Montez, Maria (1918–1951)

Spanish actress. Born Maria Africa Vidal de Santo Silas on June 6, 1918, in the Dominican Republic; died in 1951; married first husband (marriage ended); married Jean-Pierre Aumont (an actor), in 1943; children (second marriage): Tina Aumont also known as Tina Marquand (b. 1946).

Selected filmography:

The Invisible Woman (1940); Lucky Devils (1941); That Night in Rio (1941); South of Tahiti (1941); Moonlight in Hawaii (1941); The Mystery of Marie Roget (1942); Arabian Nights (1942); White Savage (1943); Cobra Woman (1944); Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1944); Follow the Boys (1944); Gypsy Wildcat (1944); Sudan (1945); Tangier (1946); Pirates of Monterey (1947); Siren of Atlantis (1949); Hans le Marin (The Wicked City, Fr., 1950); Amore e Sangue (City of Violence, It.-Ger., 1951).

Maria Montez was born in 1918 in the Dominican Republic, the daughter of a Spanish consular official stationed there. An "exotic"-looking brunette, she was recruited by the Universal film studio in Hollywood, despite her inexperience as an actress, and first appeared on film in The Invisible Woman in 1940. Known by the mid-1940s as the "Queen of Technicolor," Montez appeared in numerous adventure movies that often included camels or pirates, such as Arabian Nights (1942, in which she played Scheherazade), Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1944), and Tangier (1946). She married French actor Jean-Pierre Aumont in 1943, and their daughter, Tina Aumont , also became an actress, primarily in European films. After her roles at Universal became more infrequent in the late 1940s, Montez and her husband moved to Europe, where she acted in a number of action films. She died unexpectedly in 1951, drowning in the bathtub after apparently having a heart attack; her films, now considered high camp, have since attracted a cult following.

Grant Eldridge , freelance writer, Pontiac, Michigan