Biography india maria

Fictional character

"La India María" (born María Nicolasa Cruz) is a fictional character portrayed and created by actress María Elena Velasco. The character frequently endures situations of racial discrimination, classism, and corruption, although in all of these turmoils, María undoubtedly resolves them with hilarious acts of good-nature and morality. She has represented the poor indigenous, the migrant worker, the forsaken woman, and even free-spirited nuns for over 30 years. She has been the lead character in 16 films and in a spin-off television series entitled, Ay María Qué Puntería. Most recently, the character has appeared in cameo appearances in the television programs Mujer, casos de la vida real and La Familia Peluche.

Fictional character background

In her first film, she mentions that her hometown is "San José de los Burros". Nevertheless, different hometowns are suggested in other films. For example, her hometown is changed to "Chipitongo el Alto", for which she serves a term as municipal president in La presidenta municipal (1975). In El que no corre... vuela! (1981), she mentions her hometown as "San Pablo Cuatro Venados". Other given hometowns are Nopalillo (Little Prickly Pear Cactus), San Bartolo Tezmelucan, among others.

Characteristics

Despite being an illiterate woman and very prone to mistakes, La India Maria has shown to be of quick wit and even of impressive athletic a

Mexican actress, comedian, singer-songwriter and dancer (1940–2015)

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Velasco and the second or maternal family name is Fragoso.

María Elena Velasco Fragoso (17 December 1940 – 1 May 2015) was a Mexican actress, comedian, singer-songwriter and dancer. She is best known for creating and portraying La India María, a comical character based on indigenous Mexican women.

Early life

Velasco was born in Puebla, to Tomás Velasco Saavedra, a railway mechanic, and María Elena Fragoso Peón. She had three siblings, Gloria, Tomás and Susana.

After the death of Tomás Velasco, the family moved to Mexico City, where she worked as a dancer at the Teatro Tívoli. Later, she became one of the showgirls of the Teatro Blanquita, where she also participated in sketches starring comedians such as José "El Ojón" Jasso and Óscar Ortiz de Pinedo, among others.

Career

Further information: La India María

In 1962, her popularity at the Teatro Blanquita attracted the attention of producer Miguel Morayta, who cast her in her first film role in the drama Los derechos de los hijos (1963), starring Elvira Quintana and Carlos Agostí. Juan Bustillo Oro gave her the small part of Petra, a maid, in México de mis recuerdos (1963). In 1964, she began to include comedic material to her appea

This week, Mediático presents an obituary to María Elena Velasco, one of the Mexican film industry’s leading figures, written by Seraina Rohrer director of the Solothurn Film Festival in Switzerland whose PhD focused on the legendary actress, director and creator of the iconic ‘La India María’. Seraina has been  a Visiting Scholar at the Chicano Studies Research Center of the University of California Los Angeles (July 2009 to August 2010). She has also headed the Press Office of the Locarno International Film Festival (2003–2008). She writes a column in the newspaper NZZ am Sonntag and has taught film at the University of Zurich and ECAL. She has previously published on María Elena Velasco in The Journal of Latino/Latin American Studiesand  is currently preparing a manuscript about formula filmmaking in Mexico.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jw-WwFPQ2_E

On May 1, Mexico’s film industry lost one of its leading figures: María Elena Velasco, best known as La India María. For five decades, Velasco played a humble and stubborn indigenous Mexican woman — a performance notable for its marked ethnicity and slapstick humor. Her iconic character remains controversial. Some critics view La India María as a racist depiction of a negative stereotype, while others see the widely beloved character as a sly, transgressive critique against discrimination and those in power.

Born and raised in Puebla, Velasco created the character La India María shortly after she launched her acting career in Mexico City’s vaudeville theaters. In an interview she told me that the character La India María was inspired by indigenous Mazahua women from rural Mexico commonly called LasMarías, who began to migrate to Mexico City in the 1960s to sell fruit, candy, and trinkets on the streets of the capital. The character was a runaway hit with stage audiences, and Velasco frequently reprised María for theater fans throughout her care

María Elena Velasco

María Elena Velasco (Puebla, December 17, 1940 - Mexico City, May 1, 2015) was a Mexican television, theatre and film actress, comedian, singer-songwriter, dancer, screenwriter, film producer and film director.

Biography[]

Maria Elena Velasco was best known for creating and portraying La India María, a comical character based on indigenous Mexican women, in films and television programs. She was born in Puebla, to Tomás Velasco, a railway mechanic, and María Elena Fragoso. She had three siblings, Gloria, Tomás and Susana.

After the death of Tomás Velasco, the family moved to Mexico City, where she worked as a dancer at the Teatro Tívoli.[3][4] Later, she became one of the showgirls of the Teatro Blanquita, where she also participated in sketches starring comedians such as José "El Ojón" Jasso and Óscar Ortiz de Pinedo, among others.

In the early 1960s, Velasco met Russian-born Mexican film actor and choreographer Julián de Meriche (born Vladimir Lipkies Chazan) at the Teatro Blanquita. They married and had three children, producer-director Iván Lipkies, writer-actress Goretti Lipkies, and writer-producer Ivette Lipkies.

Her death was announced over Twitter by the Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía on May 1, 2015. The cause of death was not made public, but it was known that she had been suffering from stomach cancer.

Filmography[]

Television roles[]

Telenovelas[]

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