María Luisa Merlo

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María Luisa Merlo
Merlo in 2017
Born
María Luisa Merlo Colomina

(1941-09-06) September 6, 1941 (age 82)
Valencia
NationalitySpanish
OccupationActress
Years active1957–present
Spouse
(m. 1961; div. 1983)
Michael Kenton
(m. 1992; div. 1997)
ChildrenLuis Merlo
Amparo Larrañaga [es]
Pedro
Juan Carlos (stepson)

María Luisa Merlo Colomina (born 6 September 1941) is a Spanish film, theatre and television actress.

Merlo, with more than 60 years of artistic career, has received the prestigious Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts from the Spanish Ministry of Culture.

She is the mother of actors Luis Merlo and Amparo Larrañaga [es].

Early life[edit]

Merlo was born in Valencia in 1941. She is the daughter of actors Ismael Merlo Piquer and María Luisa Colomina Domingo.[1]

She was raised following her parents theatre company, as a result, she was able to attend school for less than two years.[2]

Career[edit]

Merlo made her debut as a dancer in the 1957 show Te espero en el Eslava by Luis Escobar Kirkpatrick.[3]

She made her cinema debut in 1959 with José María Forqué in the film De espaldas a la puerta.[1] Other titles followed during the first half of the sixties, such as Siempre es domingo (1961) by Fernando Palacios, Cuidado con las personas formales (1961) by Agustín Palacios, Más bonita que ninguna (1965) by Luis César Amadori, with Rocío Dúrcal, and De cuerpo presente (1967) by Antonio Eceiza.

However, from 1965 onward, she focused more on her theatre and television career.

Since the mid-sixties she has become a regular face on Spanish television, playing dozens of roles in Primera fila, Novela and Estudio 1.[4]

In 1973, she starred alongside her then-husband Carlos Larrañaga in the TVE comedy Compañera te doy. 13 years later, she played alongside her daughter, Amparo Larrañaga, in the series Media naranja; in 2006, she did the same with her son, Luis Merlo, in Aquí no hay quien viva.

She has also appeared in the series Aquí hay negocio (1995), Luna negra (2003), Mis adorable vecinos (2004), Supervillanos (2006), Los Serrano (2008) and Somos cómplices (2009).

At the end of 2007, she participated in the sixth edition of the television contest ¡Mira quién baila![5]

In July 2013, she starred in the short film Betiko, directed by Arantza Ibarra, together with the actor Javier Pradera in the caves of Zugarramurdi.[6][7]

Personal life[edit]

Merlo was married to the actor Carlos Larrañaga for 15 years;[1][8] they separated in 1975 and obtained a divorce in November 1983. Besides a son, Juan Carlos, from Carlos previous marriage, they had three children: Amparo Larrañaga, Luis Merlo and Pedro.[9]

In 1992, she married university professor Michael Kenton, with whom she divorced five years later.[10]

An authoritative biography of Merlo, María Luisa Merlo: Más allá del teatro, was published in 2003 by Pedro Manuel Víllora Gallardo.

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Note
2017 Es ley de vida Esperanza Short film
2008 Proyecto Dos
2003 El dolor y la lluvia Short film
1982 En septiembre Ana
1981 ¿Por qué no hacemos el amor? Laura Battoni
1975 El adúltero Marta
1975 Un lujo a su alcance Olga
1974 Tocata y fuga de Lolita Olga
1972 Ligue Story Dr. Somontes
1967 De cuerpo presente just-married woman
1965 Más bonita que ninguna
1961 Cuidado con las personas formales
1961 Siempre es domingo Dorotea / Doris
1961 Armas contra la ley
1961 Mi noche de bodas Ivonne
1960 091 Policía al habla Teresa Jiménez
1960 El cerro de los locos
1959 De espaldas a la puerta Lucky

Television[edit]

Year Title Notes
2009 Somos cómplices
2008 Aída Episode: "Paz la dulce"
2008 Hospital Central Episode: "Un entierro, una boda y un cumpleaños"
2008 Los Serrano Episode: "El camino recto de Santa Justa"
2006 Con dos tacones Episode: "Alabaré a mi señor"
2006 Supervillanos
2006 7 vidas Episode: "Nacida el 4 de julio"
2004-2006 Aquí no hay quien viva
2004 Mis adorables vecinos
2003 Luna negra
1995 Aquí hay negocio
1989 Primera función 2 episodes
1986 La comedia dramática española Episode: "Diálogo secreto"
1986 Media naranja
1978 Teatro estudio Episode: "El bebé furioso"
1977 Mujeres insólitas Episode: "La viuda roja"
1975 Cuentos y leyendas Episode: "La leyenda del Caballero de Olmedo"
1966–1981 Estudio 1 24 episodes
1974 Telecomedia Episode: "Comedia de boulevard"
1974 El teatro Episode: "El proceso de Mary Dugan"
1974 Noche de teatro Episode: "Cisneros"
1973 Compañera te doy episodes
1972 Siete piezas cortas Episode: "El chantajista"
1968 La pequeña comedia Episode: "Claveles en la oficina"
1966–1981 Teatro breve 3 episodes
1966 Hermenegildo Pérez, para servirle Episode: "Un marido futuro, muy futuro"
1966 El tercer rombo 3 episodes
1965 Tiempo y hora 2 episodes
1965 Confidencias Episode: "La ilusión de cada uno"
1964 Escuela de maridos Episode: "Carácter sí, carácter no"
1964 Tras la puerta cerrada Episode: "El ángel negro"
1964–1965 Primera fila 7 episodes
1963–1977 Novela 13 episodes

Theatre[edit]

Her career on the stage is marked by the performance of works of all genres, from drama to comedy, including musicals. In 1986 she joined the Compañía Nacional de Teatro Clásico.[11]

Year Title Writer Note
1957 Te espero en el Eslava
1958 Ven y ven al Eslava
1960 Diana está comunicando
1967 La tercera palabra
1968 Siete gritos en el mar
1968 El proceso de Mary Dugan
1970 Vidas privadas
1971 Cómo ama la otra mitad Alan Ayckbourn
1972 Pato a la naranja William Douglas-Home
1974 Los peces rojos
1977 Los hijos de Kennedy Robert Patrick [12]
1977 Yo quiero a mi mujer
1978 Lecciones de matrimonio
1979 Alicia en el París de las maravillas
1980 El corto vuelo del gallo Jaime Salom With Gemma Cuervo
1984 No corran que es peor Adapted by Juanjo Menéndez
1984 Diálogo secreto Antonio Buero Vallejo With Ismael Merlo
1986 Los locos de Valencia Lope de Vega Directed by Adolfo Marsillach
1987 Antes que todo es mi dama Calderón de la Barca
1991 Trescientos veintiuno, trescientos veintidós Ana Diosdado [13]
1994 Los bellos durmientes Antonio Gala Alongside Amparo Larrañaga
1998 Odio a Hamlet Paul Rudnick
1999 Ocho mujeres Robert Thomas
2000 La fiebre del heno Noël Coward
2003 El adefesio Rafael Alberti
2006 Yo, Leonor
2006-2007 La ratonera Agatha Christie
2007 Un adulterio casi decente With Pedro Civera
2011 100 metros cuadrados Juan Carlos Rubio
2015 Cosas de papá y mamá Alfonso Paso
2019 Conversaciones con mamá Mario Martín Lucas

Awards[edit]

In 1967, Merlo was awarded with the Antena de Oro de Televisión Prize.[14] She was awarded the Ercilla Theatre Prize in 2009 for her career in theatre.[11] In 2013, she was awarded the Distinction of the Generalitat Valenciana for Cultural Merit.[15] The Spanish Ministry of Culture awarded Merlo the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts in 2017.[16]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "María Luisa Merlo: "Me tomé 20 pastillas para dormir"". Abc (in Spanish). 2018-04-02. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  2. ^ "María Luisa Merlo publica una sorprendente autobiografía". Abc (in Spanish). 2003-03-08. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  3. ^ "Te espero en Eslava. Efemérides de teatro | CDAEM · Teatro Español". Centro de Documentación de las Artes Escénicas y de la Música (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  4. ^ "Mª Luisa Merlo se despide de los escenarios con 'Mentiras inteligentes', una comedia de amor, sexo y secretos". 20minutos (in Spanish). 2020-02-03. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  5. ^ ""¡Mira quién baila!" abre de nuevo sus puertas en TVE-1". Abc (in Spanish). 2007-09-17. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  6. ^ "Arantza Ibarra graba un corto con Maria Luisa Merlo en Zugarramurdi". El Diario Vasco (in European Spanish). 2013-07-17. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  7. ^ "'Betiko' zinea Zugarramurdin". El Mundo (in Basque). 2015-05-20. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  8. ^ "María Luisa Merlo recuerda su matrimonio y su posterior amistad con Carlos Larrañaga". Europa Press (in Spanish). 2019-08-22. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  9. ^ "Lazos de Sangre La vida y los amores de Carlos Larrañaga". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 2019-08-22. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  10. ^ "Los Larrañaga: una saga con muchas tablas". Divinity (in European Spanish). 2012-08-31. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  11. ^ a b EFE (2010-01-14). "Maria Luisa Merlo, Premio Ercilla 2009 por su trayectoria artística". RTVE.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-04-09.
  12. ^ EFE (7 May 2019). "María Luisa Merlo: "Los españoles somos más listos que el hambre"". eldiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-04-09.
  13. ^ Tecglen, Eduardo Haro (1991-02-04). "Las parejas felices". El País. Retrieved 2011-05-30.
  14. ^ "ABC MADRID 16-03-1968 página 103". Abc (in Spanish). 2019-08-09. Retrieved 2020-04-09.
  15. ^ "Distinció mèrit cultural". Generalitat Valenciana (in Catalan). Retrieved 2020-04-09.
  16. ^ Cádiz, Diario de (2017-12-30). "El parque eólico marino 'Wikinger' empieza a suministrar energía". Diario de Jerez (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2020-04-08.

External links[edit]