Jorge Negrete
Jorge Alberto Negrete Moreno ( born November 30, 1911 in Guanajuato, † December 5, 1953 in Los Angeles, California ) was a Mexican singer and actor, and is still regarded as one of the most popular Mexican artists of all time.
Life
Jorge Negrete arrived in Guanajuato, the eldest son of an officer's family to the world. From 1925 he attended the military academy Colegio Militar Heroico, and entered 1928 with the rank of second lieutenant in the Mexican army. Also in 1925 he began training as an opera singer in the singing school of José Pierson. In 1931 he retired from the army in order to devote himself exclusively to his singing career. He has performed, among others, in the Mexican opera house Bellas Artes and radio programs. In 1935, he moved to New York and appeared in the NBC programs and in various opera houses.
1937 Negrete returned back to Mexico where he performed for the first time in movies. He made his debut in La Madrina Del Diablo. His breakthrough came in 1941 with ¡ Ay Jalisco, no te Rajes! . He played his artistically demanding role in Luis Buñuel's Gran Casino. With his films and thanks to his expressive voice Negrete became the epitome of " Charro Mexicano ". With the beginning of his film career he interpreted mainly Rancheros and popular pieces from the classical repertoire. He starred in 44 movies and recorded approximately four hundred songs. Its popularity reached far beyond Mexico, he toured among other things, to Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Cuba and Spain.
In 1940 he married actress Elisa Christy, daughter of actor Julio Villareal, with whom he had a child, Diana Negrete. Shortly after his marriage he began a relationship with actress Gloria Marín, during the recording of ¡ Ay Jalisco, no te Rajes it! had met and with whom he lived about ten years. In 1952 he married the actress María Félix, which was described by contemporaries as "Century Wedding ".
On his first trip to New York, he had been infected with hepatitis and suffered all his life from this disease. Despite a worsening of his condition, he traveled in November 1953 to Los Angeles, where he died on December 5, 1953 at the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital.
His body was transferred to Mexico. At his funeral on the Panteon Civil de Dolores tens of thousands of people paid their last respects Jorge Negrete.