Meche Barba began learning dance when the famous Mexican comedian Roberto "El Panzón" Soto gave her sister the opportunity to work in his stage company, and parents allowed Merche to accompany her sister to work there. Her parents enrolled her at the dance school of the Russian ballerina Nina Shestakova. Meche Barba both gained experience in tent theatres and took lessons from stars like
Cantinflas, Manuel Medel,
Joaquín Pardavé and several others. Later, Barba joined the Stage Company of Paco Miller, with artists like Amelia Wilhelmy and
Germán Valdés, a.k.a. "Tin Tan". After the success that she had in the company of Paco Miller, Meche Barba was hired as the second soprano in the musical show
Rayando el sol in the
Palacio de Bellas Artes. She also worked in theaters such as The Lírico, the Follies Berger and in
Virginia Fábregas' theatre productions. In one of her theatre presentations, producer Raúl de Anda saw her and hired her to act in the film
Sota, caballo y rey (1944), which was
Luis Aguilar's first starring role. In 1945 she began her participation in the
Rumberas film Rosalinda, with the famous rumba dancer
María Antonieta Pons. In 1946, Barba starred in the successful film
Humo en los ojos. In 1947, she participated in the film
Gran Casino,
Luis Buñuel's first film in Mexico, together with
Jorge Negrete and
Libertad Lamarque. In the same year, she appeared with "Tin Tan" in the film
Músico, poeta y loco. In 1948, she starred in
Lola Casanova, the first film of the filmmaker Matilde Landeta. In 1949, in the film
Venus de fuego, she began a series of collaborations with major film actor and singer
Fernando Fernández. Together, they would act in a total of ten films, including
Amor de la calle (1949),
Una mujer con pasado (1949),
Amor vendido (1950),
Pasionaria (1951),
When Children Sin (1952) and
Ambiciosa (1953). In other films, she co-starred with such actors as Manolo Fabregas (
Dancing: salón de baile),
Carlos López Moctezuma (
La mujer desnuda),
Silvia Pinal (
El pecado de Laura),
Sara Garcia (
Eterna agonía) and
Jorge Mistral (
La muerte es mi pareja), among others. Following her participation in the film
As negro in 1954, Barba retired from filmmaking, and remained away for several decades. She returned to film in 1992 with
Los años de Greta, for which she received her first
Silver Ariel Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 1984,
telenovelas writer Carlos Romero convinced her to return to television. She participated in the 1980s and 1990s in several telenovelas, most notably
María Mercedes (1992) and
María la del barrio (1995), with the Mexican actress and singer
Thalía. ==Personal life and death==