[Deathwatch] Maria Felix, Mexican actress, 88

[Deathwatch Central]

Mexico buries famed actress Maria Felix with mariachi band, flowers 
Tue Apr 9, 6:27 PM ET 
By TRACI CARL, Associated Press Writer 

MEXICO CITY - Famed Mexican actress Maria Felix was buried Tuesday in
one of Mexico City's oldest cemeteries, amid a chaotic scene of police,
reporters, mariachi band, friends and fans.
  
Her coffin, draped with a Mexican flag, was lowered into the ground as
flowers thrown by nearby crowds rained from the sky and a mariachi band
played near her grave. She died in her sleep on Monday, her 88th
birthday. Friends said she suffered a heart attack.

The burial capped two days of mourning for the icon of Mexican cinema,
whose memorials and burial were covered live by most Mexican television
stations.

President Vicente Fox (news - web sites) and actress Salma Hayek were
among those who attended a memorial service for the actress at the
Palace of Fine Arts, where Mexico honors its most revered artists.

Fans gathered outside the building for hours, waiting to enter and
leave flowers for the woman known as much for her films as her
outspokenness

Her coffin was serenaded by several renditions of "Maria Bonita" —
"Beautiful Maria" — the title of one of Mexico's most famous songs and
written by one of her five husbands, composer Agustin Lara.

It was taken from the Palace of Fine Arts earlier Tuesday, and under
police escort driven both to the National Association of Actors and
then her burial site.

Photographers hung from trees to get a better shot of the funeral, and
fans crowded around the burial site, crying and throwing flowers. After
the coffin was lowered into the ground, riot police struggled to
control the crowd as people pressed in on friends and family members
gathered near the grave.

Spanish tenor Placido Domingo, scheduled to give a concert in Mexico
City later Tuesday, said Felix — one of Mexico's most well-known and
glamorous stars — left the world "in a tranquil dream."

"She had a full and complete life, a marvelous life," he said. "She
belonged to the history of film, the history of Mexico."

Known for her fiery style and uncompromising personality, Felix once
described herself as "a woman with the heart of a man. A woman of war."


She starred in 47 films from 1942 to 1966. Although she was known
throughout Latin America, few of the films were shown outside of the
Spanish-speaking world.

Born in the northern town of Alamos on April 8, 1914, she was the 15th
of 16 children. As a child, she was a tomboy who was expelled from
several schools for unladylike behavior.

Her adult life was different, however. The natural beauty was rarely
seen without her makeup and hair styled, and before becoming an
actress, she worked as a receptionist for a plastic surgeon who used
her as a model to attract clients.

She had five husbands: Enrique Alvarez, a cosmetics salesman who she
divorced for cheating on her; singer Raul Prado; Lara, Mexico's most
famous popular music composer who she divorced after he shot a pistol
at her — and missed — in a fit of jealousy; Jorge Negrete, one of the
most famous actors of the Spanish-speaking world who died in 1953 of
hepatitis; and Alex Berger, a French banker who died in 1974.

She divided her time between Paris, Mexico City and Cuernavaca, a
resort city 35 miles (60 kms) south.

Her only son, Enrique Alvarez, died of a heart attack in 1996.