Lucila Balzaretti
Born: 1920-08-21 in Zürich, Switzerland
Died: 2012-02-13
Known For: Acting
Biography
Lucila Balzaretti (registered at birth as Lucila Balzaretti Openzeller, also known as Lucila Alarcón; Zurich, Switzerland, August 21, 1920 - Puntarenas, Costa Rica, February 13, 2012) was a Swiss actress and journalist. She participated in the theater group La Linterna Mágica under the direction of Ignacio Retes. She ventured into journalism by writing a film column in the newspaper El Popular and in the magazine México al día, where José Revueltas and other writers also collaborated. In 1942, while preparing a report on the play El inspector, then directed by Seki Sano, she met Ignacio Retes, whom she married two years later. In 1946 she participated in the founding of La Linterna Mágica and made her debut as an actress in the play Mariana Pineda (1946) under the pseudonym of Lucila Alarcón. Shortly after, she acted in Los zorros (1946), Israel (1948) and Santa Juana (1948), all directed by Retes himself. Later she left her stage name to continue appearing as Lucila Balzaretti in the plays El aria de la locura (1953), Terminal (Bus stop), Una ciudad para vivir (1954), La feria distante (1955), A media luz los tres (1957) and Nacida ayer (1958), among others. She also had a brief participation in one of the revivals of A Streetcar Named Desire, a Seki Sano version. She was the mother of film director Gabriel Retes, with whom she participated in the films Chin Chin el teporocho, El bulto, Flores de Papel, Arresto domiciliario.
Filmography
2008
- House Arrest as Lucila
1998
- Coup at Daybreak as Luisa
1997
- El asesinato as Sra. Ramírez
1996
- Sucesos distantes as Mama Febre
- Katuwira, donde nacen y mueren los sueños as Vecina
1995
- Bienvenido-Welcome as Union Delegate
1992
- El bulto as Grandma
1989
- Los años duros: El nacimiento de un guerrillero as La maestra
1984
- Wild Women as La vieja
1979
- Broken Flag as Conchita
1978
1977
- El Reventón
- Cuartelazo as Esposa de Banquero (uncredited)