#ChicanoHistory: Who WAS La Inda Maria??? María Elena Velasco Fragoso (born December 17, 1940) is a Mexican actress, comedian, singer-songwriter, dancer, screenwriter, film producer, and one of Mexicos few major female film directors. Best known for her successful La India María comic character, Velasco is the widow of Russian actor and choreographer Julián de Meriche. María began by dancing in theaters and acting in radio comedies. She was spotted by a film producer, who gave her minor roles. As she developed the India María, at first she named her Elena María. Like the popular rural-based American comedies The Beverly Hillbillies, Velasco made a highly popular comedic representation of rural Mexico as the typical Mexican indigenous woman named Maria who is often confused by urban life. In her films, she often goes out of her way to speak at least a few lines in native languages, such as Chichimeca and Nahuatl. Although she may be ignorant about some things, Maria is wise about peoples ways and ideas. Velasco has said publicly that she wants India María to represent Mexicos poor social classes, and she has tried to carry out social messages in most of the movies she has made. Velasco invented the India María character in 1972 for Mexican TV network Telesistema Mexicano (now Televisa) for a comic segment of the weekly program Siempre en domingo. It quickly became a hit and in the same year, Velasco began starring in an enormously successful series of low-budget comedies that became a mainstay in Mexican movie theaters through the mid-1980s, starring in approximately 23 films in Mexico, and 3 television series. Like - > Being Chicano < - For More! #BeChicano #BeLatino #DigiLatino
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 22:00:01 +0000
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