Celebrity Biographies
Maria Isbert
María Isbert has had a life as long as it was intense. Her face is one of the best known on film and television in Spain, as she has been secondary in more than 180 titles. The actress, who also worked in the theater, died on April 25, 2011, at the age of 94, due to a worsening of her chronic processes. She had been admitted to the Villarobledo Hospital (Albacete) for several days.
Born on April 21, 1917, María Vicenta Ysbert Soriano from Madrid was the daughter of José Isbert , the unforgettable interpreter of Bienvenido Mister Marshall , considered one of the greats of Spanish cinema of all time, and Elvira Soriano Picazo. His father tried by all means to prevent him from following in his footsteps in the acting profession -he wanted him to study-, but once he realized that he could not prevent it, he gave him all his support, and made it possible for him to debut at his side, in 1939, in the play “Our Natacha”. Ella María Ella made her film debut in 1944 in Life begins at midnight , by Juan de Orduña , where she played a small role.
He took part in great classics of Spanish cinema, such as Anchor Button , Currito de la Cruz , Recruit with a child or Thieves are honest people . Married to the Hungarian Antonio Spitzer, she was the mother of seven children, including Toni Isbert and Carlos Isbert, who are also engaged in acting. Her husband passed away prematurely.
María Isbert also took part in El cochecito and El verdugo , two of her father’s most representative films. Like him, María Isbert had a very special natural grace, which made her stand out in the field of comedy, in titles such as Operation Mata Hari , How is the service! , A decent adultery , The fool of the boat , The pimps , The cheeky ones , etc. She but she also stood out in the field of drama, especially in Viridiana , one of the great titles of Luis Buñuel, where she was one of the beggars that the protagonist welcomes. In theater she appeared in numerous titles such as “Cianuro… alone or with milk?”, written and directed by Juan José Alonso Millán .
She was a very believing woman, who did not have any complexes when it came to declaring that she received Communion daily. “The actors are all very believers. We all have dressing rooms full of stamps. Even the most atheist crosses himself three times before going on stage,” she once commented.
Even when she was already an advanced age, María Isbert continued to shoot at a good pace. She was Moucha –a witch– in The Animated Forest , and the mother of Filemón himself, the brilliant creation of Francisco Ibáñez , in The Great Adventure of Mortadelo and Filemón , by Javier Fesser . Her last work was the drama Propios y extraños , a drama directed by Manolo González in 2010.