Search
Maria Montez Profile
|
|
Photo gallery |
| (Maria Africa / Antonia Vidal de Santo Silas y Garcia) |
|
| 6 June 18/20 | is born in Barahona, Dominican Republic, one of ten children of Ysidoro Gracia, the Spanish consul in the Dominican Republic, and Teresa, the daughter of political refugees |
| ? | is christened at the cathedral in which are entombed the remains considered to be those of Christopher Columbus |
| ? | grows up on the island of Tenerife in the Atlantic Ocean |
| ? | attends the Sacred Heart Convent in Santa Cruz, Tenerife |
| Mid-30s | her father's appointed to the Spanish consulship in Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| ? | joins a local amateur theatre group |
| 28 November 32/37 | marries wealthy Irishman William G. McFeeters, an officer in the British Army, at 17. She makes her home with McFeeters on his family estate in Ireland. Whenever he's away on military duty, she flees to London or Paris in search of excitement. |
| ? | goes to New York, where the home of a Bavarian duke and duchess becomes her headquarters. When her husband departs for New York, she meets him at the dock and explains her intention to not renew their marital relationship. |
| poses for famed painter McClelland Barclay |
|
| ? | in New York she meets the owner of the Monte Carlo nightclub, who recommends her to the studios |
| 40 | at age 21, she stages a meeting with George J. Schaefer, president of RKO, who arranges a screen test for her |
| in the meantime, a Universal talent scout offers her a contract, and she accepts |
|
| 27 October 41 | claims that Lt. Commander Claude Strickland, an RAF pilot who is missing in action, was her fiancè, whom she met for the first time in London in 1939 |
| 1 October 42 | encounters Parisian actor Jean-Pierre-Aumont while on a personal appearance tour in Chicago. He is divorced from French actress Blanche Montel. |
| 13 July 43 | marries Jean-Pierre Aumont in Hollywood. He's 34; she's 23. |
| November 43 | Flor Trujillo, the daughter of the President of the Dominican Republic, presents her with the Order of Juan Pablo Duart and the Order of Trujillo, the first woman of her country to be so honored |
| 14 February 46 | her daughter, Maria-Christina, is born on Valentine's Day. She will be later become an actress, known as Tina Marquand, after her marriage to actor Christian Marquand in 1963. |
| May 47 | is off to Europe for L'Atlantide |
| March 48 | there's no love lost between her and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. |
| February 49 | goes with her husband to New York, where he's on stage in L'Empereur de Chine |
| ? | is off to Venice, Italy, for Il Ladro di Venezia |
| Early 49 | the Aumonts move to France. Her husband presents her with a three-story, five-bedroom home located in Suresnes, 6 miles from the center of Paris. |
| 50 | films Amore e Sangue in Italy |
| 2 January 51 | her legal representatives win a $38,000 lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against the producer of Siren of Atlantis |
| January 51 | makes her stage debut in Paris in L'Ile Heureuse |
| July 51 | quarrels with actor Turhan Bey |
| Hollywood astrologer Blanca Holmes tells her that according to her charts, her life will be short, and the end will come suddenly |
|
| Mid-51 | is off to Italy with her husband for La Vendetta del Corsaro |
| ? | a few days after returning from Italy, she complains of pains near her heart |
| 7 September 51 | on her last evening, the Aumonts dine at a fashionable restaurant in Paris with their houseguests, her sisters Anita and Teresita |
| 8 September 51 | dies at age 31 from a heart attack while taking a bath in extremely hot water, mixed with reducing salts, before lunch, at her flat in Paris. She's discovered by her two sisters, with just her forehead above water. A doctor is called, and firemen are summoned to apply artificial respiration. Aumont, who's on a movie set, collapses in grief. He will later romance Grace Kelly, but marry actress Marisa Pavan in 1956. |
| 11 September 51 | her funeral is held at the Roman Catholic Church of Saint Pierre de Chaillot |
| Summer 72 | at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Madrid, 18-year-old starlert Maria Montez hits the headlines by claiming to be her niece |
| Sources: The Glamour Girls by James Robert Parish and Don E. Stanke, Made in Heaven by Victoria Houseman, Movie Stars of the '40s by David Ragan, Screen Stories, Screen Romances, www.IMDb.com | |
| Recommended Books: | |
| Links: Filmography Maria Montez Page A Dominican Star Brian's Drive-In Theater: Maria Montez | |