Magdalena Nile del Río (December 26, 1906 – August 22, 2003) was a professional singer and movie actress who was better known as Imperio Argentina. Although born in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

, Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, she became a citizen of Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

.

Del Río performed in Argentina's theaters, where she had a long and successful career. At that time, her stage name was Pettit Imperio. But her most successful moments came after she moved to Spain. It was there that she changed her name to Imperio Argentina, as a way to honor her "other country". While in Spain, del Río participated in many movies, and she participated frequently on television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 and radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

. Imperio Argentina obtained Spanish citizenship in 1999.

She died in Benalmádena, Málaga

Benalmádena, Málaga

Benalmádena is a town and municipality in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. The municipality is situated approximately 12 km to the west of the city of Málaga, on the southern coast between Torremolinos and Fuengirola, in the heart of the...

 in 2003, aged 96.

Selected filmography

• Nights in Andalusia
  Nights in Andalusia
  Nights in Andalusia is a 1938 German musical film directed by Herbert Maisch and starring Imperio Argentina, Friedrich Benfer and Karl Klüsner. It is based on the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet, itself based on the novella Carmen by Prosper Mérimée. A Spanish language version Carmen, la de Triana...
  
  (1938)
• Carmen, la de Triana
  Carmen, la de Triana
  Carmen, la de Triana is a 1938 Spanish-German musical film directed by Florián Rey and starring Imperio Argentina, Rafael Rivelles and Manuel Luna. It was a Spanish-language version of the 1938 film Nights in Andalusia based on the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet.-Cast:* Imperio Argentina ... ...
  
  (1938)
• Song of Dolores
  Song of Dolores
  Song of Dolores is a 1947 Spanish drama film directed by Benito Perojo, written by Francisco Madrid. It was entered into the 1947 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Alfredo Alaria* Imperio Argentina - Dolores* Lola Beltrán* Ricardo Canales - Mariano...
  
  (1947)
• With the East Wind
  With the East Wind
  With the East Wind is a 1966 Spanish drama film directed by Mario Camus. It was entered into the 1966 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Antonio Gades - Sebastián* Vicente Escudero - Montoya* María José Alfonso - Lupe* Manuel Arbó - El Pesqui...
  
  (1966)

External links