1892–1917: Childhood Sara Rita de la Luz García was born on 3 September 1892 at
Orizaba Veracruz. In the early 1900s, she contracted
murine typhus and infected her mother, who died months later. At the age of nine, she and her father moved back to
Mexico City, where through a scholarship called "lugar de gracia" (Spanish for, "place of grace"), she was accepted into the
Colegio de las Vizcaínas to pursue her academic studies. Shortly after her arrival to the city, her father suffered a
stroke and was admitted into the "Casa de Beneficencia Española" (Spanish for, "Spanish Benevolent House") where he died on an unknown date. Orphaned, she remained as a boarder at the school until she came of age, being "adopted" by the nuns of the institution, which was founded on the principles of the
Catholic Church. There she met , a girl with whom she formed a strong emotional bond. Upon graduating from that school, where she spent some time teaching as a drawing teacher,
1917: Film debut in silent films Sara started her film career at age 25, participating as an
extra in what would be her first film,
En defensa Propia (1917). After that she began auditioning in the theater where she started getting small roles. Her diction and voice gave her prestige and she became part of the most outstanding companies of that time: Mercedes Navarro, Prudencia Grifell and the sisters Anita and Isabelita Blanch. In one of her tours throughout the Mexican Republic, she met Fernando Ibáñez, whom she had seen during the filming of "La soñadora" (1917).
1918–1947: Golden Age of Mexican cinema and La Abuelita de México In 1918, she married Fernando Ibáñez. Upon learning of her situation, she offered her help in caring for her daughter in a kind of
shared parenting, and also offered her a place to live in her small house located on Mesones Street in the
Historic Center of Mexico City, where she lived with her mother, her sister Blanca, and her brother-in-law. In this way, Sara became part of the González Cuenca family. Film actress
Emma Roldán suggested Sara García for the role of Doña Panchita
, an old woman, in the 1940 film
Allá en el trópico ("There in the Tropics"). She starred again with Pardavé in a similar comedy,
El barchante Neguib (1945). She often starred as the grandmother of famous Mexican actor
Pedro Infante. Her most remembered film with him is the 1947
Los tres García where she also starred alongside
Abel Salazar and Víctor Manuel Mendoza, playing the role of their grandmother with a strong, naughty and authoritarian attitude.
1947–1980: Multiple films, Telenovelas and final works García continued working with Pardave and appeared with him in
El ropavejero "The junkman" (1947) and in
Azahares para tu boda "Orange blossoms for your wedding" (1950), which were her last jobs with him. Garcia's nature was also deeply irreverent, and she showed it in films like
Doña Clarines (1951), in which she makes fun of her grandmother's character, something she repeated in
Las señoritas Vivanco "The Misses Vivanco" (1959) and in
El proceso de las señoritas Vivanco "The process of the Misses Vivanco" (1961), in both she acted with
Prudencia Grifell and was directed by Mauricio de la Serna. García was buried alongside her daughter in a mausoleum at the Panteón Español cemetery in Mexico City. While she was being buried, the song "Mi Cariñito" ("My Little Darling/Beloved One") was played. This song was the one that Pedro Infante sang to Sara several times. In particular, he sang it drunk and tearfully, as a lament after Sara's character died in the movie
Vuelven Los Garcia (
The Garcias Return). It is said that the song was sung at her funeral by
Lucha Villa. == Personal life ==