Cecilia Callejo

Cecilia Callejo
A smiling young woman with olive skin, dark eyes, wearing a white hat
Cecilia Callejo, from a 1938 publicity photo
Born
Cecilia Lucila Callejo Correa

(1907-10-31)October 31, 1907
Manati, Puerto Rico
DiedAugust 18, 2003(2003-08-18) (aged 95)
Tujunga, California, U.S.
Resting placeSan Fernando Mission Cemetery
Other namesCecilia Callejo Y Correa Presnell, Cecelia Callejo
OccupationActress
Years active1937–1949
SpouseRobert Presnell Sr. (1939–1969; his death)
RelativesRobert Presnell Jr. (stepson)

Cecilia Lucila Callejo Correa (October 31, 1907 – August 18, 2003), known as Cecilia Callejo, was an American actress and dancer, born in Puerto Rico. She appeared in films, including It's a Wonderful World (1939), Passport to Alcatraz (1940), and The Cisco Kid Returns (1945).

Early life

Callejo was born in Manatí, Puerto Rico and raised in New York, one of the twelve children of composer and musicologist Fernando Callejo Ferrer and his wife Trinidad, a pianist.[1][2] She studied dance with La Argentina.[3][4][5] Musicians Olga Samaroff and Leopold Stokowski helped her make connections in Hollywood.[6]

Career

Callejo appeared in films in the 1930s and 1940s, including Outlaw Express (1938),[7] The Renegade Ranger (1938),[8][9] Dramatic School (1938),[4] Verbena Tragica (Block Party, 1939),[10] It's a Wonderful World (1939),[11] Passport to Alcatraz (1940),[12] The Falcon in Mexico (1944),[13] Marriage is a Private Affair (1944),[14][15] and The Cisco Kid Returns (1945).[8] In 1948, she coached Jennifer Jones on her Cuban accent for We Were Strangers (1949).[16]

On stage, Callejo danced on a program with Ruth St. Denis and others in 1933,[17] and at a benefit show in Los Angeles in 1937.[18] She appeared in a 1939 Los Angeles production of Desert Song.[19] She had one Broadway credit, in the original cast of the mystery melodrama The Cat Screams (1942).[20]

Personal life

Callejo married screenwriter Robert Presnell Sr. in 1939,[15][21] as his third wife; he died in 1969. She died in Tujunga, California in 2003, aged 95 years.

References

  1. ^ "The Callejo-Correa Family Tree: A Diasporic Legacy". Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños, Hunter College. Archived from the original on October 10, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  2. ^ Moss, Linda (July 29, 2016). "Rutherford Aims to Honor Composer, Kin". The Record. pp. L3. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Senorita Callejo Attends Opening of Van Nuys Store". The Van Nuys News and Valley Green Sheet. June 9, 1941. p. 2. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b "Surprise for Star is Girlhood Chum Acting in Scene". Dayton Daily News. December 11, 1938. p. 32. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Fidler, Jimmie (May 28, 1941). "Beautiful Dancer, Foreign Import with Great Record, Signed--to Play Cowgirl". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. 18. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Protege of Stokowski WIll Appear in Movies". The Tampa Tribune. June 4, 1938. p. 13. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Cecilia Callejo and Bob Baker". The Daily News Leader. December 30, 1938. p. 8. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b Within Our Gates: Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911–1960. University of California Press. 1997. pp. 207–208, 751–752, 831–832. ISBN 978-0-520-20964-0.
  9. ^ Hale, Wanda (February 17, 1939). "Rough Ridin' O'Brien in 'Renegade Ranger'". Daily News. p. 607. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Verbena Tragica". Library of Congress. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  11. ^ "Laughs Crowd Loew's Film". Harrisburg Telegraph. June 2, 1939. p. 6. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "At the Rialto". Daily News. June 15, 1940. p. 278. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Hale, Wanda (August 5, 1944). "'Falcon in Mexico' on Rialto's Screen". Daily News. p. 17. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Louella Parsons in Hollywood Says". The Tribune. February 8, 1944. p. 13. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ a b "In Filmland". Siskiyou Daily News. February 9, 1944. p. 2. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Scheuer, Philip K. (September 2, 1948). "George Marshall Gets New Western". The Los Angeles Times. p. 19. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Surprise for Star is Girlhood Chum Acting in Scene". Dayton Daily News. December 11, 1938. p. 32. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "War-Flood Benefit Interest Gains; Many Entertainers Prepare to Help Assure Success of Event". Los Angeles Evening Citizen News. February 24, 1937. p. 10. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Society and Filmland Notables attend Gala Stage and Screen Events". The Los Angeles Times. May 16, 1939. p. 11. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Nathan, George Jean (1975). The Theatre Book of the Year, 1942–1943. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-8386-7946-3.
  21. ^ "Notices of Intention to Wed". The San Francisco Examiner. July 29, 1939. p. 13. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.