1924–1943: Childhood and early years María Cristina Estela Marcela Jurado García, known from early childhood as "Katy", was born on 16 January 1924, in
Mexico City, Mexico, the daughter of Luis Jurado Ochoa, a lawyer, and Vicenta García, a singer. Jurado's younger brothers were Luis Raúl and Óscar Sergio. Her mother was a singer who worked for the Mexican radio station
XEW (the oldest radio station in
Hispanic America). Her mother was sister of Mexican musician Belisario de Jesús García, author of popular Mexican songs such as "
Las Cuatro Milpas". Jurado's cousin
Emilio Portes Gil was president of Mexico (1928–1930). Jurado lived her first years and studied at a school run by nuns in the
Guadalupe Inn neighborhood of Mexico City. She later studied to be a bilingual secretary. She wanted to study law and become a lawyer. Her singular beauty drew attention since she was a teenager, and she was invited to work as an actress by producers and filmmakers, among them
Emilio Fernández (one of the most prominent Mexican filmmakers at that time), who offered her a role in his first movie
The Isle of Passion (1941). Although her godfather was Mexican actor
Pedro Armendáriz, her parents never gave their consent. Another filmmaker interested in her was Mauricio de la Serna, who offered her a role in the film
No matarás (1943). She signed the contract without authorization from her parents, and when they found out, they threatened to send her to a boarding school in
Monterrey. Around this time, she met aspiring actor Víctor Velázquez and married him soon afterward. Her marriage was largely motivated by the desire to continue a career as an actress and to escape the yoke of her parents. Velazquez was the father of her children, Victor Hugo and Sandra. The marriage ended in 1943, shortly after Jurado began her film career.
1943–1951: First Mexican films Jurado debuted as an actress in the Mexican film
No matarás (1943). From that moment on, her acting talent, but above all her exotic beauty and sensual appeal, gave her the opportunity to work in numerous films. She specialized in playing wicked and seductive women. in
Arrowhead (1953) From the success of the film, Jurado began working on numerous American films, most of them in the
Western genre. In 1953, she had a role in
San Antone, directed by
Joseph Kane and opposite
Rod Cameron. In the same year, she had a role in
Arrowhead with
Charlton Heston and
Jack Palance, playing an evil
Comanche woman, the love interest of Heston's character. In 1954, actress
Dolores del Río was accused of being a communist sympathizer at the height of the
McCarthy era, and the U.S. government refused permission for her to work in the film
Broken Lance, directed by
Edward Dmytryk and where she was going to interpret
Spencer Tracy's Comanche wife. Jurado was selected for the role despite the resistance of the studio because of her youth. Her performance garnered an
Academy Award nomination. Jurado was the first Latin American actress to compete for the Oscar. In the same year, Jurado appeared with
Kirk Douglas in the
Henry Hathaway film
The Racers. In 1955, Jurado filmed
Trial, directed by
Mark Robson, with
Glenn Ford. It was a drama about a Mexican boy accused of raping a white girl, with Jurado playing the mother of the accused. For this role, she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. In the same year, she traveled to Italy for the filming of
Trapeze, directed by
Carol Reed, with
Burt Lancaster and
Tony Curtis. On set, Jurado had severe friction with the film's other female star, actress
Gina Lollobrigida. In 1956, she participated in the film
Man from Del Rio (1956), opposite
Anthony Quinn, one of the few Hollywood movies to have Mexican actors as main stars. and Katy Jurado in
Broken Lance (1954) while they stare at
Marlon Brando in
One-Eyed Jacks (1961) In 1959,
Marlon Brando, with whom Jurado maintained a close friendship, invited her to participate in
One-Eyed Jacks, his first film as director. After marrying Ernest Borgnine, they founded their own production company called Sanvio Corp. The couple traveled to Italy, where they partnered with producer
Dino de Laurentiis in
Barabbas (where both acted with Anthony Quinn) and
I briganti Italiani, directed by
Mario Camerini. In 1961, Jurado returned to Mexico and filmed
La Bandida (1962), where she shared credits with Pedro Armendáriz and temperamental Mexican actress
María Félix, with whom Jurado had friction on the set. Her stormy marriage with Borgnine ended in 1963. Depressed, Jurado returned to Mexico and established her residence in the city of Cuernavaca; she decided to alternate her work, though, with films between Mexico and the United States. In 1965, Jurado returned to Hollywood for the film
Smoky, directed by
George Sherman, starring
Fess Parker. In 1966, she played the mother of
George Maharis's character in
A Covenant with Death. In 1968, she appeared in the film
Stay Away, Joe in the role of the half-
Apache stepmother of
Elvis Presley's character. In the same year, Jurado starred on Broadway again in the
Tennessee Williams play
The Red Devil Battery Sign with Anthony Quinn and
Claire Bloom. In 1974, Jurado appeared in the American film
Once Upon a Scoundrel (1974) opposite comedian
Zero Mostel. In 1975, she participated in the Mexican film
Los albañiles, again directed by Jorge Fons. The film was awarded the
Golden Bear of the
Berlinale 1975. In 1976, she played the role of Chuchupe in the film
Pantaleón y Las Visitadoras, an adaptation of the novel
Captain Pantoja and the Special Service by
Mario Vargas Llosa, who also directed the film. However, the filming of this movie turned into a disaster due to the differences between Jurado and Vargas Llosa. Vargas Llosa fired Jurado from the film, and she sued him legally. In 1978, she played a small role in the film
The Children of Sanchez, where she shares credits with Anthony Quinn and Dolores del Río. In 1980, Jurado filmed
La Seducción, directed by
Arturo Ripstein, for which she was nominated for another Ariel Award for Best Actress. In 1981, her son Victor Hugo died in an accident on a highway near Monterrey while she was filming a movie
Barrio de campeones in Mexico City. This tragedy plunged her into a deep depression that she could never overcome and led her to abandon her acting career for a few years. In 1984, John Huston convinced her to resume her career as an actress. She acted in Huston's film
Under the Volcano. In the same year, she co-starred in the short-lived television series
a.k.a. Pablo, a sitcom with
Paul Rodriguez. In the 1990s, Jurado appeared in two Mexican
telenovelas. In 1998, she completed a Spanish-language film for director
Arturo Ripstein titled
El Evangelio de las Maravillas. She won her second
Ariel Award for Best Supporting Actress for this role. In 2002, she made her final film appearance in
Un secreto de Esperanza. The film was released posthumously. Jurado appeared in a musical revue presented at the in Mexico City. == Personal life ==