Guiú, Emilia

(1922-2004)

   blonde Spanish (born in Barcelona) emigrant actress of the 1940s and 1950s. After fleeing the Spanish Civil War and living in France, she came to Mexico and made her debut as an extra in 1943, but was soon elevated to leadin g roles and femmes fatales. Guiú also worked on the stage and on TV. Her first husband was Manuel Suárez Ballesteros, a fellow Spanish refugee in France. In Mexico, she married Enrique de la Concha, then Dr. Guillermo Méndez; after her 10-year marriage to Méndez broke up, in 1958, Guiú married Abraham Piceno, a Mexican-American rancher. She retired from the screen and moved to the U.S. to raise the six children of their combined families (Piceno was a widower). She returned for a few screen appearances in the '80s, and published the first part of her memoirs (Una estrella al desnudo, a fascinating book) in 1993. Her last acting role was in a 2000 telenovela. Guiú died on 7 February 2004 in San Diego, CA, of cancer.