June 06
Maria Africa Gracia Vidal
de Santo Silas's Birthday
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| If you visit the Dominican Republic, your
first stop may be the Maria Montez International Airport in Barahona which
was opened in 1996 and named after the country's most famous export, the
former Maria Africa Gracia Vidal
de Santo Silas. Maria married
William McFeeters, the Barahona agent for the
local branch of the First National Bank of New York, and moved to New York
when he was transferred.
After seven years of marriage, they divorced and Maria turned to modeling
and film work to earn a living.
She signed a contract with Universal Studios, moved to Hollywood and
chose the stage name of Maria Montez in honor of dancer Lola Montez, a
favorite of her father's. Maria reinvented herself into what she believed Hollywood needed - an exotic, tempestuous Latin leading lady. She began to appear at events decked out in jewels and exotic costumes, and even formed her own entourage. Her imaginative publicity strategy worked and after a few small roles, she was loaned to 20th Century Fox Studio to make That Night in Rio (1941), a Technicolor film with Carmen Miranda. Maria in Technicolor was a revelation to the studio bosses and she was soon cast in a series of popular Technicolor B movies White Savage (1943), Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1943), Cobra Woman (1944) and Gypsy Wildcat (1944). While filming Gypsy Wildcat back in the Dominican Republic, President Rafael Trujillo awarded her the Order of San Pablo Duarte and the Order of Trujillo, for bringing fame to her country. Maria was also christened "The Queen of Technicolor" by the Hollywood press and became became a favorite pin-up girl for WW II warriors. After the war, Maria moved to France with he second husband, French actor Jean Pierre Aumont. who had joined the Free French Army shortly after their marriage.. She made several popular French and Italian films including Il Ladro di Venezia (The Thief of Venice, 1951). A few months after consulting an astrologer who predicted her early death, Maria was found dead in her bathtub in Paris having apparently drowned while having a heart attack. She was only 34 and had appeared in 27 films However, her often over the top acting and exoticism have made Maria the" high queen of camp ". Her persona was borrowed by drag queen Mario Montez, named after Maria, who become one of Andy Warhol’s superstars, and she was parodied by Gore Vidal in his novel Myron. To celebrate Maria's birthday, we
suggest watching the camp classic Cobra Women in which Maria stars in a
dual role as the rightful queen (Tollea) of a cobra-worshipping cult and her
evil sister (Nadja) who tries to steal the throne (her famous cobra dance
can be found on YouTube). Our suggested recipe is from one of our favorite
cookbooks Spies, Black Ties and Mango Pies, a CIA cookbook which consists of favorite recipes from more than 100 CIA
wives and agents stationed undercover in some of the world's most dangerous
places. |
Cobra Soup
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Ingredients |
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1 cobra (medium size) 1 whole head garlic, coarsely chopped 1 tsp salt |
2 dashes bottled hot pepper sauce 1 tsp monosodium glutamate |
Instructions
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