Raquel Meller facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Raquel Meller
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Meller as Carmen (1926)
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| Born |
Francisca Romana Marqués López
9 March 1888 |
| Died | 26 July 1962 (aged 74) Barcelona, Spain
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| Resting place | Montjuïc Cemetery, Barcelona |
| Occupation | Singer, actress |
| Spouse(s) | Enrique Gómez Carrillo (1919–1922) Edmond Saiac |
Francisca Romana Marqués López (born March 9, 1888 – died July 26, 1962), known as Raquel Meller, was a famous Spanish singer and actress. She was a big international star in the 1920s and 1930s.
Raquel Meller performed in many films and toured all over Europe and the Americas. She was a vaudeville performer, which means she sang and acted on stage. She sang the first versions of very well-known songs like "La Violetera" and "El relicario." Both of these songs were written by José Padilla Sánchez.
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Raquel Meller's Early Life and Start in Music
Raquel Meller was born in Tarazona, a town in Aragón, Spain. Her father, Telesforo Marqués Ibañez, was a blacksmith. Her mother, Isabel López Sainz, ran a grocery store.
Her family was very old and had been wealthy. But they lost their money during the Carlist Wars, which were conflicts in Spain. When Raquel was four, her family moved to Barcelona. Her father died before she was 10 years old. After that, she was looked after by her aunt, Sister María del Carmen, who was a leader in a convent in Figueras. When her aunt wanted her to become a nun, Raquel used a gardener's ladder to escape from the convent.
She went back to Barcelona and worked as a seamstress. She sewed special clothes for priests and bishops.
While she worked, she would sing. People would stop on the street outside the shop to listen to her beautiful voice. When she was 13, she sang at a small cabaret in Valencia. Later, she performed in Madrid. There, she caught the attention of the King and Queen of Spain.
Around this time, she met a famous singer named Marta Oliver. Marta Oliver often visited the clothes shop where Raquel worked. Marta Oliver helped the young singer, and Raquel made her first public appearance in February 1908. She used the name La Bella Rachel. Later, she changed her name to Raquel Meller. On September 16, 1911, she had her big debut at the Teatro Arnau in Barcelona.
In 1917, she met Enrique Gómez Carrillo, a journalist and diplomat from Guatemala. They got married in 1919. Raquel Meller could not have children, so they adopted a child. In the same year, Meller performed her first concerts in Paris, Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile. She and Carrillo divorced in 1922.
Becoming a Film Star
In 1919, Raquel Meller appeared in her first film, Los arlequines de seda y oro. In the next few years, she starred in her most successful silent films. These included Violettes impériales (1924) and Carmen (1926). She quickly became famous across the Western world. The media loved her. Meller was known for wearing thin gold bracelets on her right wrist. Each bracelet stood for an important step in her stage career.
There was a rumor that Meller told the French police about a spy named Mata Hari. This rumor was said to be because of jealousy over her husband, Gómez Carrillo, who had written a book about Mata Hari. However, Carrillo said this was not true. He pointed out that Mata Hari was executed in 1917, which was two years before he married Meller.
The Russian film company Films Albatros made the 1926 film Carmen especially for Meller. Her acting as the main character was a great success.
Meller was scheduled to perform in the United States twice but canceled both times. In 1926, she finally came to the U.S. She had a contract with a theater producer named E. Ray Goetz. To make sure she would appear, he made her put up $100,000 as a guarantee. Meller arrived on the ship SS Leviathan. She tried to book a fancy suite for her five Pekingese dogs. She visited many cities, including New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, Baltimore, and Los Angeles.
Raquel Meller's singing and appearance were recorded using the Movietone sound system. This system showed movies with sound for the first time to the public on January 21, 1927, in New York City. The short film clip of Meller was shown before the main movie.
During her 1926 visit to Los Angeles, Charlie Chaplin noticed Meller. He tried to get her to act with him in a movie. Even though he wasn't successful, Chaplin used the tune of her song "La Violetera" as a main musical theme in his 1931 film City Lights.
In 1932, Meller made a second version of Violettes impériales, this time as a talkie (a movie with sound). In 1936, she started filming Lola Triana, but the production stopped because of the Spanish Civil War. In the 1930s, Meller lived in France. She was friends with famous people like Maurice Chevalier and Sarah Bernhardt. Sarah Bernhardt called Meller the "greatest actress in Europe—after myself."
In 1937, Meller traveled to Argentina and stayed there until 1939. After the Spanish Civil War, she moved back to Barcelona. She became popular again with a play based on José Padilla's Violetera. She also remarried there to a French businessman named Edmond Saiac.
Later Years and Legacy
Raquel Meller was seen less in public after the late 1930s. Her fame was brought back to life with the films The Last Torch Song (1957) and The Violet Seller (1958). These movies starred Sara Montiel, who sang songs that Meller had made famous.
Other well-known "Queens of cuplé" (a type of Spanish song) were La Chelito and La Fornarina.
Her Passing
In 1962, Raquel Meller had a heart attack. She died a month later, on July 26, after falling into a coma. She was 74 years old. Her funeral in Barcelona the next day was attended by 100,000 people. She is buried in the Montjuïc Cemetery in Barcelona.
Remembering Raquel Meller
Raquel Meller's hometown of Tarazona has a special museum exhibit dedicated to her. It is located in the Fine Arts Theater of the town hall.
Films She Starred In
- La gitana blanca or Los arlequines de seda y oro (1919), as Gitana Blanca
- Les opprimés (1922) by Henry Roussell, as Conception de la Playa Serra
- Imperial Violets (1924)
- The Night Watch (1925)
- The Promised Land (1925)
- Carmen (1926), as Carmen
- Nocturne (1927)
- La venenosa (1928)
- Imperial Violets (1932)
See also
In Spanish: Raquel Meller para niños
