Guadalupe Natalia Tovar[1][2] (27 July 1910 – 12 November 2016) professionally known by screen name Lupita Tovar was a Mexican-American actress and centenarian best known for her starring role in the 1931 Spanish language version of Drácula, filmed in Los Angeles by Universal Pictures at night using the same sets as the Bela Lugosi version, but with a different cast and director.[3] She also starred in the 1932 film Santa, one of the first Mexican sound films, and one of the first commercial Spanish-language sound films.[4]
Early life
Tovar was born in Matías Romero, Oaxaca, Mexico, the daughter of Egidio Tovar, who was from Tehuacán, Puebla, Mexico,[5][self-published source]:2 and Mary Tovar (née Sullivan), who was Irish-Mexican, from Matías Romero, Oaxaca, Mexico.[5]:3 Tovar was the oldest of nine children,[5]:5 though many of her siblings did not survive early childhood.[5]:11 Tovar grew up during the time of the Mexican Revolution and her family was very poor.[5]:7–8 She was raised in a very religious Catholic environment, and went to a school where she was taught by nuns.[5]:15
In 1918, Tovar's family moved north to Mexico City where her father worked for the National Railroad of Mexico in an administrative position.[6]:220
Career
Early career
Tovar was discovered by documentary filmmaker Robert Flaherty in Mexico City. Tovar had performed in a dance class and was invited, along with other girls, to do a screen test as part of a competition. Tovar won first place.[6]:220–221 The prize was a 6-month probation period, followed by a 7-year contract at $150/week, to Fox Studios.[5]:20–25[6]:221 The studio had realized they could make money by simultaneously shooting Spanish-language movies of English language studio productions, so had been casting for Spanish stars.[3] She moved to Hollywood in November 1928 with her maternal grandmother, Lucy Sullivan.[5]:29
Tovar, under contract, was required to study intensively to enhance her skills for films. Her weekly schedule included guitar, two hours four days; Spanish dances, one hour three days; dramatics, one-half hour two days; and English, one hour every day. Her accent was considered an asset in talking motion pictures. Her English improved significantly in just seven months from the time she arrived in Hollywood in January 1929, when she could not say "good morning" in English. To improve her English, she attended talkies; she also learned new words and how to say them by reading voraciously. In 1929, Tovar appeared in the films The Veiled Woman with Bela Lugosi (now thought to be a lost film) and The Cock-Eyed World.
In 1930, she was mentioned for leads in two talkies starring Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. and Richard Barthelmess. Fairbanks put off the filming of what became The Exile. After his death, the film was made in 1947 by his son, Douglas, Jr., directed by Max Ophüls.
Lupita's future husband, producer Paul Kohner, convinced Carl Laemmle to make Spanish language movies that could be shot simultaneously at night with their English originals.[7]
In 1930, Tovar starred opposite Antonio Moreno in La Voluntad del Muerto, the Spanish-language version of The Cat Creeps and was based on the John Willard mystery play, The Cat and the Canary. Both The Cat Creeps and La Voluntad del muerto were remakes of The Cat and the Canary (1927). Casting was done in July 1930 with the film being released later the same year. The Spanish version was directed by George Melford and, like the Spanish-language version of Drácula, was filmed at night using the same sets as those used for filming the English-language version during the day.
Tovar shot Drácula, in 1930, when she was 20 years old. The film was produced by her soon-to-be husband, Paul Kohner.[3]
The film was based on a famous book featuring an innocent girl from the country who has an affair with a soldier and then tragically becomes a prostitute. Santa was such a hit that the Mexican government issued a postage stamp featuring Tovar as Santa.[3][7]
In 2006, Santa was shown in a celebratory screening by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences called "A Salute to Lupita Tovar" that featured a conversation between Tovar and film historian Bob Dickson. The event was in honor of Tovar.[9]
Other films
In 1931, Melford directed Tovar in another Universal picture, East of Borneo, which starred Rose Hobart. Tovar also worked on films at Columbia Pictures. Although she herself did not make any silent films, with her earliest films released by Fox Film Corporation in the Fox Movietone sound-on-film system, some may have been released in silent versions for theaters not yet equipped for sound.
Susan Kohner, Paul Kohner, Lupita Tovar Kohner
Personal life
Tovar went by the nickname Lupita since she was a girl.[5]:1
During filming of Santa, which was done in Mexico, producer Paul Kohner had to return to Europe because his father was sick. It was this separation, and another the next year when Kohner was producing a film for Universal Pictures in Europe, that made Tovar realize she loved Kohner. Kohner proposed on the phone—he had previously tried to give her a ring—and Tovar went to Czechoslovakia to meet him. They were married, by a rabbi, in Czechoslovakia on October 30, 1932, at Kohner's parents' home.[6]:226–227
In 1936, the couple had a daughter, Susan Kohner, a film and television actress, and, in 1939, a son, Paul Julius "Pancho" Kohner, Jr., a director and producer.[10][11] Their grandsons, Chris and Paul Weitz, are successful film directors.
Tovar owned a bassinet that would be used by several well known New Yorkers, including Julie Baumgold, a writer and her husband Edward Kosner, publisher of New York; Elizabeth Sobieski, a novelist and mother of actress Leelee Sobieski, Judy Licht, a TV newswoman, and her husband Jerry Della Femina, an advertising executive.[12]
Tovar died at the age of 106 on 12 November 2016 in Los Angeles of heart disease, just one day after her daughter Susan Kohner's 80th birthday.[13][14][15]
Lupita Tover is buried at Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City, California.
Awards
2001: Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas (Mexican Academy of Arts and Sciences), Lifetime Achievement Award at the XLIII Ceremonia de Entrega del Arielrecibió el Ariel de Oro[16]
Filmography
1929: The Veiled Woman (Fox) as Young Girl
1929: Joy Street (Fox)
1929: The Cock-Eyed World (Fox) in bit part (uncredited)
1929: The Black Watch (Fox) in bit part (uncredited)
1930: La Voluntad del Muerto (Universal)
(Spanish language version of The Cat Creeps) as Anita
1931: Estamos en París (short)
1931: Drácula (Universal) (Spanish language version of Dracula) as Eva
1931: Carne de Cabaret (Columbia)
(Spanish version of Ten Cents a Dance) as Dorothy O'Neil
1931: Yankee Don (Richard Talmadge Productions) as Juanita
1931: El Tenorio del Harem (Universal) as Fátima
1931: East of Borneo (Universal) as Neila
1931: Border Law (Columbia) as Tonita
1932: Santa (Compañia Nacional Productora de Peliculas) as Santa
1934: Vidas Rotas (Inca) (Spanish)
1935: Broken Lives as Marcela
1935: Alas Sobre del Chaco (Universal)
(Spanish language version of Storm Over the Andes) as Teresa
1936: The Invader aka An Old Spanish Custom
(British and Continental Films) as Lupita Melez
1936: Mariguana (Mexican) as Irene Heredia
1936: El Capitán Tormenta (Grand National)
(Spanish language version of Captain Calamity) as Magda
1938: Blockade (United Artists) as Cabaret Girl
1938: El Rosario de Amozoc (Mexican) as Rosario
1938: María (Mexican) as María
1939: The Fighting Gringo (RKO) as Anita "Nita" del Campo
1939: Tropic Fury (Universal) as Maria Scipio
1939: South of the Border (Republic) as Dolores Mendoza
1940: The Westerner (United Artists) as Teresita (uncredited)
1941: Two Gun Sheriff (Republic) as Nita
1943: Resurrección (Mexican)
1944: Gun to Gun (Warner Bros.) (short) as Dolores Diego
1944: Miguel Strogoff (El Correo del Zar) (Mexican) as Nadia Fedorova
1945: The Crime Doctor's Courage (Columbia) as Dolores Bragga
1952: Invitation Playhouse: Mind Over Murder (TV series), 1 episode: "Winner Take Nothing"
1988: Universal Horror as Interviewee
References
1. "Guadalupe Lupita Kohner (1952) – New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists". FamilySearch.
2. "Passenger Manifest – Pan American World Airways, Inc.: Guadalupe Lupita Kohner -- Paris to New York (1952)". FamilySearch. 28 October 1952.
3. Montagne, Renee (15 February 2008). "Lupita Tovar, Mexico's Sultry Screen 'Sweetheart'". Morning Edition. NPR.
4. Marble, Steve. "Lupita Tovar, a Mexican star in Hollywood's golden era, dies at 106". Los Angeles Times. "Santa" was probably not the first Mexican "talkie," but it was certainly one of the first commercial breakthroughs of the sound era in Spanish-language cinema.
5. Tovar, Lupita; Kohner, Pancho (2011). Lupita Tovar: The Sweetheart of Mexico: A Memoir as Told to Her Son Pancho Kohner. Bloomington, IN: Xlibris Corp. ISBN 978-1-4568-7736-1. OCLC 755706899.
6. Ankerich, Michael G. (2011). The Sound of Silence: Conversations with 16 Film and Stage Personalities Who Bridged the Gap between Silents and Talkies (Reprinted. ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland and Co. ISBN 978-0-7864-6383-1. OCLC 743217471.
7. Ankerich, Michael G. (28 July 2013). "Lupita Tovar, Still Carrying On". Close-Ups and Long Shots.
8. Gurza, Agustin (10 July 2001). "Milestone Mexican Film to Screen in L.A.: Movies * Its lead actress will appear at the showing of 'Santa', which synchronized image and sound on the same strip". Los Angeles Times.
9. King, Susan (6 December 2006). "Cine File: Academy parties like it's 1906". Los Angeles Times.
10. "Susanna Kohner – California Birth Index". FamilySearch.
11. "Paul Julius Kohner – California Birth Index". FamilySearch.
12. Nemy, Enid (9 April 1989). "New Yorkers, Etc". The New York Times.
13. "Muere Lupita Tovar, la primera "Santa" del cine sonoro mexicano" (in Spanish). Google.se.
14. "Lupita Tovar, protagonista de la primera película del cine sonoro mexicano, fallece a los 106 años – Periódico Noroeste" (in Spanish). Beta.noroeste.com.mx.
15. "Lupita Tovar Dead: 'Dracula' Actress Was 106". Hollywood Reporter.
16. Fitzgerald, Mike (2010). "An Interview With... Lupita Tovar". Western Clippings.
Further reading
Articles
Babcock, Muriel. "Wave of Popularity Sweeping Mexican Stars to Top Goes Marching On: Directors Tell How Latin-American Beauties Have Carved Niche for Themselves in Filmdom's Hall of Fame." Los Angeles Times. January 27, 1929. p. C11 (1 page).
Olean Herald, "Hollywood Sights and Sounds." Saturday Evening. July 20, 1929. p. 4.
Boland, Elena. "Aliens Retain Screen Niche: Sound Films Disclose Need of Many Accents Separate Pictures Made For Different Countries Certainty of Future Held as Settled Fact." Los Angeles Times. February 2, 1930, p. B11 (2 pages).
Kingsley, Grace. "Browning Picks Story and Star: Fairbanks Will Play Bandit in Tale of Spanish Days; Richard Keene Loaned to First National; Paul Page Has "Man Crazy" Role." Los Angeles Times. March 12, 1930, p. A8 (1 page).
Kingsley, Grace. "Duncan Sisters May Go Abroad: Joseph Santley Writes Story for Helen Twelvetrees Toreador Signs With First National for Film Norman Taurog Will Direct Ed Wynn Comedy." Los Angeles Times. July 23, 1930. p. 6 (1 page).
Kingsley, Grace. "Lupita Tovar Goes Abroad: Actress Will Meet Fiance, Paul Kohner, in Paris Capt. Mollison Decides Not to Become Actor Helen Mack Wins Lead With Ken Maynard." Los Angeles Times. August 27, 1932. p. 5 (1 page).
Kingsley, Grace. "Lupita Tovar, Kohner Marry: Producer and Actress Wed in Czechlo-Slovakia Gloria Stuart Takes Novel Trip as Air Mail Howard Hughes Searches for Beauty in New York." Los Angeles Times. November 2, 1932. p. 11 (1 page).
Weaver, Tom. "Bitten in Spanish," "Fangoria" #119. December 1992.
Archival material
Kohner Family Papers, ~1970-2008. Riverside, CA: University of California, Riverside. OCLC 194179883
Monographs
Ankerich, Michael G. The Sound of Silence: Conversations with 16 Film and Stage Personalities Who Bridged the Gap between Silents and Talkies. Reprinted. ed. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland and Co., 2011. Chapter 15, pp. 218–233. ISBN 978-0-786-46383-1. OCLC 743217471
Tovar, Lupita, and Pancho Kohner. Lupita Tovar: The Sweetheart of Mexico: A Memoir As Told to Her Son Pancho Kohner. Bloomington, IN: Xlibris Corp, 2011. ISBN 978-1-456-87736-1 OCLC 755706899[self-published source]
Kohner, Pancho. Lupita Tovar: La novia de México: Memorias, Tal y Como Fueron Relatadas a su Hijo. Create Space Independent Publishing Platform, 2012. ISBN 978-1-475-24469-4 OCLC 797334304
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