Conesa, María

(1892-1978)

   Spanish-born stage performer, nicknamed "La Gatita Blanca" after one of her biggest song hits, who worked in the Mexican musical theatre from the turn of the century well into the 1930s. She made her film debut in the silent era, but did not appear in a sound film until 1938's Refugiados en Madrid (Refugees in Madrid). Conesa made a few other pictures over the next decade and appeared on television well into the 1950s. However, her period of enormous popular success as a musical comedy star came well before the film era.