La Belle Otero
La Belle Otero | |
---|---|
Born | Agustina del Carmen Otero Iglesias[1] 4 November 1868 |
Died | 10 April 1965 Nice, France | (aged 96)
Occupation(s) | Dancer, actress, courtesan |
Agustina del Carmen Otero Iglesias (4 November 1868 – 10 April 1965), better known as Carolina Otero or La Belle Otero, was a Spanish actress, dancer and courtesan. She had a reputation for great beauty and was famous for her numerous lovers.
Biography
Early years
Agustina del Carmen Otero Iglesias was born in Valga Galicia, Spain, daughter of a Spanish single mother, Carmen Otero Iglesias (1844–1903), and a Greek army officer named Carasson.[2] Her family was impoverished, and as a child she moved to Santiago de Compostela working as a maid.[3] At age 10, she was raped, and at 14, she left home with her boyfriend and dancing partner Paco and began working as a singer/dancer in Lisbon.
Career as artiste and courtesan
Within a short number of years, Otero was said to be the most sought-after woman in Europe. She was serving, by this time, as a courtesan to wealthy and powerful men of the day, and she chose her lovers carefully. She associated herself with
Early film
In August 1898, in St-Petersburg, the French film operator Félix Mesguich (an employee of the Lumière company) shot a one-minute reel of Otero performing the famous "Valse Brillante." The screening of the film at the Aquarium music-hall provoked such a scandal (because an officer of the Tsar's army appeared in this frivolous scene) that Mesguich was expelled from Russia.[8]
Later life
Otero retired after World War I, purchasing a mansion and property at a cost of the equivalent of US$15 million.[3] She had accumulated a massive fortune over the years, about US$25 million, but she gambled much of it away over the remainder of her lifetime, enjoying a lavish lifestyle, and visiting the casinos of Monte Carlo often. She lived out her life in a pronounced state of poverty until she died of a heart attack in 1965 in her one-room apartment at the Hotel Novelty in Nice, France.
Of her heyday and career, Otero once said "Women have one mission in life: to be beautiful. When one gets old, one must learn how to break mirrors. I am very gently expecting to die."[9]
Notable published works
- Les Souvenirs et la Vie Intime de la Belle Otero (1926).ISBN 9782402042819
A Jose Martí poem "El alma trémula y sola" was inspired and dedicated to Carolina Otero
In film and literature
- A 1954 film La Belle Otero starring Mexican actress María Félix.[10]
- A portrait of "Madame Otero" in Colette's My Apprenticeships.[11]
Gallery
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La Belle Otero circa 1890
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La Belle Otero at Folies-Bergère, 1894
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An 1894 Folies Bergère poster
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A 1905 postcard of La Belle Otero
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La Belle Otero, by Léopold-Émile Reutlinger
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La Belle Otero by Léopold-Émile Reutlinger
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La Belle Otero by Léopold-Émile Reutlinger
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La Belle Otero by Jean Reutlinger
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La Belle Otero by Jean Reutlinger
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La Otero from a 1912 publication
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Vintage postcard of La Belle Otero
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Vintage postcard of La Belle Otero by Léopold-Émile Reutlinger
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Hand tinted postcard of La Belle Otero by Léopold-Émile Reutlinger
See also
References
- ^ "Bella Otero". Municipality of Valga. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
- ^ a b Les Souvenirs et la Vie Intime de la Belle Otero, Place des Libraires
- ^ a b c d e f Caroline "La Belle" Otero by Lockkeeper. Lockkeeper.com. Retrieved on 16 November 2010.
- ^ "Cultura e Conhecimento: Teatro". www.brasilcult.pro.br.
- ^ Icqurimage Electronic magazine: A brief history of the Courtesan Archived 19 March 2006 at the Wayback Machine. Icqurimage.com. Retrieved on 16 November 2010.
- ^ la belle Otero Archived 11 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Membres.multimania.fr. Retrieved on 16 November 2010.
- ^ "Familien-Saga Adlon: Was ist wahr und was ist Erfindung im großen TV-Epos? – TV – Bild.de". 10 January 2013. Archived from the original on 10 January 2013.
- ISBN 2-903528-43-8(in french)
- ^ World: Suivez-Moi, Jeune Homme. Time (23 April 1965). Retrieved on 16 November 2010.
- ^ "La Belle Otero (1954)". UniFrance. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
- ISBN 9780767910828.
Further reading
- Arruíname pero no me abandones. La Bella Otero y la Belle Époque. De Marie-Helène Carbonel i Javier Figuero. Ed. Espasa Calpe, 2003. In Spanish
- A Bela Otero, pioneira do cine, Miguel Anxo Fernández In Galician
- La passion de Carolina Otero Ramón Chao, 2001. French novel about the fictional life of the dancer.