Cecilia Romo

Cecilia Romo
Cecilia Romo
Born	5 December 1945; Mexico City, Mexico
Died	30 August 2020 (aged 74); Mexico City, Mexico
Occupation	Actress
Spouse(s)	Raul Domingo González Soto (divorced); Alfonso Ravelo (divorced); Guillermo Coelho (?-2020; her death)
Children	4, including Claudia Romo Edelman

Cecilia Romo, also known as Ceci Romo (5 December 1945 – 30 August 2020) was a Mexican film, theatrical, and television actress. Prior to her professional acting career, which began in the 1980s, she was a member of Mexico women's national basketball team during the 1960s.^[1] Romo, who appeared in more than 30 theater productions during her career, was often cast as rebellious or comedic characters.^[1] Her telenovela and television roles became popular throughout Mexico and Latin America during the 1990s.^[1]

Biography

Early life and career

Romo was born on 5 December 1945, in

pharmacies and medical laboratories.^[1]

An athlete, Romo played for Mexico women's national basketball team during the 1960s.^[1] She then enrolled at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and received her bachelor's degree in 1978.^[1] Romo worked as an economist for the Mexican government before becoming a talent manager for advertising models.^[1]

Acting career

In the early 1980s, Romo received a phone call at her agency looking for extras for the American science fiction film, Dune, which was filming in Mexico at the time.^[1] Romo, who was 38-years old at the time, decided to sign up as an extra for film herself.^[1] She enjoyed the experience and quickly decided to pursue acting as a career.^[1] She was soon cast in the 1985 film, Los Náufragos del Liguria, which focused on a group of shipwreck survivors.^[1] Romo soon found on-screen acting roles in Mexican television during the mid and late 1980s as well, launching a decades-long professional TV career.^[1]

Romo was taller than most other television actresses, but became popular with audiences in

New York Times.^[1] In the TV Azteca telenovela Prófugas del destino (2010-2011), Romo utilized her trademark comedic facial expressions to play Madre Lourdes, a mother superior who discovers that several of the women in her convent are actually escaped fugitives disguised as nuns.^[1]

Romo also appeared in more than 30 professional theatrical plays and musicals, including the

Spanish-language, Mexican productions of Hello, Dolly!, La Cage aux Folles, and Mame.^[1] In 2003, she appeared in the American film, Out of Time, starring Denzel Washington.^[2]

In 2012 interview for the program "Momentos de Telenovela" on

witch and evil nurses and nuns.^[1]

Romo was known for a personal and professional sense of humor.[1] On the set of her final television series, Como tú no hay 2 (2020), Romo began whistling like a stereotypical truck driver to catch the attention of the crew and her co-stars.^[1] She and the show's writers ultimately incorporated her whistle into her character, Doña Remedios, a traditional healer in a local market.^[1]

Death

Cecilia Romo died from complications of COVID-19 in Mexico City, on 30 August 2020, after a 169-day battle with the illness during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico.^[1]^[2] She had been hospitalized several times during her treatment for COVID-19 and its complications, including anemia and three pulmonary hemorrhages.^[2] Romo died just five months after she filmed her final episode of Como tú no hay 2.^[1]

Romo was survived by her third husband,

film editor Guillermo Coelho; two of her four children, diplomat Claudia Romo Edelman and Luis Roberto Ravelo Romo; and two grandchildren.^[1] Her two other children, Adriana González Romo and Raúl González Romo, both died from genetic disorders as toddlers.^[1] Romo's previous marriages, to civil engineer Raul Domingo González Soto and musician Alfonso Ravelo, ended in divorce.^[1]