Mercedes Prendes

Mercedes Prendes (14 April 1903 - 2 July 1981) was a Spanish actress, originally from Asturias. During a long career, notably between 1927 and 1940, she took a number of cinema roles, and towards the end of her career she appeared regularly in television dramas. It is nevertheless principally as a stage actress that she built her career and made her reputation.[1][2]

Biography

Mercedes Prendes Estrada was born in Gijón, the first-born of three siblings who grew up to become notable as stage and screen actors.[2] The other two professional thespians in the family were Mari Carmen Prendes (1906-2002) and Luis Prendes (1913-1998).[1] There are some sources for Mercedes Prendes having been born in 1908, but elsewhere those who have looked into the matter insist that her birth year should correctly be given as 1903.[1] Alfonso Prendes Fernández (1875-1917), her father, was a career soldier.[3] Her parents had married in 1902: her mother, born Mercedes Estrada Arnaiz (1881-1950), was originally from El Ferrol in the north-western province of Coruña.[3] Her father's career choice meant that, at least by the standards of those times, relocations came frequently. After she had spent the first eight years of her life in Asturias the family moved to Melilla on the coast of North Africa, where in due course she was enrolled at a co-educational secondary school. Sources record that she was a "good student".[2]

Her stage debut came in 1926 when she joined the Josefina Díaz theatre company in a production of the comedy "La extraña aventura" ("The strange adventure"). That was followed by "Fruto bendito" by the dramatist Eduardo Marquina, in which she appeared with the same company. She also appeared, during these early days, in production from the theatre company of Irene Alba.[2] She almost immediately emerged as one of Spain's leading theatrical talents. Critics were appreciative of her physical beauty and powerful stage presence.[1]

For eight seasons during the 1940s she was one of the leading performers at the Teatro Español in Madrid, then under the directorship of Cayetano Luca de Tena, playing a large number of leading roles such as those of Lady Macbeth in 1942,[4] Juliet in 1943,[5] Desdemona and Titania,[6] both in 1944,[7], also with important roles in "Richard III" (1946)[8][9] and "Hamlet" (1949).[10] Although her focus was relentlesly on the European classics, her starring stage roles during the 1940s extended far beyond Shakespeare, however. She portrayed Antigone in 1945 and featured as Leonore in Schiller's "Fiesco" (1949).[11] Naturally Golden Age Spanish repertoire also featured prominently, with lead roles in "Castigo sin venganza" (1943),[12] "La discreta enamorada" (1945),[13] "La malcasada" (1947) and "Fuenteovejuna" by Lope de Vega. There were performance in "La dama duende" (1942) and "La devoción de la cruz" by Pedro Calderón de la Barca.[14] Among more modern works, Mercedes Prendes appeared in Agustín de Foxá's Baile en capitanía (1944).

In 1949 Mercedes Prendes and Carlos Martínez de Tejada (?-1972), her actor husband, teamed up together to set up their own theatre company. For the next three years undertook several tours in Latin America, reprising some of Prendes' earlier roles and presenting the Spanish classical repertoire more generally.[14] The company championed the work of Jacinto Benavente the young Madrid dramatist, Antonio Buero Vallejo[14] [15]

In 1955 Mercedes Prendes accepted a teaching professorshipat the Royal Copnservatory of Madrid (now part of the Royal Higher Academy of Dramatic Arts).[16] Four years later she won the National Theater Prize with a performance of William Inge's "Vuelve, querida Sheba".[14][16]

Television emerged in Spain during the later 1950s ans during the early 1960 Mercedes Prendes successfully transitioned to the new medium, involved in a wide range of television dramas produced by the government controlled Televisión Española company, notably on the drama channels Estudio 1 and Novela.[17] In contrast to her stage and television successes, the none of the handful of movies in which Prendes participated between 1927 and 1939 made much impression on commentators.[18]

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References
  1. Sergio Sánchez Collantes. "Mercedes Prendes Estrada (1903-1981), célebre actriz gijonesa". El Comercio, Gijón. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  2. "Mercedes Prendes Estrada". Real Academia de la Historia, Madrid. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  3. José L Bernabé Tronchoni (compiler) (16 February 2016). "Alfonso Prendes Fernández". Find A Grave Memorial 158227915. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  4. Keith Gregor (3 November 2011). Shakespeare in the Spanish Theatre: 1772 to the Present. List of illustrations. A&C Black. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-4411-2938-3.
  5. Nicolás Montalbán Martínez. "La recepción de Shakespeare en los teatros nationales" (PDF). Universidad de Murcia. pp. 147–152. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  6. "Triunfal estreno de Sueño de una noche de verano, un espectáculo maravilloso". Diario ABC. 8 December 1945. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  7. Nicolás Montalbán Martínez. "La recepción de Shakespeare en los teatros nationales" (PDF). Universidad de Murcia. pp. 153–156. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  8. Pedro Montoliú Camps (2005). Madrid en la Posguerra. Silex Ediciones. p. 401. ISBN 978-84-7737-159-5.
  9. Diario ABC, ed. (14 December 1946). "En el Español se representó triunfalmente Ricardo III, de Shakespeare". Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  10. Diario ABC, ed. (5 October 1949). "Homenaje a Carmen Morell y Pepe Blanco en el Calderón". Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  11. Diario ABC, ed. (3 May 1946). ""La conjuración de Fiesco", de Schiller, en magnífica adaptación de Marquina se estrena con gran éxito en el Español". Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  12. "El castigo sin venganza en el Español". Diario ABC. 5 October 1943. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  13. "Cartel de La discreta enamorada". Diario ABC. 23 October 1945. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  14. "Falleció la actriz Mercedes Prendes". El País, Madrid. 4 July 1981. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  15. "Antonio Buero Vallejo". Ejemplos. Farlex, Inc., PA. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  16. "Prendes, Mercedes (Mercedes Prendes y Estrada" (PDF). Base de datos: Mujeres Asturianas Destacadas. Instituto Asturiano de la mujer Universidad de Oviedo. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  17. "Mercedes Prendes". La tele de Ayer. 7 September 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  18. Manuel Gómez García (2 January 1998). Prendes Esrtrada, Mercedes. Diccionario Akal de Teatro. Ediciones AKAL. p. 680. ISBN 978-84-460-0827-9.
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