A dancer at the Capwell villa
By B.C., Beautiful, 1992	Home   Cette page en Français

Margarita Cordova, who plays the role of Rosa Andrade, in Santa Barbara, the servant of C.C.'s powerful dynasty, is a flamenco virtuoso. "But I also have a nursing diploma", she declares proudly.

She is the only actress remaining from Santa Barbara's original cast, but even if she would leave, Margarita Cordova, Rosa Andrade in the soap opera, could, by choice, become a flamenco dancer or... a nurse again. "Exactly," she confirms with a laugh. "I am also a graduate nurse, a job I did before dancing flamenco in the nightclubs of Tijuana." Yes, Tijuana, the Mexican city on the border with California where occurred her meeting with Marlon Brandon, the event which changed the life of Margarita Cordova.

"While waiting to find a place in a hospital, I earned my living dancing in the Tijuana nightclubs," recalls the actress. "In 1958, I was young and eager to help my mother who was alone. Marlon Brando was looking for a flamenco dancer for the film he was shooting, One-eyed Jacks, and which he was directing. They filmed one of my performances and then showed it to him : thus, unexpectedly, I began my acting career."

This small role in Brando's film opened the doors of Hollywood for her and, above all, allowed her to cross this long-awaited frontier, this line of demarcation which separates the miserable life of "Chicanos" from the splendors of consumer "Gringos". "The fate wanted my first role in a television series to be that of a nurse," continues Margarita. "It was in Marcus Welby, M.D.. Naturally, since then I have always been used as a character actor : the Mexican immigrant in the United States and employed in humble professions. But I'm fine about it..." Even in Santa Barbara, as Rosa Andrade, Cordova is relegated to a secondary role : that of cook and servant. "I've been in the kitchen since the first episode of the soap opera and I've never left it," she says, laughing happily. "I consider myself very lucky compared to many other people, especially my compatriots, who live in miserable conditions. Destiny has been kind to me and I want to help those who need it, especially the weakest : the children and the abandoned elderly."

Dancing at a Tijuana nightclub is not the height of life. But when she was a young girl, Margarita Cordova danced flamenco in front of customers who were more attentive to beer bottles than to the improbable movements of the nurse-dancer. Margarita never imagined that shortly after, the great Marlon Brando would kiss her hand on the set of a Hollywood studio. The future Godfather, in fact, was looking for someone who resembled him : marked features, approximate but sensual movements, for a role in the film in which he played and which he directed : One-eyed Jacks. Los Angeles is not very far from Tijuana, but only a few "Chicanos", as the Americans call Mexicans, manage to access it legally. She, Margarita, did it. She who had never dreamed of becoming an actress...