Uruguayan actress and theater director
Mary Isabel da Cuña Rodríguez (25 November 1942 – 24 September 2016) was a Uruguayan actress and theater director.[1]
Biography
Mary da Cuña began her theatrical training at the school of the Theater Club, founded by Antonio Larreta, where she worked with Héctor Manuel Vidal, Nelly Goitiño [es], Roberto Jones [es], Roberto Fontana [es], Villanueva Cosse, and Juan Alberto Sobrino [es], among others. In that same space she made her debut as an actress in 1969 with Misia Dura al poder, a theatrical play with political content and writing credit shared by several authors, directed by Jorge Denevi [es].[2] Her professional debut was in 1971.[3]
She worked under directors such as Sergio Otermin, Rubén Yáñez [es], Villanueva Cosse, Jorge Denevi, Carlos Aguilera, Alberto Rivero, Gloria Levy, and Ruben Coletto.[1] She acted in works by Shakespeare, Woody Allen, Michael Frayn, Neil Simon, George Tabori, Harold Pinter, and Copi.[2]
In 1975 da Cuña became the first woman to be part of a murga performance in the official contest, when she joined Los Diablos Verdes.[3]
In television she was one of the most visible faces of the comic programs Telecataplúm [es] (where she worked on its second stage with Roberto Jones, Pepe Vázquez [es], and Imilce Viñas) and Plop![4]
In 1990 she began working as a teacher at Eduardo Ramírez's School of Dance, the La Gaviota School of Theater, the School of Musical Comedy, and her own school of acting training.[1]
She won the 2005 Florencio Award [es] for best actress for the work Raspando la cruz by Rafael Spregelburd, and received seven other Florencio nominations.[3]
Her state of health led her to stop acting and focus on theater direction. She died at age 73, due to the aftermath of a prolonged vasculitis, and was buried in the Cementerio del Norte, Montevideo.[2]
She was divorced from actor and theater director Jorge Denevi, with whom she had a daughter, actress Julieta Denevi.[1]
References
