent, however, she was often typecast as ethnic and exotic characters, among them a Polynesian princess in Bird of Paradise (1932) and a Brazilian belle in Flying Down to Rio (1933). At the same time, her fair skin and aristocratic bearing made her ideal for such European characters as the mistress of Louis XV in Madame Du Barry (1934). All the while, she fought to be recognized as a Mexican actress in Hollywood, particularly when the media repeatedly referred to her as Spanish.

By the early 1940s, del Río’s career in the United States was starting to decline, and she went back to her home country, where she became one of the divas of Mexican cinema’s Golden Age. 

—Taína B. Caragol, Curator of Painting and Sculpture and Latinx Art and History, National Portrait Gallery

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
View manifest View in Mirador Viewer

An Ofrenda for Dolores del Rio

Artist
Amalia Mesa-Bains, born Santa Clara, CA 1943
Sitter
Dolores del Rio
Exhibition Label
An Ofrenda for Dolores del Rio draws viewers in with its sumptuous pink fabric, rows of black-and-white pictures, and an arrangement of fanciful objects set in a niche. Mesa-Bains created this work to honor Dolores del Rio, the Mexican actress who dazzled audiences in the United States and Mexico from the 1920s until her death in 1983. The artist retooled the vernacular and domestic practice of the ofrenda (an offering to the deceased) to memorialize a cultural icon whom she and other Chicanas admired. Mesa-Bains implied this relationship through her ample use of mirrors, which reflect and incorporate the viewer into her installation.
Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art, 2013
Credit Line
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program
Copyright
© 1991, Amalia Mesa-Bains
1984, revised 1991
Object number
1998.161
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
Sculpture
Medium
mixed media installation including plywood, mirrors, fabric, framed photographs, found objects, dried flowers and glitter
Dimensions
96 x 72 x 48 in. (243.8 x 182.9 x 121.9 cm)
Department
Painting and Sculpture
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Topic
Architecture\religious\altar
Portrait female
Monument\memorial\del Rio
Record ID
saam_1998.161
Usage of Metadata (Object Detail Text)
Not determined
GUID (Link to Original Record)
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk734e7e48b-b996-4ff5-a85c-f38ab0c9b22b

Related Content

  • Latinx Art and Artists
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy

Contact

  • WomensHistory@si.edu

Discover Her Story

Join the Because of Her Story community. You'll get the latest news, updates and more delivered directly to your inbox. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Sign Up

By signing up for email, you accept our privacy statement

Email powered by Blackbaud (Privacy Policy, Terms of Use)

Close