This Is Silvia Pinal

Synopsis

Mexican cinema’s diva, Silvia Pinal, narrates her life for the first time ever on TV.

Daughter of a single mother, Silvia starts living next to her father, Luis Pinal, at 5 years old. During a trip to Mexico City, she meets Moisés Pasquel at the XEW (Mexico’s first radio station), who becomes friends with her without revealing he is her biological father.

Upon learning about this relation, her mother Merilú and Luis put their suspicions aside and allow Silvia to continue seeing Moisés. This relationship grows until Moisés’ family finds out, which affects him negatively; so he forbids her from calling him dad. Feeling hurt, she admits her only father is Luis Pinal, whose last name she will proudly use forever.

This series is a ride across Mexico’s old days and the making of Silvia Pinal’s films and TV shows along her early steps as an actor in 1948, and her rise to success.

Silvia Marries actor, Rafael Banquells, believing marriage is the only way she will achieve her so longed freedom. Soon, she discovers things are not as she imagined they would be. Rafael’s career stagnates while Silvia’s grows steadily; thus, the economic weight of this newborn family falls entirely over her shoulders.

Silvia finds out she is pregnant during the filmmaking of El Rey del Barrio, next to Tin Tan. She continues working until she gives birth over the stage. The birth of her first daughter, Livia, worsens the financial pressure over Silvia. She must juggle to deliver her roles as a mother and as an actor. She feels Rafael is not supportive enough and their relationship gets bitter.

Producer Gregorio Wallerstein encourages the Mexican cinema’s young lady to become a sexy woman and get a leading role in cinema next to Arturo de Córdova. Along the filmmaking, Silvia and Arturo have an intense affair. With the money she made, Silvia buys a piece of land in El Pedregal (a middle-class Mexico City’s neighborhood) and would eventually build the house of her dreams there, where she still lives today.

In 1957, Emilio and Silvia start an affair during a trip to New York. They decide to become partners to produce the first musical play in Mexico, Ring, Ring llama el amor. Afterwards, the couple admits they will never be able to marry and break up for good. Their love evolves to become a true, long-lasting friendship.

Silvia experiences love affairs and disappointments, but she always takes refuge in her work. While her love life is messy, her professional life is on the rise.

Early in the 60s, Silvia falls in love again with Gustavo Alatriste, who will also be the producer of her next film with Luis Buñuel, Viridiana. This would become the only Spanish speaking film to win the Palme D’or in the Cannes Film Festival to date. From this second marriage, Silvia’s second daughter, Viridiana Alatriste, is born.

Silvia’s professional rise continues just the same as the heartbreaks. Silvia gets married a third time with Felipe Román, a hit young singer from the 60s, with whom she has two children. This will be a fun, but quite stormy marriage, in which Silvia will experience physical and mental abuse.

After the bitter pill her relationship with Felipe Román was, Silvia moves on and reassesses her worth as a woman. She meets Fernando Frade in Acapulco, with whom she lives together for some years. The couple breaks up as his drug addiction exceeds him. Over time, Fernando will be her oldest daughter’s husband and they will procreate a little girl they name Viridiana Frade.

Nonetheless, losing her daughter, Viridiana Alatriste, in a tragic accident will be the hardest blow Silvia Pinal will go through in her life, and although she tries to take refuge in her work to get ahead, this wound will never heal.

Silvia marries a fourth time with Tlaxcala’s governor, Tulio Hernández, becoming the state’s first lady and she discovers her political calling. She eventually becomes President of the Theater Producers Association (Protea for its Spanish Initials) where they accuse her unjustly of misappropriation, reason why she goes into exile for almost a year in Miami and will only return to Mexico when all charges against her are cleared.

Format

Bio-Series

20 x 60'

Melodrama

Author

Rosa Salazar

Photo Gallery - Click to enlarge

Characters

Silvia Pinal - More

Luis Pinal - More

Gregorio Wallerstein - More

Moisés Pasquel - More

Rafael Banquells - More

Arturo Córdova - More

Gustavo Alatriste - More

Fernando Frade - More

Emilio Azcárraga - More

El Güero - More

Felipe Román - More

Julio Fernandez - More

Livia - More

Viridiana - More

Alondra - More