Guadalupe Natalia Tovar Sullivan (27 July 1910 – 12 November 2016), known professionally as Lupita Tovar, was a Mexican-American actress best known for her starring role in the 1931 Spanish-language version of Drácula. It was filmed in Los Angeles by Universal Pictures at night using the same sets as the Bela Lugosi version, but with a different cast and director.

She also starred in the film Santa (1932), one of the first Mexican sound films, and one of the first commercial Spanish-language sound films. After dying at the age of 106 in 2016, she registered a record of having been the oldest living Mexican actress, before being surpassed in 2026 by Dolores Muñoz Ledo, who died at 107.

Early life

Tovar was born in Matías Romero, Oaxaca, Mexico, the daughter of Egidio Tovar, who was from Tehuacán, Puebla, Mexico, and Mary Tovar (née Sullivan), who was Irish-Mexican, from Matías Romero, Oaxaca, Mexico.

Career

Early career

thumb|upright|Tovar and Spanish actor and actresses [[José Crespo (actor)|José Crespo, Virginia Ruiz, and María Calvo receiving a commemorative scroll of the 150th anniversary of the founding of Los Angeles, dedicated to them by Mayor Porter, s]]

Tovar was discovered in Mexico City by documentary filmmaker Robert Flaherty. She had performed in a dance class and was invited, along with other girls, to do a screen test as part of a competition. Tovar won first place.

thumb|left|upright|Tovar and [[Carlos Villarías in Dracula (1931)]]

In 1930, Tovar starred opposite Antonio Moreno in La Voluntad del Muerto, the Spanish-language version of The Cat Creeps. It was based on the John Willard mystery play, The Cat and the Canary. Both The Cat Creeps and La Voluntad del muerto were remakes of The Cat and the Canary (1927). Casting was done in July 1930 with the film being released later the same year. The Spanish version was directed by George Melford and, like the Spanish-language version of Dracula (1931), was filmed at night using the same sets as those used for filming the English-language version during the day.

Tovar shot Drácula, in 1930, when she was 20 years old. The film was produced by Paul Kohner. The couple soon married.

The film was based on a famous book featuring an innocent girl from the country who has an affair with a soldier and later is abandoned, becoming a prostitute to survive. Santa was such a hit that the Mexican government issued a postage stamp featuring Tovar as Santa. "I tell you I could not walk on the streets when Santa came out," Tovar said. "People tore my dress for souvenirs. It was something."

In 2006, Santa was shown in a celebratory screening by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences called "A Salute to Lupita Tovar". The event also featured a conversation between Tovar and film historian Bob Dickson.

Other films

In 1931, Melford directed Tovar in another Universal picture, East of Borneo, which starred Rose Hobart. Tovar also worked on films at Columbia Pictures.

Personal life

Tovar went by the nickname Lupita from the time she was a child. Their grandsons, Chris and Paul Weitz, are successful film directors.

Tovar owned a bassinette that she loaned to friends in New York who had children after her: including Julie Baumgold, a writer and her husband Edward Kosner, publisher of New York; Elizabeth Sobieski, a novelist; Judy Licht, a TV newswoman, and her husband Jerry Della Femina, an advertising executive.

In the early 1990s, the release of the Spanish-language Drácula on home video sparked a revival of interest in Tovar's films. She said,

<blockquote>"It's like a dream being invited to all of these festivals and showings of my films. Was that really me up there on the screen? I had almost forgotten I was an actress. It has been absolutely wonderful how people have been so nice. Usually people die and then they get the award, but to be alive and receive this honor is fantastic!"</blockquote>

Death

Tovar died at the age of 106 on 12 November 2016 in Los Angeles of heart disease, just one day after her daughter Susan Kohner's 80th birthday.

Awards

  • 2001: Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas (Mexican Academy of Arts and Sciences), Lifetime Achievement Award at the XLIII Ceremonia de Entrega del Arielrecibió el Ariel de Oro

Filmography

Features

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! Year

! Title

! Role

! Notes

|-

|rowspan=4|1929 || The Veiled Woman || Young girl || United States

|-

| Joy Street|| || United States

|-

| The Cock-Eyed World || Minor Role || Uncredited

|-

| The Black Watch || Minor Role|| Uncredited

|-

|rowspan=2|1930 || King of Jazz || Emcee's Assistant || Spanish Version

|-

| La Voluntad del Muerto ||Anita ||Spanish-language version of The Cat Creeps

|-

|rowspan=7|1931 || Estamos en París || ||Short

|-

| Drácula|| Eva ||Spanish-language version of Dracula

|-

| Carne de Cabaret||Dorothy O'Neil ||Spanish version of Ten Cents a Dance

|-

| Yankee Don ||Juanita || United States

|-

| El Tenorio del Harem||Fátima||

|-

| East of Borneo || Neila|| United States

|-

| Border Law || Tonita||

|-

|1932 ||Santa|| Santa || Mexican

|-

|1934 ||Vidas Rotas||Inca || Spanish

|-

|rowspan=2|1935|| Broken Lives || Marcela || Spanish

|-

| Alas Sobre del Chaco ||Teresa || Spanish-language version of Storm Over the Andes

|-

|rowspan=3|1936 || The Invader||Lupita Melez || United Kingdom

|-

| Mariguana|| Irene Heredia|| Mexican

|-

|El Capitán Tormenta ||Magda ||Spanish-language version of Captain Calamity

|-

|rowspan=3|1938 ||Blockade|| Cabaret Girl || United States

|-

| El Rosario de Amozoc ||Rosario || Mexican

|-

| María ||María || Mexican

|-

|rowspan=3|1939 || The Fighting Gringo|| Anita "Nita" del Campo || United States

|-

| Tropic Fury || Maria Scipio || United States

|-

| South of the Border|| Dolores Mendoza || United States

|-

|rowspan=2|1940|| Green Hell || Native Girl || United States

|-

|The Westerner ||Teresita || United States, Uncredited

|-

|1941 || Two Gun Sheriff || Nita || United States

|-

|1943 || Resurrección ||María ||Mexican

|-

|rowspan=2|1944 || Gun to Gun ||Dolores Diego || Short

|-

| Miguel Strogoff (El Correo del Zar) || Nadia Fedorova || Mexican

|-

|1945 ||The Crime Doctor's Courage ||Dolores Bragga || Final film role

|}

Television

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! Year

! Title

! Role

! Notes

|-

|1952 ||Invitation Playhouse: Mind Over Murder || || Episode: "Winner Take Nothing"; final appearance

|-

|1998 || Universal Horror|| Interviewee ||TV Movie documentary

|}

References

Further reading

Articles

  • Babcock, Muriel. "Wave of Popularity Sweeping Mexican Stars to Top Goes Marching On: Directors Tell How Latin-American Beauties Have Carved Niche for Themselves in Filmdom's Hall of Fame." Los Angeles Times. January 27, 1929. p.&nbsp;C11 (1 page).
  • Olean Herald, "Hollywood Sights and Sounds." Saturday Evening. July 20, 1929. p.&nbsp;4.
  • Boland, Elena. "Aliens Retain Screen Niche: Sound Films Disclose Need of Many Accents Separate Pictures Made For Different Countries Certainty of Future Held as Settled Fact." Los Angeles Times. February 2, 1930, p. B11 (2 pages).
  • Kingsley, Grace. "Browning Picks Story and Star: Fairbanks Will Play Bandit in Tale of Spanish Days; Richard Keene Loaned to First National; Paul Page Has "Man Crazy" Role." Los Angeles Times. March 12, 1930, p. A8 (1 page).
  • Kingsley, Grace. "Duncan Sisters May Go Abroad: Joseph Santley Writes Story for Helen Twelvetrees Toreador Signs With First National for Film Norman Taurog Will Direct Ed Wynn Comedy." Los Angeles Times. July 23, 1930. p.&nbsp;6 (1 page).
  • Kingsley, Grace. "Lupita Tovar Goes Abroad: Actress Will Meet Fiance, Paul Kohner, in Paris Capt. Mollison Decides Not to Become Actor Helen Mack Wins Lead With Ken Maynard." Los Angeles Times. August 27, 1932. p.&nbsp;5 (1 page).
  • Kingsley, Grace. "Lupita Tovar, Kohner Marry: Producer and Actress Wed in Czechlo-Slovakia Gloria Stuart Takes Novel Trip as Air Mail Howard Hughes Searches for Beauty in New York." Los Angeles Times. November 2, 1932. p.&nbsp;11 (1 page).
  • Weaver, Tom. "Bitten in Spanish," "Fangoria" #119. December 1992.

Archival material

  • Kohner Family Papers, ~1970-2008. Riverside, CA: University of California, Riverside.

Monographs

  • Ankerich, Michael G. The Sound of Silence: Conversations with 16 Film and Stage Personalities Who Bridged the Gap between Silents and Talkies. Reprinted. ed. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2011. Chapter 15, pp.&nbsp;218–233. .
  • Tovar, Lupita, and Pancho Kohner. Lupita Tovar: The Sweetheart of Mexico: A Memoir As Told to Her Son Pancho Kohner. Bloomington, IN: Xlibris Corp, 2011.
  • Kohner, Pancho. Lupita Tovar: La novia de México: Memorias, Tal y Como Fueron Relatadas a su Hijo. Create Space Independent Publishing Platform, 2012.
  • Lupita Tovar in Cine Mexicano (ITESM)
  • Kohner Family Papers, ~1970-2008 at University of California, Riverside