Carmen Larrabeiti

Biography

Carmen Larrabeiti Urquiza was born in Bilbao in 1904. She soon wanted to be on stage. In 1921, only seventeen, she entered the María Guerrero-Díaz de Mendoza ensemble, and would marry their son Carlos in 1926. They toured South America and in 1928 when María Guerrero died they took over the Infanta Isabel Theater in Madrid. She worked in many modern plays of the time by Benavente and Luca de Tena. She had a small role in the silent version of Currito de la Cruz (1926). Then she and her husband made some pictures for Paramount, shooting Spanish versions in the Paris Joinville studios : Doña mentiras (1930), Toda una vida (1930), The Letter (1931) and La fiesta del diablo (1931). Then she did the same for Fox in Hollywood in Esclavas de la moda (1931), ¿Conoces a tu mujer? (1931) and La ley del harem (1931), her last picture, where she had Mexican leading man José Mojica as partner. In 1932 she became ill and abandoned both stage and movie-making. She had a daughter, Mari Carmen Díaz de Mendoza, who also occasionally acted in films. She died in Madrid in June 1968.