Actress Adela Legrá, the most powerful look in Cuban cinema, dies at 86

One of the most emblematic faces of Cuban cinema is leaving.

MIAMI, United States. – Cuban actress Adela Legrá, one of the three leading faces of the film Lucia (1968), died early this Friday in Santiago de Cuba at the age of 86, according to Cubacinethe portal of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC).

“They have just confirmed to Cubacine ICAIC the death in Santiago de Cuba of our Adela Legrá, one of the three faces of Lucia and great protagonist of founding films of Cuban cinema”, wrote on Facebook the Cuban cultural commissioner Alexis Triana, current president of the ICAIC.

Legra She had been hospitalized “emergencyly” at the Provincial Hospital of Santiago de Cuba and died there during the early morning. The body will be laid to rest at the El Calvario funeral home, in the same eastern city, according to Cubacine.

Adela Legrá in 'Lucía' — Adela Legrá in ‘Lucía’ (Frame)

Born in Guantánamo in 1939—her full name was Adelaida López Legrá—she came to film after being discovered in Baracoa by the director Humberto Solas while working as an activist for the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC). That meeting led to his first leading role in Manuelaa medium-length film from 1966.

According to Cubacine, Her “face of a peasant woman” and her “sincerity and freshness” made her “the ideal protagonist for the third story of Lucia“, emblematic film of Cuban cinema. After that film, his career was linked to key titles of national cinematography and Cuban television productions.

Actress Adela Legrá, the most powerful look in Cuban cinema, dies at 86 — Adela Legrá and Adolfo Llauradó in a passage from ‘Lucía’ (Frame)

In addition to Lucia and ManuelaLegrá’s filmography includes titles such as The brigadier (1977), Honey for Oshún (2001) and Cuba neighborhood (2006), in addition to Rancher (1976), That long night (1979), Waltz of Old Havana (1988) and Nothing (2001).

At the end of her life, Legrá continued to be referred to by the Cuban cultural press as an emblematic figure of classic/revolutionary cinema and as one of the faces permanently associated with Lucia.

In recent years, her figure has also been the subject of tributes and audiovisual works: she received the Heredia Plaque, she was honored at Havana Film New York (2002) and at the I Festival Internacional de Cine Pobre de Gibara (2003), and documentaries were dedicated to her. Adela, a woman’s name (1999) and Who takes away my dance (2000).