Inda Ledesma
Encyclopedia
Inda Ledesma was an Argentine stage, television, and cinema actress who also gained prominence as a theatre director and instructor.
to anarchist
parents who fled persecution in Buenos Aires
, she debuted on the stage with a part in a 1945 Argentine National Comedy production of Molière
's L'Avare. The following year, she was given her first role in the cinema of Argentina
, in Pierre Chenal
's El viaje sin regreso (Journey of No Return), and was by then known by her pseudonym, Inda Ledesma.
Ledesma continued to appear in film, though in subsequent years, she became prominent in the theatre, where she was trained by well-known local stage directors such as Antonio Cunill Cabanellas
and Augusto Fernándes. She was named artistic director of the Teatro Argentino in 1964, and led productions of, among many other works, Mr Puntila and his Man Matti
(Berthold Brecht), Man and Superman
(George Bernard Shaw
), and Death of a Salesman
(Arthur Miller
), as well as Israfel
by Abelardo Castillo
, and her modernized version of Euripides
' Medea
.
She starred with director Alejandro Doria
in Jacobo Langsner's El tobogán for Alta comedia, a popular theatre showcase program on Argentine television during the early 1970s, and numerous similar programs. Her theatre appearances in subsequent years included that of Lady Macbeth
in a 1973 Teatro General San Martín
production, and works by Carlos Gorostiza
, Luigi Pirandello
, Anton Chekhov
(Three Sisters), Tennessee Williams
(The Glass Menagerie
), and as Mrs. Patrick Campbell in a long-running production of Jerome Kilty
's Dear Liar (with Ernesto Bianco as George Bernard Shaw
).
Her prolific work as an actress and director twice earned her a Konex Award
, the highest in the Argentine cultural realm, in 1981 and 1991. She continued to appear in film, including roles in Eduardo Mignogna
's biopic, Flop (1990), and as Leonor Acevedo de Borges (writer Jorge Luis Borges
's mother) in Un amor de Borges (2000).
Having retired for a number of years, Ledesma appeared in Pietro Silvestri's Ciudad invisible in 2008. She died from cardiopulmonary failure in a Buenos Aires nursing home two years later in 2010, aged 83. She was interred in the Actors' Pantheon at Chacarita Cemetery.
Life and work
Born as Margarita Rodríguez in the Argentine town of Coronel SuárezCoronel Suárez
Coronel Suárez is a town in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is also the capital of Coronel Suárez Partido.The partido was created in 1882 by the government of Buenos Aires Province in Argentina who divided the territory of Tres Arroyos into the partidos of Tres Arroyos, Coronel Pringles and...
to anarchist
Anarchy
Anarchy , has more than one colloquial definition. In the United States, the term "anarchy" typically is meant to refer to a society which lacks publicly recognized government or violently enforced political authority...
parents who fled persecution 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...
, she debuted on the stage with a part in a 1945 Argentine National Comedy production of Molière
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
's L'Avare. The following year, she was given her first role in the cinema of Argentina
Cinema of Argentina
The cinema of Argentina has a tradition dating back to the late nineteenth century, and continues to play a role in the culture of Argentina....
, in Pierre Chenal
Pierre Chenal
Pierre Chenal was a French director and screenwriter who flourished in the 1930s, and was best known for film noir thrillers such as the 1937 film L’Alibi, where he worked with Erich von Stroheim and Louis Jouvet. In 1939 he made Le Dernier Tournant, the first of many film treatments of James M...
's El viaje sin regreso (Journey of No Return), and was by then known by her pseudonym, Inda Ledesma.
Ledesma continued to appear in film, though in subsequent years, she became prominent in the theatre, where she was trained by well-known local stage directors such as Antonio Cunill Cabanellas
Antonio Cunill Cabanellas
Antonio Cunill Cabanellas was an influential Catalan-Argentine playwright, theatre actor, director and instructor.-Life and work:...
and Augusto Fernándes. She was named artistic director of the Teatro Argentino in 1964, and led productions of, among many other works, Mr Puntila and his Man Matti
Mr Puntila and his Man Matti
Mr Puntila and his Man Matti is an epic comedy by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. It was written in 1940 and first performed in 1948....
(Berthold Brecht), Man and Superman
Man and Superman
Man and Superman is a four-act drama, written by George Bernard Shaw in 1903. The series was written in response to calls for Shaw to write a play based on the Don Juan theme. Man and Superman opened at The Royal Court Theatre in London on 23 May 1905, but with the omission of the 3rd Act...
(George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
), and Death of a Salesman
Death of a Salesman
Death of a Salesman is a 1949 play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. It was the recipient of the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play. Premiered at the Morosco Theatre in February 1949, the original production ran for a total of 742 performances.-Plot :Willy Loman...
(Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
), as well as Israfel
Israfel
Israfel or Israfil , is the angel of the trumpet in Islam, though unnamed in the Qur'an. Along with Mikhail, Djibril and Izra'il, he is one of the four Islamic archangels.-In religious tradition:...
by Abelardo Castillo
Abelardo Castillo
Abelardo Castillo is an Argentine writer, born in the city of San Pedro, Buenos Aires. He practised amateur boxing in his youth...
, and her modernized version of Euripides
Euripides
Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
' Medea
Medea (play)
Medea is an ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides, based upon the myth of Jason and Medea and first produced in 431 BC. The plot centers on the barbarian protagonist as she finds her position in the Greek world threatened, and the revenge she takes against her husband Jason who has betrayed...
.
She starred with director Alejandro Doria
Alejandro Doria
Alejandro Doria was a noted Argentine cinema and television director.-Life and work:Born in Buenos Aires in 1936, he first worked for Argentine television in 1965 as a writer for a local variety show, Show rambler....
in Jacobo Langsner's El tobogán for Alta comedia, a popular theatre showcase program on Argentine television during the early 1970s, and numerous similar programs. Her theatre appearances in subsequent years included that of Lady Macbeth
Lady Macbeth
Lady Macbeth may refer to:*Lady Macbeth, from William Shakespeare's play Macbeth**Queen Gruoch of Scotland, the real-life Queen on whom Shakespeare based the character...
in a 1973 Teatro General San Martín
Teatro General San Martín
The Teatro General San Martin is an important public theater in Buenos Aires, located on Corrientes Avenue and adjacent to the cultural center of the same name...
production, and works by Carlos Gorostiza
Carlos Gorostiza
Carlos Gorostiza is a prominent Argentine playwright, theatre director and novelist.-Life and work:Carlos Gorostiza was born to Basque Argentine parents in the upscale Buenos Aires borough of Palermo...
, Luigi Pirandello
Luigi Pirandello
Luigi Pirandello was an Italian dramatist, novelist, and short story writer awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1934, for his "bold and brilliant renovation of the drama and the stage." Pirandello's works include novels, hundreds of short stories, and about 40 plays, some of which are written...
, Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
(Three Sisters), Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
(The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie is a four-character memory play by Tennessee Williams. Williams worked on various drafts of the play prior to writing a version of it as a screenplay for MGM, to whom Williams was contracted...
), and as Mrs. Patrick Campbell in a long-running production of Jerome Kilty
Jerome Kilty
Jerome Kilty is an American actor and playwright. He wrote Dear Liar: A Comedy of Letters, a play that had a successful run in New York, which was based on the correspondence of famed playwright George Bernard Shaw and actress Mrs. Patrick Campbell...
's Dear Liar (with Ernesto Bianco as George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
).
Her prolific work as an actress and director twice earned her a Konex Award
Konex Award
Konex Foundation awards, or simple Konex awards are cultural awards from the Konex Foundation to Argentine cultural personalities.Created in 1980, where conceived as a way to reward the Argentine personalities and institutions of different fields, as well as to stimulate the beginners.Even though...
, the highest in the Argentine cultural realm, in 1981 and 1991. She continued to appear in film, including roles in Eduardo Mignogna
Eduardo Mignogna
Eduardo Mignogna was an Argentinian film director and screenwriter.- Filmography :* 1975 - La Raulito en libertad * 1983 - El Desquite...
's biopic, Flop (1990), and as Leonor Acevedo de Borges (writer Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...
's mother) in Un amor de Borges (2000).
Having retired for a number of years, Ledesma appeared in Pietro Silvestri's Ciudad invisible in 2008. She died from cardiopulmonary failure in a Buenos Aires nursing home two years later in 2010, aged 83. She was interred in the Actors' Pantheon at Chacarita Cemetery.