The Cuban-born Mexican actress Tara Parra (1932-2025), a member of the first generation of the National School of Theatrical Art of the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (Inbal), Mexico’s most renowned, died at the age of 93 due to health complications after her birthday, on August 23.
Following the death of the performer on September 12, her daughter, Mexican actress Kenia Gascón, published an emotional message on her X account on Monday. The message lists several stages in the artist’s career.
“My mother was a woman who contributed to culture and art in our country. She belonged to the first generation of Bellas Artes,” said Gascón, who outlined on social networks the milestones of her mother’s 76-year artistic legacy.
Parra, who shared the profession with such emblematic actors as Ignacio López Tarso (1925-2023) and the master José Solé (1929-2017), was born in Havana, Cuba, but at a young age he traveled to Mexico where he consolidated his career.
She began her career in the theater at the age of 14 after participating in the play ‘Rosalba y los llaveros’ by Mexican playwright Emilio Carballido (1925-2008), a play directed by the renowned poet Salvador Novo (1904-1974).
Among his brilliant participations in the last century is his leading role in the theatrical movement ‘Poesía en Voz Alta’, which had a strong presence in the fifties with the literary direction of the writer Octavio Paz, Nobel Prize for Literature in 1990, and Juan José Arreola, another mythical figure of national literature.
Tara Parra and her participation in telenovelas
She participated in a large number of telenovelas, many of them considered classics of the genre of the eighties and nineties such as: ‘Cuna de Lobos’, ‘María la del barrio’ or ‘El extraño retorno de Diana Salazar’.
With a filmography of approximately thirty productions, Parra was also one of the leading actors of the so-called ‘new Mexican cinema’ movement, which in the 1990s began to promote the rebirth of national cinema with an improved production focused on more social and political themes.
Some of these films are ‘Sin ton ni Sonia’, starring Mexican actors José María Yazpik and Cecilia Suárez, and the short film ‘La leche y el agua’.
Parra’s extensive career also knocked on the door with large digital platforms, as he participated in the series ‘La casa de las flores’, directed by Manolo Caro for Netflix.
Although her most remembered role of the last decade is the one she played for ‘Soy tu fan’, the two-season production in which she played the role of Beba.
Parra retired at the age of 90 from the Mexican stage, and was seen shining on his last occasions in films such as ‘Más sabe el diablo por viejo’, in which he shared the cast for the last time with López Tarso.
Among the reactions to her death, reported Agencia EFE, was the publication on the X account of the Mexican National Actors Association, which lamented “the sensitive passing” of the actress.
Find out more at ‘QueOnnda.com’.
